West Ham United have banned one of their season ticket holders from attending home and away games following a protest against the club's ownership last weekend.
Joshua Wood, who was seen on CCTV holding a banner at the London Stadium that read ‘Time 2 Sell – Name Your Price' during the first half of the match against Sunderland, has received official notice from the club this week that he is banned from the club's next five matches.
The reason given for his ban is that the size of the banner was bigger than what the club allow fans to bring into the stadium, rather than the message on it.
West Ham ban decision explained
In a letter sent to Wood earlier this week, the West Ham season ticket holder was informed that he had brought a flag into the ground that was ‘larger than those maximum dimensions permitted by the club'.
The letter went on to say that he had been ‘observed reaching down to retrieve a banner which breached the permitted dimensions listed above' and that he had failed to give them prior notice that he was planning on bringing a flag of that size into the stadium.
This club is in the fucking bin. @WestHam handing out 3 match bans for fans holding this up against our terrible owners.@karren_brady and co simply cannot accept any criticism of a fanbase they have chosen to ignore. Disgusting.
— ⚒️🏰⚒️ 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 ⚒🏰⚒ (@Chris_Mills_) January 29, 2026
PLEASE REPOST@HammersUnited2 @WestHamHelp pic.twitter.com/I2TWX6MrY5
The ban has not gone down well with the fan, who is claiming that the banner wasn't even his. He told the Guardian:
“I was informed when I was getting a beer in the concourse that a banner had been dropped off by our seats and someone wanted us to hold up a flag. When I got down to the seat, there was a big roll of paper there. I didn’t even look at what was written on it. I just knew it was part of the campaign. I’m fed up, so I was happy to voice my opinion.”
“They’ve been clever in how they’ve approached it because they’re not saying I’ve been banned for protesting. I have no doubt that if it said: ‘We love you, Brady and Sullivan’ we wouldn’t be talking today.”
FGG says: A pathetic response
In light of protests about how they are running the club, West Ham's owners have chosen to ban a loyal supporter from the next five games rather than taking stock and considering why the club's supporters might not be overly impressed with how things are going on and off the pitch. While this is their attitude, West Ham have no chance of progress.