• Stadium will not be ready after World Athletics Championships • Chelsea start title defence at home to Burnley, while Spurs begin at Newcastle

West Ham United will be unable to play their first scheduled home match of the season against Southampton on 19 August because the London Stadium will not be ready after hosting the world athletics championships this summer.

The athletics finish on Sunday 13 August and West Ham confirmed after the Premier League fixtures for 2017-18 had been released that their first home game will be against Huddersfield Town on 9 September. Restoring rows of seats moved to accommodate the running track will take too long to allow the match to go ahead.

Premier League fixtures: full week-by-week list for the 2017-18 season Read more

“Our opening fixtures in August will be played away from home as London Stadium welcomes the 2017 World Athletics Championships for a once-in-a-generation occasion,” West Ham said. “Supporters are therefore advised that our second fixture of the campaign, against Southampton, will be rescheduled, with further details to follow.”

One possibility is that the Southampton fixture will be reversed, with Slaven Bilic’s side scheduled to visit St Mary’s on 31 March, meaning that West Ham would play their first three games away from home. Liverpool had a similar arrangement last season because of delays in the expansion of a stand at Anfield.

Work has begun on stripping all West Ham branding from the London Stadium, which is also hosting concerts this summer, while the seats removed for athletics must be stored off-site in a specific configuration to enable them to be put back again, like a giant jigsaw puzzle. It was estimated last year that it would take at least 15 days to remove the lower tiers, even with a team of labourers working 24 hours a day, and the same again to put them back.

West Ham earned only 25 points in their first season at the London Stadium, the fifth-worst record in the league, although the away form was enough for them to finish 11th. They start their season at Manchester United.

Chelsea begin with a home game against Burnley but the champions have an awkward start. Not only does their first away game take Antonio Conte’s side to Wembley to face Tottenham Hotspur, their closest challengers from last season, they also welcome Arsenal and Manchester City to Stamford Bridge before the end of September. Chelsea visit Newcastle United on the final weekend.

Manchester United, back in the Champions League after their Europa League win last month, will be happier with the way their fixtures have fallen. José Mourinho’s side do not play a likely rival until mid-October, when they visit Liverpool, offering a chance to build early momentum in their quest to win the title for the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson retired four years ago.

Arsenal, however, will need to adapt quickly to the challenge of recovering from playing on Thursday nights, given that they will be away from home after five of their six Europa League group games.

For the teams promoted from the Championship it was a mixed bag. Newcastle have a kind run after hosting Tottenham on the opening weekend. Yet Brighton & Hove Albion begin with a home game against Manchester City and face Spurs, Manchester United and Liverpool in three of their final four matches, while Huddersfield’s delight at not facing any of the big sides in their first six games is tempered by a daunting run-in featuring games against Chelsea, Everton, Manchester City and Arsenal.

Tottenham will reschedule their second home game, against Burnley on 26 August, because rugby league’s Challenge Cup final takes place at Wembley that day.

Football Supporters’ Federation warns against disruptive kick-off time changes Read more

A fans’ working group, set up under the auspices of the Football Supporters’ Federation, raised a number of concerns. Among them is the fact that clubs are due to play 10 Premier League game between 25 November and 1 January.

“This means that over this period, where family commitments and money are at a premium for many, supporters face two league games a week for five weeks,” a statement read. “Little or no effort has been made by the Premier League to try to minimise away travel, given that Newcastle United supporters travelling to all five games will face three trips to London in that time, and travel a total of 2,484 miles. Ten sets of match‑going supporters face round trips totalling in excess of 1,500 miles.”