West Ham confirm ballots will be held as season ticket holders fight to watch in reduced capacity games

WEST HAM have become the first club to announce season ticket holders will enter a ballot for every game before knowing if they can watch the team in action.

SunSport revealed last week how Premier League clubs were looking to stage lotteries on a regular basis to determine who would be allowed into grounds when fans are finally allowed back into stadiums.

The government hopes to give the green light to people to watch sporting events from October 1.

But it will be at hugely reduced capacities to allow for social distancing measures to be enforced.

The Hammers are the first top flight team to reveal details how it would all work after publishing their season ticket policy for the new campaign.

Season tickets will be sold as per usual, but for every game staged at the London Stadium a ballot will be held to decide who gets to be there in person.

Those who miss out will be given a cash refund for the value of that game which would be paid within 30 days of it being played.

The unlucky ones would also be ranked higher in terms of priority in the ballot for the following matches.

This is in an attempt to allow all season ticket holders to access a similar amount of matches over the course of the campaign.

It is a logistical nightmare for clubs to run such schemes, but is seen as the only fair way to give their fans an even chance of watching matches in person.

The hope is that as the season goes on the government will gradually relax their Covid-19 prevention guidelines to allow an increasing number of fans into grounds.