The London Stadium has been the home of West Ham United Football Club since they took up tenancy in the summer of 2016.

It was built for the 2012 Olympic Games but it was converted into a football stadium a year later with work taking the best part of three years to make into a home for the Hammers.

While it originally held 80,000 people for the Olympics, its capacity has been reduced and regulated to 62,500 for football matches.

Where is the London Stadium?

The stadium is located in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, which is in the Stratford district of the capital.

It is in the Lower Lea Valley which is situated approximately 6 miles east of central London.

How to get to the London Stadium

There are five train stations within walking distance of the stadium, some of which have access to the London Underground, overground or mainline.

• Stratford Station – operates on the Jubilee and Central for the Underground, Greater Anglia and C2C for mainline, London Overground and Docklands Light Railway (DLR),
• Stratford International Station – is served by the Southeastern Highspeed 1 mainline service and the Docklands Light Railway.
• Stratford High Street Station- operates on the Docklands Light Railway.
• Pudding Mill Lane Station – is served by the Docklands Light Railway.
• Hackney Wick Station – operates on the London Overground.

You cannot park at the London Stadium if you are going by car as it is classified as a ‘green stadium’, but there are special considerations for those that are disabled, with accessible parking provided (see below).

Stratford Bus Station and Stratford City Bus Station are situated very closely to Stratford Train Station. The bus numbers to use are as follows:

25, 86, 97, 104, 108, 158, 241, 257, 262, 276, 308, 425, 473, D8

There is an Accessible Shuttle Bus which is provided by West Ham taking those with accessibility needs to and from the stadium.

To help fans around the ground itself, there is a dedicated team of Supporter Liason Officers (SLO) who can be identified by their bright blue high-visibility jackets.

There are 49 accessible car park spaces but, to guarantee availability, it is best advised to contact the club via accessibility@westhamunited.co.uk well in advance to reserve your spot.

Inside the ground, there are 24 wheelchair-accessible viewing areas, with accessible toilets also available. There are 20 Disable Supporter Assistants (DSA), identifiable by their pink high-visibility jackets who have been given special disability awareness training to help visiting supporters.

What can you take into the London Stadium?

Flag and banners are allowed into the ground but they may be confiscated by security or stewards if they are deemed an obstruction to entrances/exits and gangways.

Smoking is banned inside the stadium and any supporter using a cigarette will be ejected. E-cigarettes are also banned.

It should be pointed out that any item that is perceived as a weapon will be immediately confiscated. Other items that are not permitted include:

• Large bags in excess of 30cmx20cmx20cm
• Glass of any kind, bottles and cans
• Large umbrellas
• Recording devices
• Pets (unless permitted for accessibility purposes)
• Laser pointers
• Whistles, air horns cow bells and musical instruments
• Alcohol

How much does it cost to watch West Ham play?

You can read our full breakdown of ticket prices here, but costs depend on the type of seating, your age and where you want to sit in the London Stadium.

Tickets are split into different categories (C, B, A and AA) and the maximum price for an adult is £120 for the 2024/25 season, with the cheapest being £30. You can read a full overview of ticket categories here.

Bands 1 to 6 are used to determine cost and are based on the location of seating. Band 1 costs much more than Band 2 and so forth. There is also premium seating available in two stands (1966 West And 1966 Billy Bonds).

Concession ticket costs for the disabled, under 18s, under 21s and over 66 can vary depending on what band and category you are in.

Where can you eat near the stadium?

There are three places inside the stadium where food and drink can be bought:

• Block 117 – Has soft drinks, draught beer and confectionery items on sale.
• Block 118 – In addition to soft drinks and bottled beer, you can purchase a Wicks Manor sausage roll and/or the vegetarian alternative Nachos.
• Block 119 – Soft drinks, beer and an assortment of pies (both meat and vegetarian) are on sale.

Westfield Shopping Centre is also near the stadium, where there are over 90 different food and drink vendors, including Greggs, Five Guys, Caffe Nero, Starbucks, McDonald’s, Pret A Manger, Pizza Express and Wagamama.

Where did West Ham play before the London Stadium?

The Hammers’ first home was at the Memorial Grounds but a dispute with the owner Arnold Hills led to the team moving in 1904. They resituated to the Boleyn Ground, which was the home of another football club at the time; Boleyn Castle FC.

With both teams playing at the same location, the decision was made to amalgamate the two clubs into one, with West Ham United going on to play their matches at the ground for the next 112 years.

The Boleyn Ground was often referred to Upton Park due to its location. The first game against Millwall drew a crowd of over 10,000 and the record attendance for a West Ham game came in 1970 when 42,322 were present to see the London derby against Tottenham Hotspur.

However, in the early 1990s, the capacity of the ground had to be reduced as all top-flight clubs were forced to have all-seater stadiums following the findings of the Taylor Report.

The North Bank was replaced by the 6,000-seat Centenary Stand, and that was followed by the renovation work on the West Stand in 2001, which consisted of 15,000 seats, executive boxes, a hotel and other facilities.

35,016 was the official capacity of the Boleyn Ground prior to the Irons leaving for their current home in 2016. It was demolished to make way for new homes. Jonjo Heuerman recovered between 1000 and 1400 bricks from a wall at the ground when it was taken down. These could be purchased by fans with inscriptions added.

These bricks (with the inscriptions) were later reproduced for the London Stadium where a pathway was built.