West Ham requested that the Premier League give them an away fixture on Boxing Day because Stratford station could not cope with the combined effect of fans attending a game at the former Olympic Stadium and crowds for the post-Christmas sales at Westfield shopping centre.

It is the latest disadvantage associated with West Ham’s move from Upton Park to the London Stadium last year and it is a problem that is likely to continue with Dec 26 a key trading day for Westfield Stratford. This year the struggling club have been given an away fixture at Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium. When they asked for the same provision last season, their first in the former Olympic Stadium, West Ham supporters were given a trip to Swansea City’s Liberty Stadium, 230 miles away from the club’s new home.

The club have said that there will be Boxing Day home games at the London Stadium in the future. In a statement today a spokesman for West Ham said there was “categorically no agreement in place that means West Ham United have to play Boxing Day fixtures away from home.”

In the past, the Westfield Stratford mall has opened at 8am on the Boxing Day bank holiday and although football fans arriving at the Stratford station are filtered around the shopping centre and across the bridge to the stadium it is not feasible to accommodate sale shoppers and fans. The Premier League has confirmed to Telegraph Sport that West Ham have requested special dispensation to play away on Boxing Day.