Well we saw what the potential future home of the Hammers looks like in action, it looked fantastic and I am opposed to the move so that was hard for me to admit!
The atmosphere was great and the modern stadium was packed to the rafters, the occasion had the crowd singing and cheering till voices were hoarse, it was a momentous display and showed that the years of planning were worth it and I take my hat off to the planners of the ceremony, it got all the problems that the London Olympics has endured picked them up like a pair of screaming babies and tucked them into bed ready for the Olympics to be kicked off and the cauldron, which was nothing short of superb, to be lit!
One question was heated up by the Olympic flame, is this move right for us?
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I have always been of the opinion that it is a bad idea ever since that Golivan and Brady announced their intentions for a move to the multi-million pound stadium, my reasoning behind this is best listed:
• The cost- It has been quoted that the move will cost us a staggering £90 million and we already have debts although they are not affecting the operation of the club. I don’t believe we should be spending huge amounts of cash especially when it’s being financed by a loan from Newham Council
• The stadium- It is the wrong shape for a start, it has a running track around it and if you buy a season ticket any further back than the middle row it come with a free set of binoculars for men and opera glasses for females!
• The ownership- It worries me that we won’t own the stadium, it rarely works to rent a stadium and we shouldn’t be in a position that if our finances go down the toilet and we can’t keep up with the rent payments that we find ourselves with no place to call home and nowhere to watch our glorious claret and blue boys!
• Cheaper options- We still have planning permission on the chicken run so why not build the stand up then fill the corners in with seats so we get a sea of claret and blue? The noise at Upton Park is already immense imagine, if you will, it as I described nowhere for sound to escape but up it would make it an even more intense ground to visit for away teams than it already is! The other option is to build a purpose built stadium, I believe we still own the land of the old gas works near west ham tube station? Rotherham spent £25 million building the New York Stadium it seats 12,000 fans so if we are spending £90 million on a
conversion surely we could have a fantastic stadium
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So those are my reasons against which are mirrored by a fairly large portion of supporters, but as with everything there is another side some of which I agree with so here we go:
- World class facilities- Even if we did spend money on a stadium we wouldn’t be able to have the facilities that not only the stadium has to offer but what the park has to offer.
- Transport links- I can’t think of any club in the UK that will have the transport links that we will have if we move to the OS and with rail, tube and busses available as means of transport you won’t be short of ways of getting there and on top of that supporters from further afield can fly in to Heathrow, Gatwick, Stanstead and Luton Airports all no more than 35 miles away from the OS.
- Potential- The stadium has the potential to take West Ham from being mid table to challenging for European places, with increased interest comes more fans, more money and more investment! We will attract larger names and key investors which is vital if we have the stadium and the money we should be all set!
- There was talk of doing an all events season ticket (following suit of Wembley) which with talks of twenty20 cricket, concerts and rugby finals just a few of the events being talked about it would prove enticing to many so long as the cost isn’t sky high, this only benefits certain fans though but may bring in fans who would otherwise spend their money
elsewhere.
So if this is a good idea remains to be seen but I believe we need to put some trust into what Golivan and Brady are saying it’s the least we can do after they saved us from the brink of being well and truly buggered ad have time and time again invested their own cash into the club! So let’s wait and see who the OPLC decide are the best candidate and then watch as the tale is told.
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No brainer. We must go for it.
The bottom line is…West Ham HAVE to move there if they are to compete with the likes of Arsenal and the Manchester clubs. City wouldn’t be where they are if they’d never moved from Maine Road. It’s obviously been David Gold’s and David Sullivan’s sole agenda to move the club forwards by the time they sell up and go. No Irons’ supporter would begrudge them a massive profit if they moved on having left the club winning silverware and challenging for Champions League places. The eras of the totally unambitious Cearns family and the greedy Terence Brown is thankfully, long gone. These former chairmen had no intention of moving the club from a mediocre status and an average top flight final position of 11th. In ten year’s time West Ham United will be a much healthier position than they are today.
d=efinatley haven to move to the OS its a no brainer, i like most hate the idea of leaving behind our heritige at the Boleyn, but it is a must if we are to change our fortunes in the future, we surley must attract a new breed of player of class who would be more than happy to ply their trade at our new place.
And with new owners(biliionaires) with all due respect to the two Davids,we could actually compete with the top 6 oh ok then the top 4!!
Championsleague…….
Im forever blowing bubbles….
COYI
Desperate to get it but sadly it won’t happen, it will become a white elephant……but that’s politics for you.
Not sure why still banging on about Olympic stadium as nothing has changed. We are the best candidate, we desperately need the move and our whole future as a serious player in prem league depends apon it. Which all means sod all as nothing has been decided! Untill a decision is made one way or another it is not worth even thinking about.
Until I see the WHU proposition I remain unconvinced how this fantastic athletics stadium and excellent venue can be modified to suit a football team properly. That will come in October now and then we will know if David Gold is true to his word that no front seat will sit further back that those on the current West Stand.
I think this article is slightly confused by the original purchase bid and the current tenant proposal. The £90m cost and loan from Newham BC no longer exists – it was deemed to be illegal from an EU perspective (and probably was). Or have I misunderstood? How much our lease costs will be decided if this goes ahead. The redevelopment costs will now sit with the UK taxpayer in the main and this is where the whole deal may well fall through. Any viable adjustment to the stadium to make it fit-for-football will likely be too expensive for any government to bear. This is why the decision was delayed I think – to give time for an alternative to the cost of adding retractable seating etc.
Whether it can work or not as a football stadium will not matter in the end if Gold sticks to his word – the cost of changing it (and retaining that running track) will probably be the deal-breaker.
I went to the Olympic stadium for the Athletics on Aug 10th had a very good seat,last row of the lower tier on the side central to where the halfway line would be, yes i had a good view but i was a long way from where the nearside sideline would be, even if the pitch partially covered the running track. I feel that people in the lower tier would have an awefull view of farside of the pitch as i could see watching the track events the athletes were quiet a distance away and looked like small people haha. On coming back to Upton park for the Villa game my seat is in the BM lower tier last row behind the goal so i have a fantastic view of the pitch & game.I feel the view i had at the Olympic stadium could never match the view i have at U P, wherever i may sit if & probably when move there. The Olympic stadium is a great stadium but to watch football there i say 100% its NOT the place to be, your just too far away from the action. Also you cannot compare the atmosphere of an Olympics event to a football match totally different. As for Mr Sullivan saying it be great if 10,000 Wigan fans visited the Olynpic Stadium for a game, no it would not because it would almost make it a home venue for away supporters, as every football fan knows generally its the away fans that make an atmosphere at games. So thats it i’am against the O P enough said Cheers everyone COYI.