While our run to our first FA Cup quarter-final in five years has captured the imagination of all West Ham United supporters, it is creating a big headache for those involved in ensuring the Boleyn Ground is provided with the fitting farewell it deserves. League matches on FA Cup quarter-final and semi-final weekends against Watford and Manchester United will have to be rearranged – both these clubs remain involved in the FA Cup still anyway, so fixture alterations would have taken place irrespective of our own run in the competition.
With nine weeks left until the end of the season, it would initially seem relatively simple to rearrange these two fixtures in advance of the current final fixture, against Swansea on the weekend of the 7th May. Simple, that is, until UEFA get themselves involved. European football’s governing body insist that major domestic leagues do not hold matches on nights which are also scheduled for Champions League fixtures. Coupled with the international break in March, this majorly impacts on free dates that West Ham have to stage our two outstanding fixtures:
8th/9th March – Champions League Last 16 2nd leg
15th/16th March – Champions League Last 16 2nd leg
22nd/23rd March – International Break
29th/30th March – International Break
5th/6th April – Champions League Quarter Final 1st leg
12th/13th April – Champions League Quarter Final 2nd leg
19th/20th April – Free Midweek
26th/27th April – Champions League Semi Final 1st leg
3rd/4th May – Champions League Semi Final 2nd leg
10th/11th May – Free Midweek
With these dates in mind, West Ham only have two available dates to play our two outstanding home matches. The Watford game is likely to be held on 19th or 20th April, leaving the 10th or 11th May as the only available date left for us to host Manchester United.
Back in 2012, the Premier League initially refused to sign up to this UEFA stipulation and, in the past, some top-flight matches in England have clashed with European fixtures, leading to the Premier League being issued with a fine by UEFA. It could be that West Ham attempt to negotiate a special dispensation claim, maybe even offering to pay any fine themselves, if it means the Boleyn gets the weekend send-off they have long planned for. This would off-set any extra money that the club would have to find for stewarding or policing a final fixture as a night game in midweek.
A midweek finish looks likely though and this will impact majorly on the club’s preparations. Any post-match celebrations will have to be significantly scaled down due to the transport difficulties around Upton Park. 35,000 fans may be in the ground but there will be many more who travel to the stadium anyway on the off-chance of a ticket or just to soak up a match atmosphere one last time, even from just being outside the ground. The limited parking that is available around the stadium will quickly be taken up, leading to potential chaos on the roads in post-work, rush-hour traffic. The strain on the London Underground with the clamour for last trains home will lead to many fans being faced with a dilemma of having to leave either before or during any post-match celebrations. The Metropolitan Police would also not welcome such a key event taking place on a midweek night.
The only potential solution that I can see is for West Ham to request that our game against Watford takes place on a Champions League night. Allowing for the possibility of Manchester United remaining in the Europa League, this would mean we could play the Manchester United fixture at the Boleyn Ground on 19th/20th April instead, with the Red Devils then playing their remaining fixture against Crystal Palace (from FA Cup quarter-final weekend) on 10th/11th May.
Whether the Premier League or UEFA would agree to this potential Watford match request though is another matter and it leaves West Ham United very much with their hands tied. It certainly seems crazy that the last stand at our famous old ground is affected by a competition we have (so far) never been involved in and, potentially, by games involving teams we have never played ourselves.
Edit: since writing this piece, UEFA have accepted the FA’s request to stage the Arsenal v Hull FA Cup 5th round replay on Tuesday 8th March, a Champions League evening. It can happen…