West Ham have responded to a claim that vice-chair Karren Brady is leaving the club after 16 years ahead of a major meeting with fans next week.
Karren Brady has been a hugely divisive and unpopular figure amongst West Ham fans.
Not least because of promises made over the club’s hugely controversial move from Upton Park to the London Stadium.
Now it is being claimed her time at the club is coming to an end – although not for the first time of late.
Brady has previously been able to point to the job she has done in turning around West Ham’s finances.
Brady no longer has finances to fall back on at West Ham
When she arrived at the club alongside majority owner David Sullivan and the sadly passed David Gold, it was claimed the Hammers were on the verge of administration with £100m of debt.
Fast forward 16 years and despite several years of success on the pitch and increased revenue, West Ham are about to announce record £100m losses.
Would you take relegation if it meant that David Sullivan would leave?! 🤔
Not a nice position to be in – but what would YOU choose if you had to?
David Sullivan takes in a West Ham match from the directors' box
Photo by Tom Dulat/Getty Images
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So Brady’s position will understandably be in the spotlight.
Especially as West Ham fans have been protesting all season in order to force the board – and specifically Brady and Sullivan – out.
West Ham’s Fan Advisory Board issued a public vote of no confidence in the board back in September, prompting the club to send Brady to meet with them.
West Ham vice-chair Karren Brady watches on at the London Stadium alongside husband Paul Peschisolido
Photo by Craig Mercer/MB Media/Getty Images
A subsequent meeting has been held and on each occasion supporters have issued a list of demands for change to the ownership.
One of those was for Sullivan and Brady to stand down from the day-to-day running of West Ham.
Back in November, claims emerged that Sullivan and Brady had decided to leave West Ham at the end of the season.
Now it seems Brady may be heading for the London Stadium exit even sooner than that.
West Ham respond to Brady exit claim
West Ham have responded to a new Brady exit claim ahead of a fan summit meeting.
West Ham’s latest meeting with the FAB takes place next week.
This is shocking! 😰 Relegation is going to be dire for West Ham…
What would YOU do to avoid this mess?
West Ham owner David Sullivan
Rumours have been circulating that Brady is about to announce her resignation.
Hammers News can confirm that Brady, director of ticketing Nicola Keye and West Ham Independent Supporters’ Committee’s Supporter Liaison Officer will meet on February 26th.
West Ham majority owner David Sullivan and vice-chair Karren Brady in the director's box during the defeat to Crystal Palace
Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images
It is a hugely significant meeting which West Ham have delayed from the end of January.
The FAB are expecting all the outstanding answers to questions asked in the original meeting back in September.
Hammers News has been told the feeling among the FAB is that ‘Brady and co are running out of cans and running out of road’.
Amid rumours Brady is about to step down in line with supporter demands, a senior West Ham source has insisted they ‘know nothing about the rumours’.
Hammers board ‘know nothing’ about Brady resignation
Hammers News put it to the senior spokesman for West Ham’s owners whether there was any truth to claims Brady will be leaving her role in the coming weeks.
The response, which has also been communicated to other prominent West Ham insiders, was: “We know nothing about it”.
Perhaps significantly, Brady’s summit meeting with fans comes two days before the Companies House deadline for West Ham’s latest accounts.
The Hammers have filed their accounts in the first two weeks of January for the last four years.
Meanwhile, leading Hammers insider Sean Whetstone has suggested Brady has not tendered her resignation yet, meaning an imminent departure is unlikely.
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