{"id":332848,"date":"2025-12-24T06:28:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T06:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/332848\/"},"modified":"2025-12-24T06:28:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T06:28:10","slug":"key-backroom-figure-quits-west-ham-to-join-manchester-united","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/332848\/","title":{"rendered":"Key backroom figure quits West Ham to join Manchester United"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

West Ham have seen one of their key backroom figures part ways with the club to join Manchester United.<\/p>\n

Things are already not the best on the pitch for the Hammers, as they are on course to get relegated from the Premier League<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To make matters worse, they will now have to deal with the departure of someone who plays an important role behind the scenes.<\/p>\n

This is shocking! \ud83d\ude30 Relegation is going to be dire for West Ham\u2026 <\/p>\n

What would YOU do to avoid this mess?<\/p>\n

\"West <\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc47 Join the debate; share your insight. Use the comment button on the bottom left to have your say <\/p>\n

Cat Smith leaves West Ham for Manchester United<\/p>\n

According to Henry Winter, Catherine \u201cCat\u201d Smith will be leaving her role at the London Stadium<\/a> to move to Manchester United.<\/p>\n

In his view, this will upset the Hammers fans as she is a beloved figure at the club.<\/p>\n

Smith joined West Ham<\/a> in March 2024 to become the Head of Supporter Services and Fan Engagement.<\/p>\n

A London DERBY awaits! \ud83c\udfa1 <\/p>\n

How are you feeling ahead of West Ham v Fulham? How important is this fixture?<\/p>\n

\"Aaron <\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc47 Join the debate; share your insight. Use the comment button on the bottom left to have your say <\/p>\n

Prior to that, she served as the Head of Supporter Relations at Chelsea, while also spending a few years at Manchester City as Senior Communications Manager\/Project Manager.<\/p>\n

She was also at Leeds United from 2011 to 2013, as she served as the Hospitality Manager for the Elland Road outfit. <\/p>\n

After nearly 15 years of experience in the UK and internationally, Smith will be joining Manchester United.<\/p>\n

Winter wrote on X<\/a>: \u201cWest Ham fans understandably frustrated to lose Cat Smith, the highly regarded Supporters\u2019 Liaison Officer. Believed to be off to Manchester United in a senior comms role.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"WestPhoto by Alex Pantling\/Getty ImagesWhy is Smith beloved by West Ham fans?<\/p>\n

Smith has ties to West Ham as her father and grandfather were fans, and that quickly helped her resonate with the London Stadium faithful.<\/p>\n

She played a very important role in bridging the gap between the owners and the supporters, via fan groups, acknowledging past mistakes made by the hierarchy.<\/p>\n

This was certainly viewed as a refreshing change during periods of fan unrest, which included disputes over ticket pricing, concessions and stadium experience.<\/p>\n

While things are far from ideal with regard to the fans and the board, they would have been far worse without Smith, and her absence will surely be felt.<\/p>\n

It remains to be seen if West Ham look to bring in someone from outside or promote from within, as this is an important role.<\/p>\n

With relegation proving to be a very legitimate possibility, having someone to serve as a liaison between the owners and fans would certainly be beneficial to the club.<\/p>\n

Join Our Newsletter <\/p>\n

Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"West Ham have seen one of their key backroom figures part ways with the club to join Manchester…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332849,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[129632,218,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-332848","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-cat-smith","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}