A FORMER West Ham Ladies player lifted the lid yesterday on the terrible conditions the women’s team are forced to play and train under.

The player spoke out after team chair Stephen Hunt accused the club of sex discrimination, with claims that the team are being forced to play in last season’s kit due to a severe lack of funding, which has also meant they can not afford a team bus for away games.

The club denied the claims and said they will be looking to “maintain the current West Ham United Ladies FC squad personnel where possible, and provide them with the best possible support and management moving forward.”

However, speaking exclusively to the Star, an ex-Hammer described the situation as “more fitting of an amateur Sunday league side.”

She said: “Even though you’re playing for the name, it didn’t feel like it as we weren’t really associated with the men’s side and it didn’t feel like the club wanted us to be. It felt unprofessional.

“The [old players’] names were not crossed out as such but it meant players were playing in other people’s shirts.

“It didn’t look great when the mascots had the brand new kit and us, as the senior ladies team, had to wear last season’s].

“We weren’t given a training kit so we had to turn up to games in jeans when other teams were turning up in team tracksuits.”

Hunt claimed that the team are being forced to train by the side of a road as West Ham refused to let them use the gym and the former player not only confirmed that this was true but that she felt like her and her teammates may have been at risk of suffering a serious injury.

“We weren’t allowed to get out of our cars until a certain time as it was clear they didn’t want us at the training ground.

That meant us running through the streets of Essex to get an adequate amount of training in, which was pretty dangerous in the dark.”

The player, who wishes to remain anonymous, has since left the club as West Ham refused to refund expenses for travelling to away games and threatened to not play players who put paid work over matches.

“I left for work commitments as I was having to cancel work to make it to training and games and wasn’t allowed to miss any training or games,” she revealed.

“They demand full commitment from players even if it means missing work commitments, yet they don’t give you expenses to cover anything.”

At a minimum, “they should be giving players expenses for travel at the very least. They should also treat the players better by giving them training kit so they feel part of a team.

“Not to mention paying for transport to games, allowing interaction with the men’s team and ultimately adding the team to the overall pay structure.”