Boardroom dispute and Panorama allegations overshadow West Ham ahead of Portsmouth cup tie
West Ham begin their new season on Saturday with a Carabao Cup first-round tie against Portsmouth at the London Stadium as a boardroom battle over Vanessa Gold’s 25% share and allegations against co-owner David Sullivan from the BBC’s Panorama documentary overshadow the club’s start to life in the Championship.
Relegation from the Premier League last season has left the club navigating a difficult summer after a decade at the London Stadium; the Hammers are still regarded as short-odds favourites for promotion but have faced turbulence off the field. Sullivan stepped down from his executive role on the eve of the Panorama broadcast “to avoid disruption to the club while he addresses the matter privately”, and the club has sold 50,000 season tickets ahead of the attempt to return to the top flight.
Stadium operators this week recommended Sullivan stay away from Saturday’s fixture because of the “potential for demonstrations and anti-social behaviour by some spectators”, though it is expected he will attend despite a fans advisory board warning that his presence would cause “offence and upset”. Sullivan, who owns 38.8% of the club, continues to deny the allegations of “sexually exploitative and predatory behaviour towards women over several decades” made in the Panorama film; on 25 May, as relegation was confirmed despite a home win over Leeds, he was forced to leave the stadium early for his own safety.
Until his removal from daily duties, Sullivan often acted as the club’s de facto director of football, a role that angered some in the football department, and his chief ally Karren Brady resigned in April, ending a working relationship that dated back to 1990. The collapse of that management partnership follows criticism of transfer decisions since the Europa Conference League win in May 2023, with the £100m fee received for Declan Rice described as frittered away. Club captain Jarrod Bowen has pledged to remain at West Ham and lead the side’s promotion bid.
Ownership dynamics continue to shift. Daniel Kretinsky, who had owned 27% of West Ham since 2021, reduced that holding to just under 25% this week as part of a wider strategy. The 25% stake once held by the late David Gold and now belonging to Vanessa Gold is central to potential moves; taking it would push Kretinsky beyond a 50.1% threshold unless he shifts 2% to his Czech ally, entrepreneur Jakub Havrlant, which would leave him short of that obligation. Amanda Staveley re-entered the picture last weekend; she left Newcastle in July 2024 after helping secure investment from the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund and was linked with a Tottenham takeover last September, and her next steps at West Ham are being closely watched.
On the playing side, West Ham’s first summer signing was free-agent defender Joël Veltman; outgoing deals included the sales of Mateus Fernandes to Tottenham and Crysencio Summerville to Al-Hilal, a pair of transfers said to have raised a collective £140m. Youth product Freddie Potts left for Club Brugge for £10m, and there has been reported interest in Troy Parrott of AZ Alkmaar. Nuno Espírito Santo remains in charge of the first team, Karim Virani has returned as interim chief executive after spells elsewhere, and the club faces league fixtures against Burnley, Charlton, Watford and Wolves by 1 September.
The London Stadium has continued to host major non-football events this summer, staging Take That and Metallica concerts and the Diamond League meeting in July where Josh Kerr broke the world mile record; on Thursday a bid was confirmed to stage the 2029 World Athletics Championships following an impasse between the club and stadium ownership. Ten years after leaving the Boleyn Ground, the terms agreed by Sullivan, the late David Gold and Brady for the stadium remain a source of resentment among supporters and continue to underline tensions over control of the club’s home.
West Ham’s immediate test is Saturday’s Carabao Cup first-round tie with Portsmouth, who are expected to bring 9,000 supporters to the London Stadium, while the broader ownership contest — and whether Sullivan stays involved — remains unresolved.