Discord and poor organisation in and around the repurposed Olympic Stadium threatens to be more serious than mere teething troubles

This was not how it was advertised in the brochure. Nor in the glossy online videos fronted by the vice-chair Karren Brady. Or, for that matter, in the hi-tech glass and chrome season ticket reservations centre in the Westfield shopping mall next to the Olympic Park where West Ham’s new 57,000-seat stadium nestles. Their move to what we must now call London Stadium (at least until a much-delayed naming rights deal is announced) is a dream that is threatening to turn into a nightmare.

London Stadium owners working with Met police to oversee West Ham games Read more

It is unlikely David Gold, the club’s co-owner who has sworn until he is claret and blue in the face that the move is not a prelude to cashing out, enjoyed his 80th birthday much. Not only did he see West Ham, so fluid and thrilling last season in those intense night matches when they bid farewell to Upton Park, throw away a 2-0 lead against Watford but the issues that had been bubbling away with the stadium move burst into the open.

As a minority of West Ham fans fought with each other and Watford supporters, leading to 20 being banned on Friday, others shook their heads at what they saw around them. Nor would the soundtrack have been exactly that Gold dreamed of when the protracted, controversial battle for the £701m Olympic Stadium was finally won following a succession of legal tussles and political bungles.

“Stand up if you love West Ham,” chanted some fans; “Where were you at Upton Park?” sang others, as frustration with a dream seemingly turning sour before their eyes became ugly.

Some current and former stewards, with decades of experience at Upton Park between them, and who spoken to the Observer last week, have variously described the situation as a scandal and an accident waiting to happen.

The clashes between West Ham fans have been styled by some as a showdown between new football and old football, the prawn sandwich brigade pitched against those who favour a pie, a pint and some industrial-strength language. That is a grave oversimplification. Many of those most troubled by the move were longstanding season ticket holders at Upton Park.

Similarly, others have tried to boil a complex situation down to a face-off between those who want to stand and those who do not. But the safe standing issue is a separate debate, albeit one whose time appears to be coming amid positive noises from the new FA chairman, Greg Clarke. Had the so-called “migration” been better handled, the issue of persistent standing would not have turned into quite such an early flashpoint.

For all that, there is an undeniable feeling that, if the situation is not resolved by the time West Ham play Southampton next Saturday, the entire rationale for the move is in danger of being undermined. Things like the new club crest incorporating the word London, the decision to swap Ken’s Cafe and market stalls for upmarket eateries and a huge new megastore sometimes feel like a stark experiment on a grand scale.

To some, it seemed West Ham were too eager to cast off the past, that the stage-managed farewell to the Boleyn Ground was an attempt to draw a definitive line under the east London club as it was. Such arguments would have likely remained a low-key undertow to the move had things gone better. As it is, they will fester and grow if the situation is not addressed.

Since the Watford game, meetings have taken place between the club and the stadium operators, LS185, set up by Vinci, which has a 25-year contract to run the stadium. “There is a lot of testosterone flying about, it’s an awful relationship,” said one well-placed source. All sides are insistent that money is not an issue when it comes to fan safety and it would do them a disservice to suggest otherwise. But it cannot be denied that the fractious relationship between the stadium operators (and the London Legacy Development Corporation/Newham “special purpose vehicle” that sits above them) has contributed to the current situation.

Tensions that built throughout negotiations over the tenancy agreement, which resulted in West Ham paying £2.5m a year for the stadium, have led to a far from straightforward working relationship. West Ham seem aggrieved that they were not consulted more fully about how their new home would be run. One of the more surprising lines of defence from the stadium owners was that many other sporting events have been held at the stadium – as though a one-off motor racing exhibition or a Rugby World Cup match is in any way analogous to the prospect of West Ham facing Tottenham or Chelsea.

Under the deal LS185 is responsible for all matchday costs, including stewarding and policing. With Brady having struck a characteristically hard bargain, there is an underlying irritation at being blamed for the latest problems.

Nacer Chadli’s double helps West Brom romp to 4-2 win over West Ham Read more

There is plenty of blame to go around. While the club and the stadium owners have tried to play the situation down, the most troubling views have come from the 140 Upton Park stewards who made the move with the club. Already, 40 are said to have quit. Their tale is a sorry one. They claim that they have not been listened to and that while at Upton Park stewards were stationed in the same place and built up a rapport with fans, learning to quell trouble before it started; at the London Stadium they have been shunted around to different spots.

Anecdotal evidence tells of home and away fans mixing freely on their way into the stadium, of minimal searches taking place, of the automatic turnstiles not distinguishing between adult and concession tickets, of fans buying cut-price season tickets to sell on, of fans sitting in seats that are not their own. Somewhere along the way the migration of season ticket holders from Upton Park, and the addition of up to 20,000 more into the mix, has been mishandled.

So those in the self-styled “chav corner” – a rowdy bunch at the intersection of the Trevor Brooking and West Stands at Upton Park – were told they would be relocated to a similarly atmospheric part of the new ground only to find they have effectively been told to sit down and shut up.

Conversely, those who wanted a family-friendly environment were told that the entire upper tier was designed to be welcoming to them.

One of the biggest mysteries of the game of blame and counter–blame played out over the past week is the case of the incredible reappearing family section. Under Premier League rules, clubs are required to have an official family section. West Ham say that two blocks in the Bobby Moore Upper that house season ticket holders moved from the family area in Upton Park fulfil that criteria.

But many fans who have contacted the Observer say they specifically asked if there was a family section and were told there was not.

West Ham are trying to move on to the front foot and have insisted on a police presence within the ground. They will hold a meeting with fans after the Southampton match, have moved more than 250 dissatisfied with their new seats and are insistent that the issues will come to be seen as teething problems as the season progresses.

The danger for the West Ham board and for Brady personally, is that a painful few weeks will set the tone for the entire season. That part of a fanbase who had largely been convinced of the need to move to the new stadium as part of a vision to turn West Ham into one of London’s biggest clubs is already wondering whether they have been mis-sold.

On his Twitter feed Gold has swung between defiance – “It is a different stadium and we love our new home. It takes time to adjust” – and railing against those who criticise. One fan who accused him of selling the club’s soul was told that they had just moved into a “new iconic stadium” and to “pull yourself together” and go for a “lie down”.

For the owners and for Brady, this has become personal. If they are to rescue the bold move on which they have staked their reputations and the future of the club, they will have to move fast.