Going to West Ham game in April 2025. What do I need to know?

The closest station is Stratford. The quickest walk is through the shopping center. However, that's blocked off on game days. You will have to follow the crowd the long way around. (I've stayed at the hotel in the shopping mall a couple of times.)

Give yourself plenty of time as the shopping mall is packed on weekends and the match justs adds a few thousand more. It wil be busy.

Mardee - the most important point to consider is that the kick off time is not confirmed yet. The time could move to anything from Friday night to Monday night for live TV coverage. As it’s April that won’t be decided until probably mid March. You need to plan your schedule flexibly enough to cope.

John, yes, they were clear about that in the email. If it's ahead of time, it won't be a problem but if it's moved to Monday, it would be a real issue. FWIW, I did not book this nor did I know about it until the day it was booked. But I guess I'll just play it by ear.

ETA: My problem is that we are scheduled to head to Paris on Sunday, the day after. If the game moves to Monday, then it makes no sense to go to Paris, since it would only give us one evening there as we fly back on Wednesday morning. But that leads to a bigger problem, since our flight back was an open-jaw and we fly out of Paris. Oy!

Frank, good to know about the shopping mall. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the date stays as is, or goes earlier.

Agree flexibility is key.

Also understanding the reality that although soccer
( football ) is played and appreciated in the US it’s a passion through out Europe and UK.

Fans can be rowdy! Take time and research youtube for videos on UK soccer matches.

I would think West Ham v Bournemouth would be quite a low priority for a televised game as they usually want to show the more ‘glamorous’ matches. But you never know and it might end up being an important game at that stage in the season.

First, check where you are seated. Is it with the home fans or away fans, cheering for the wrong team is not advised.

From my experience as a Spurs fan, poor quality food will be available at exorbitant prices both within the ground or just outside it. Check the West Ham website as you may well be restricted on how big a bag you can bring in as you will probably have to go through airport style security. You may not be allowed to bring in bottles of water with lids, these were popular missiles and so would be taken off fans.

I’d suggest getting to the ground about 90 minutes before kickoff. If you want to go into the stadium shop before going in, this will be very busy. Once inside, you can’t exit and re-enter.

You best warn your grandchildren that they will probably hear a lot of bad language.

I would think West Ham v Bournemouth would be quite a low priority for a televised game as they usually want to show the more ‘glamorous’ matches. But you never know and it might end up being an important game at that stage in the season.

Helen, obviously I'm hoping it is low priority. I know that ManU and Man City are playing that day, so I would think that might be a higher priority. Fingers crossed! :-)

First, check where you are seated. Is it with the home fans or away fans, cheering for the wrong team is not advised.

Bill, good to know. I won't get the tickets until a day or so beforehand (and he paid to upgrade them), so I will check to see, although I'm not quite sure how to check. I guess we can wait to see who is cheering for who around us. Although I should ask my son-in-law because he does follow those teams and probably would have gotten them on the "right" side.

From my experience as a Spurs fan, poor quality food will be available at exorbitant prices both within the ground or just outside it.

So basically just like any other sporting event. :-) We'll probably just buy something there for the experience, but maybe take some food on the train.

You best warn your grandchildren that they will probably hear a lot of bad language.

Ha ha, I'm not too worried about that. None of us are very pristine in our language.

You'll need to learn "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles". That's the famous West Ham song.

I've said before that the Cockney accent has pretty much died in London in favour of MLE, multicultural London English. You'll hear plenty of Cockney at West Ham though. That area is about as "London" as London gets.

I mentioned on someone else's thread the other day about wearing colours; definitely do it. The traditional place to buy a scarf is from a street seller outside the ground.

Hooliganism isn't going to be a problem for a family group such as yourselves, especially not these days. There's a lot of history. Cass Pennant's book, and The Firm and Green Street in the movies are things you can Google. Carlton Leach is another interesting character you can read a lot about online if you like true crime with a Hammers connection. Don't show the kids!

Gerry, I know that song! I'll probably embarrass my grandkids by singing along. :-) And that's pretty cool about hearing the Cockney accents! Good idea about wearing colors—that would be fun and the kids would love it. I will definitely check out the book and movie and Carlton Leach; thank you!

Claudia, will definitely check out some YouTube videos!

You'll need to teach them I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles before you go. Get everyone singing along!

Ha ha, most definitely!!!

Oh and if your tickets came from a West Ham fan, I couldn't imagine them being for the "away" end. I assume your source has some connections to the club to be able to secure them at all.

Gerry, I think you're right. Plus he was talking to someone, too, and I'm sure that subject would have come up.

I went to see the Foo Fighters at the London stadium a couple of months ago. My first time there.

I went through the Stratford Mall (huge number of food options there) and then just followed the signs/everyone else as they shepherd you towards the stadium. I can confirm there are lots of (at best, very average and overpriced) food outlets once you get into the stadium. There were also security checks of bags before you go in. And, as mentioned above, bottles of water allowed in without the caps- with stations to refill your water inside.

Its was all very straightforward, intuitive and well signposted. I would expect it to be fun to be there in the half hour before kick off, to enjoy the singing, atmosphere etc. But no experience of this stadium for football.

When you leave you are again shepherded along and just have to follow the crowds till you get back to the station.

Whether a major game is televised or not has little bearing on the crowd size at other EPL grounds. You can't beat a live game.

True Cockneys should be placed on the endangered species list. Or their accents at least be given Unesco heritage status, like the French baguette.

Mardee - I think that you slightly misunderstood my post about kick off times. When I said it could be played any time between Friday evening and Monday evening they are not the only two choices.

It could also be moved to 12.30, 17.30 or 20.00 on Saturday or 12.00, 14.00 or 16.30 on Sunday as well. It sounds like Sunday would mess you up as well. Ordinarily I would say the Manchester derby would be on the 1630 Sunday slot but at time of year City particularly could have a European game on the following Tuesday so would play on Saturday. Friday night is also less likely that weekend as there will have been midweek fixtures before.

Kelly, thanks for the tips about the stadium! The Foo Fighters sounds very interesting!

Gundersen, I love that statement about Cockneys!

John, I see now—that makes more sense. Yes, I will have already bought Eurostar tickets for Paris with plans to leave on Sunday, so it would definitely mess us up. And we have to get to Paris, because we are flying back from CDG on Wednesday. Any time on Saturday would work or any day beforehand. But if it goes to Sunday, we would probably have to skip it, which would be very sad.

There will be other games you could go to on Saturday in the EFL, the leagues below the Premier League. No point in going into detail until you know the West Ham kick off time, which probably won’t be until March.

Mardee,

My brother-in-law is a huge West Ham Fan. I don't think he ever misses a game home or away! I have been to the stadium for the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinal game in 2023. Leaving the stadium that day was a shoulder-to-shoulder shuffle down to the trains. It's pretty organized but know it's crowded.

West Ham Match Days
Westfield Stratford City trades as normal on match days, however, to reduce overcrowding and make access easy, there will be a crowd management system in place. (I know that sometimes there can be limited access to the shopping/restaurant area if you are going to the match).

I can ask him for more details when I give them a weekly call and get back to you.

Thank you! Any information you could give me would be very much welcome!