Minutes of the Fan Advisory Board Meeting - 13th October 2026
Date: 13 October 2026
Location: London Stadium
Time: 1800-2100
First FAB meeting of the 2026/27 season.
Fan Representatives:
Andy Payne, Hammers United and FAB Co-Chair
Kevin Hind, West Ham United Supporters Trust
Paul Christmas, West Ham United Official Supporters Club
Jo Bailey, Pride of Irons
Cathy Bayford, Disabled Supporters Association
Austin Gigg, Junior Supporters’ Board
Apu Vyas represented by Deepak Kashyap, Inclusive Irons
Martine Dodwell-Bennett, Bondholders
Georgia Whitney, Women’s Team Supporters’ Board
Mike Field, Old School Hammers
Maurice Birnbaum, Away Scheme Members
Lukasz Papuda, International Supporters’ Clubs
Club Representatives:
Karim Virani, Interim Chief Executive Officer
Paul Stringer, Chief Marketing and Media Officer
James Taylor, Chief Financial Officer
Nils Koppen, Director of Football
Nicola Keye, Director of Ticketing, Executive Director of the Women’s Team
David Chaplin, Director of Marketing Strategy
Ben Illingworth, Head of Operations
Philip Nice, Head of Marketing
Apologies: Alice Hendy, Claret and Blue Members
Agenda
Welcome and introductions and governance
Congratulations and welcome to the two newly democratically elected members of the FAB Lukas and Alice.
Welcome to Khali Parsons – the Club’s new Head of Supporter Services and Fan Engagement from January 2027.
Karim was confirmed as the NBLO.
Paul Stringer was confirmed as interim Club Co-Chair for the FAB, with Khali assuming the role permanently from January. The FAB were supportive of this interim appointment.
After a show of hands, the FAB approved the proposed amends to the Terms Of Reference unanimously.
Andy Payne was voted for and confirmed as the FAB chair. Austin Gigg was voted for and confirmed as the Vice-Chair. Both were unanimous.
Club Strategy
Karim Virani thanked the FAB for their support through the challenging times that the Club has faced since his appointment and in the subsequent months.
Karim thanked the Senior Leadership Team and the wider Club staff for getting behind the ambition the Club had to get the Club back on a positive path.
Karim then presented his detailed vision and strategy for the Club, which was well received by those in the room.
He said he wanted to view the Club’s relegation as an opportunity to rebuild and bring the Club back to a better place. He is putting a long-term strategy in place.
Karim talked about the Club being modern and resilient as an organisation. What makes West Ham United the Club it is, is its heritage and history.
He said the Club acknowledged that it is still on a journey of rebuilding trust with supporters, being transparent and having open conversations about Club matters.
He said he wants it to be at the forefront of fan engagement and will not be afraid of trying new ways of engaging with supporters.
The FAB acknowledged that they were pleased to hear this and said that the Crest consultation, the ticketing pricing for the 2026-27 season, and the recent tribute to Ludek Miklosko were great examples of this new spirit of co-operation.
The Club confirmed that the Crest consultation was an honest independent process and it looks forward to seeing the results. Supporters’ representatives confirmed that the process thus far had been professional and comprehensive and were confident in the process.
Business
Karim acknowledged that the Club had to grow its revenues in a responsible way in collaboration with the fanbase.
The Club would need to look at sponsorship deals, match ticket offerings, growing the fanbase nationally and internationally, but it should all be done in a way that puts the supporters at the forefront of the strategy.
The FAB responded to say that it supported this view as long as there was a narrative that was well communicated to the supporters behind what the Club was looking to do and achieve.
Karim provided an update on the structure of the new executive function at the Club. He leads the day-to-day operation, working into the full Board. He explained this is a collaborative effort across the different Shareholding groups, with material influence coming from representatives of the soon-to-be single largest shareholder.
The FAB commented positively on the content and media team and their efforts throughout the pre-season period.
The FAB thanked Karim for his presentation.
Football
Nils Koppen talked about the journey of 85 days from arriving at the Club to the end of the transfer window.
Nils explained the process of scouting a player to signing and the many variables that go with this. The Club looks at things like injury risk, whether the player is a good fit for the Club, their mentality and reputation as well as their availability.
The aim was to create a sustainable recruitment strategy with the Board. The next phase is building a recruitment department the fits the model of how it wants to work.
Nils talked about football DNA and culture on the football pitch. This being togetherness, playing with resilience and building for the long term. He also talked about the relationship between the players and the fans and making football entertaining.
The FAB commented that the men’s first team’s way of playing football was different from the way some of the Academy teams play. Nils acknowledged that the Club is working towards a more unified approach in terms of training and playing football across all teams.
Finance
James Taylor provided a finance update.
He acknowledged that the Club faced many challenges in the EFL Championship.
Relegation halved the Club’s income and this had to drive its initial plan. The challenge was finding a squad that could play in the Championship whilst balancing the Club’s daily financial commitments.
James talked about the Club’s liabilities and how it went about mitigating and minimising these.
The FAB acknowledged the current financial position of the Club and thanked James for his transparency.
Stadium, matchday and safety
Supporter conduct and restorative justice
The Club recognises that it needs to be transparent on how it plans to work with the FAB as a partner for reviewing this process.
The Club thanked the FAB for their previous comprehensive submissions on this topic over the past 12 months. The Club explained that there are some things that have been suggested by the FAB that they may not be able to deliver on for legal reasons.
The Club confirmed that there are many variables to banning and sanctions and that all incidents are dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
The Club confirmed that it would reconvene - at the FAB’s suggestion - the Supporter Conduct and Restorative Justice FAB working group within the next couple of weeks. The group would work with the FAB to deliver a fair and transparent process for supporters. The Club explained that it wants all supporters to feel safe and welcome when coming to football and that is its priority.
The FAB said they felt that there needed to be a process that everyone understood to back up the Supporter Conduct Charter and the need for evidence to back up sanctions, where evidence can be shared. The FAB were supportive of this approach and look forward to meeting with the Club on this matter.
Newham Safety Advisory Group
The Club confirmed it looked at the questions put forward by the FAB for the recent Newham Safety Advisory Group meeting. The Club offered an apology to the SAG’s FAB member, Kevin Hind following the recent SAG meeting. The SAG FAB member accepted the apology and emphasised that he has always approached SAG meetings as a critical friend of the Club and other key stakeholders.
The Club suggested that Kevin should join the group that deals with sanctions, once the process has been agreed. The suggested approach is that Kevin will report back to the group on these matters. The FAB was supportive of this suggestion to appoint Kevin Hind.
Stadium Improvements
The Club acknowledged that they have reviewed the FAB’s ‘Creating The Home Advantage’ proposal submitted in August. Phil provided an update on the matchday experience. He said the Club wants to have a safe and inclusive atmosphere for fans. The Club shared that they want to approach this holistically.
The Club acknowledged that it has been at London Stadium for ten years and it was time that the stadium felt like home.
The FAB welcomed this statement and thanked the Club for being candid.
The Club shared three key things on how they think it can be achieved:
Atmosphere and experience
Heritage and identity
Commercial growth – which comes from having a better experience.
The Club responded to the following:
Re-banding the stadium- standing/singing/atmosphere/family section. This is a major project that will be reviewed over the coming months and will be taken forward by the Matchday Experience FAB working group from last season.
The FAB said it was important that this was the starting point for moving this forward collectively.
The Club thanked the FAB for its support on the recent additional railed seating installation at London Stadium. The DSA raised a concern that the new seating and supporters standing will cause issues for some supporters currently seated in that area. Nicola Keye confirmed any supporter wishing to move their seat will be offered a priority window to do so. The Club also confirmed that it will work with the FAB on this topic and keep the conversation open.
The FAB recognised that there were areas of the stadium bowl that supporters do stand in and that there needed to be a defined explanation from the Club as to what ‘safe-standing’ meant.
The FAB raised the issue of Block 146 in the Bobby Moore Lower, suggesting some fans make a conscious decision not to arrive until after kick-off to avoid the TIFOs and flags, and that there needs to be balance.
Stadium improvements
Paul Stringer outlined new opportunities to work with the stadium on:
Stadium wrap
Champions place
Fan Zone
Open training
A permanent Museum
Hosting at least one WSL match per season
Entrance tents
Security screening
Shelving in concourses
This would all be subject to financial constraints and working with London Stadium.
The FAB raised concerns about the security queues and their purpose – they shared their experiences with searches at bridges and then the queue to get through the turnstiles. They stated it should not be taking as long as does to get through security and turnstiles. The FAB said it was a persistent issue and there had been no noticeable improvement to ingress times for supporters in the ten years of being at the London Stadium.
The FAB SAG representative commented on this and said that it would be helpful for the Club to share this information with them to raise in the Newham SAG meeting.
The topic of additional lowered shelving for wheelchair users was also raised and it was agreed this would be looked at as a priority following commitments made at previous FAB meetings.
The Club suggested that a new stadium wrap could be launched alongside the new crest.
Ironworks Alliance
The Club shared the work of the independent supporter group Ironworks Alliance. The Club said it was supportive of their work to enhance the atmosphere on a matchday, but accepted the FAB view that further dialogue with the wider supporter base should continue.
Crest Consultation
Phil confirmed it has appointed an agency work on the creative brief.
The Club shared plans for workshops in October and November, with invitations to these to follow within the coming days.
The final vote will now be a two-phased vote with a final vote to ensure a clear preference amongst supporters.
The FAB stressed that it was responsible for assisting the Club with the process but would not have a collective or individual vote on the final outcome.
Christmas/Irons Supporting Food Banks
The Club confirmed that the dedicated fundraising fixture for this will be against Bristol City on Saturday 12 December. There will be additional activations and communications around this that were being worked on.
The FAB were supportive and suggested ideas around supporters contributing £1 per fan at this fixture with a target to raise £50,000 over that weekend.
Club Cash
The Club has confirmed that the date for spending this has been extended to 31/10/2026.
The Club explained that over 4,000 supporters have used the Ticket Exchange when they are unable to attend a fixture. The Club has opened the Ticket Exchange earlier this season (before sell-out) for supporters to list their tickets.
The FAB asked questions around Club Cash and how much the Club was holding. The FAB stressed that Club Cash is seen to be restrictive and if ticket holders used the Ticket Exchange and had the possibility of a cash refund once a year, then the FAB’s research suggested more season ticket holders would use the Ticket Exchange.
The Club explained that Club Cash has been budgeted for this season but would commit to a review for next season. Topic to be discussed again at April’s FAB meeting.
The FAB asked if it was a regulatory legal requirement that a ticket holder cannot forward an away ticket on. The Club confirmed that this was correct. However, this could be done with the consent of the Ticket Office.
Digital ID
The Club thanked the FAB for its support on the soft launch of this and confirmed steady progress was being made with the verification process. The Club recognised that this would set the Club up for the future, particularly as the aim is to be back in the Premier League as soon as possible.
Live Video Streaming
The Club gave an update on EFL rules and how matches are chosen to be streamed. The Club committed to go on sale with streaming passes later.
AOB
The Club confirmed the next meetings as:
Tuesday 12 January 2027
Tuesday 13 April 2027
FAB effectiveness review 15 June 2027