West Ham honours board banished in dispute over unpaid bills for big screen in latest London Stadium row
Venue owners will not reinstate the board until the Hammers pay tens of thousands of pounds in maintenance fees
WEST HAM'S honours board has been banished from the London Stadium amid disputes about unpaid bills.
The venue owners are not willing to reinstate it until the club fork out tens of thousands of pounds to cover maintenance fees for the stadium's big screen.
The honours board, which was located in the West Stand, was used to celebrate the club's success in previous years.
It was removed in the summer because athletics events were being held in the ground.
And the owners, London Legacy Development Corporation, replaced it with a new branded board for Saturday's clash with Bournemouth.
It read "This is For Everyone" - and some furious fans claimed that it reminded them of Tottenham Hotspur because of the blue and white colour scheme.
The Hammers feel cheated and do not believe that the tenancy agreement demands them to pay.
A West Ham spokesman told : “We are disappointed that the club’s honours list is currently absent from London Stadium.
"The list, which for the last two seasons has been positioned around the middle tier of the West Stand, was removed by landlord E20 while the stadium staged a number of non-football events in the summer.
"Despite the fact that — under the terms of the club’s tenancy agreement — E20 should replace signage at their cost at the start of each season.
“Just days before the club’s first home game on Saturday, E20 demanded money for maintenance of the stadium big screen.
"That fee is not in our tenancy agreement, nor have we paid it before.”
Defending their decision not to reinstate the board, an LLDC spokesman said: “We are more than willing to rent advertising space to West Ham for the display of the club’s honours.
"However, there are some unpaid bills which need to be settled before we will enter into a new deal for the 2018-19 season.
"The club has a very good deal to use the London Stadium and it is only right and fair that it should pay to use additional assets in the venue.”
The Hammers were at loggerheads with the stadium landlord recently about the colour of the material that surrounds the pitch.
Vice-chairman Karren Brady has offered to pay for a new claret and blue cover.
Fans have stated that the running track around the edge of the pitch has upset the atmosphere on match days.
