West Ham will be unable to play their first scheduled home game of the season against Southampton on August 19th because the London Stadium will not be ready after hosting this summer's World Athletics Championships.
The world championships finish on Sunday, August 13th 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 September 9th.
The time involved in restoring rows of seats which had to be moved to accommodate the running track is such that the stadium will not be in a state to host the match.
“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 March 31st, 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.
Specific configuration
Work has already begun on stripping all West Ham branding from the London Stadium, which is also hosting concerts this summer, while the seats removed for athletics have to 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 last month's Europa League triumph, will be happier with the way their fixtures have fallen. José Mourinho's side do not play one of their rivals until the middle of October, when they visit Liverpool, offering a chance to build early momentum in their quest to win the title for the first time since Alex Ferguson retired four years ago.
Recovering
Arsenal, however, will need to adapt quickly to the challenge of recovering from playing on Thursday nights given that Arsène Wenger’s side will be away from home after five of their six Europa League group games.
As 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 their debut Premier League campaign with a home game against City and face Liverpool, United and Tottenham in three of their final four matches, while Huddersfield Town’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, City and Arsenal.
Tottenham will reschedule their second home game, against Burnley, on August 26th because rugby league’s Challenge Cup final takes place at Wembley that day. Guardian service
