Amid West Ham’s sluggish start to the 2024-25 Premier League season under Spanish manager Julen Lopetegi, there are continuous discussions around the ownership group in charge of the east London side.
The discussions have been ongoing, and many fans have called for different owners for years to take the club forward and take it to the next level. Without much movement at all. It’s clear to see the relationship between the fans, and the club’s investors in east London are moulded by many different moving parts of the football club.
Concession tickets, ticket prices, season ticket allocations and the overall direction of the club have been at the forefront of discussion in the last year, especially the way the club dealt with former head coach David Moyes.
The last decade has seen the club twist and turn towards a toxic club culture, led by fans with views on how the owners dealt with the turbulent move to the London Stadium from the much coveted and loved Upton Park.
This season hasn’t helped the owner’s case, as results have been below par of what’s expected of the club, which hoped to have shifted the culture to a winning one after a successful second stint under David Moyes.
The Club’s ownership group is odd, which is made up of many different shareholders who own parts of the club.
Longtime stakeholder David Sullivan owns the majority of the club, owning just under 39 per cent of the Hammers.
The rest of the club’s ownership is shared between a group of companies held by Vanessa Gold, on behalf of the late David Gold.
Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky’s group 1902 Holdings owns 27 per cent, having 14 per cent of that to himself.
Tripp Smith holds approximately eight per cent, with Daniel Harris and Terrence Brown collectively owning the final one per cent.
Lots were made to believe Kretinsky bought into the club with the option and idea to fully take over the club’s ownership. His supposed deal with the club has never come to fruition yet, with some fans questioning the intentions of the other owners who haven’t shown any legitimate signs of selling.
Kretinsky has continued to invest in other parties, buying the British Institution the Royal Mail.
His proposed deal to take the institution into complete private ownership has stalled after his £3.6bn takeover bid was accepted in early 2024.
With the Royal Mail being in close quarters to the East London football club, you would assume the Czech businessman would be spending more time around the club, with intentions to take over West Ham to add to his various investments
