This summer has already seen West Ham United smash their transfer record by £5m by signing Andy Carroll from Liverpool following his loan spell.
This follows on from last summer where we paid £10m for Matt Jarvis, again breaking the existing club transfer record at the time. Jarvis was a great signing, and I feel with Carroll knowing his future is secure, we will also see the best of him, following on from the end of last season. However, in the last week, we have apparently bid £10m for Wilfried Bony, had an interest in Demba Ba who would command high wages, and now a £6.5m for Duvan Zapata.
So where are West Ham getting their money from to buy these players? We all know that David Gold and David Sullivan have contributed a lot of their own personal wealth, something I think every supporter should appreciate. Sullivan has recently increased his shareholding within the club, which again, I’m very pleased about. But the Chairmen have also made it clear that they only have so much money to contribute.
I would like to think that we are through the worst of our money problems at the club. Since the owners have come in, they have reduced the debt from around £100-£110m to £70m. They have fulfilled the fine given to us for the Tevez farce, and have backed Allardyce in the transfer market. I have no doubt that the increased TV revenue this season will also help, and finishing 10th in the league boosted the coffers with prize money.
Have West Ham got investors on the horizon, with promises of lots of cash? With the Olympic Stadium move coming up, it’s the ideal time for Gold and Sullivan to start drumming up business. They have been very shrewd in their dealings with the club with the new shirt deal with Adidas, and the new sponsor generating more revenue than the one with SBOBet.
I for one appreciate the effort and money they have put into our club, to turn things around from the brink of extinction, to a flourishing football club with a bright future. One day they will probably sell up to better owners, but they will always be remembered by me for saving us from bankruptcy.
COME ON YOU IRONS!!
By Chelmo Hammer
Different owners but not better. Well done the two Davids!
Would you like to expand on how they are no better than the Icelandic lot who put us almost out of business and Brown’s lot who would have sold the kitchen sink at UP if they could have found a buyer.
I’m always dubious as to whether some people who make nonsense comments ACTUALLY support West Ham!
Dafuq are you on about? Re-read matey because you aren’t making any sense! 😛
I’m pretty sure John was referring to the last sentence of selling up to better owners… In fact not being better just rather different.
Stick your matey, son 🙂
Gold/sullivan are the best thing thats ever happened to us and they show how much the club means to them by spending all this money on new players and saving the club and i cant believe some people dont want to move to the olympic stadium when all gold/sullivan want for the club is the very best because there not just chairman but fans like us as well and it shows by what they want for this great club of ours. I for one am very grateful to them
Totally agree with Wayne!!!! The two Davids are hammers through and throough. Let´s get behind them and stop moaning… I´ve been supporting the hammers since -86 and now it´s the first time I feel we can be a bit optimistic ´bout the future, and not just hope we avoid relegation (again), Get behind Gold/Sullivan!!!!
Must agree with John, different not better owners. The 2 David’s have done wonders for the club that I have supported for well over 40 years
100% agree. Chairman and owners will always take the flack when things aren’t going well, no matter what they’ve done for the club. The 2 David’s seemed vilified at Birmingham yet they took a bankrupt club from the bottom of the championship and turned them in to a premier league club. I even hear some of our own fans digging them out which is astonishing!
Our club has never been in better hands, they’ve got 20 years experience and we are blessed that they are both lifelong hammers fans! There is no doubt in my mind that they have the clubs beat interests at hand as well as any business interest. Exciting times ahead for us in the next 5-10 years. I honestly feel that we would have been in the same position as Pompey or worse if they hadn’t taken the reigns at the club
they have taken out a 10million ound loan which they were hoping to use to finance the bony deal with,with that fallen through they still have the 10million pound so are going to put it to use seeing as its an extreely high interest loan,thiss has been borrowed against the premier league tv money we are due for the 2013/2014 season.
there is a link somewhere with the story in full
Thanks Ian. That may give the author of this post (and others) some closure.
As for me I’m not so concerned about where the David’s get their money from, because as Businessmen & Millionaires I trust them to know what they are doing & I congratulate them on the fine job too!
The two Davids saved us from becoming the next leeds or portsmouth, I for 1 will always be grateful to them as they saved the club I adore! COYI
Listen,these two businessmen are West Ham through and through,they’ve done all the hard business work years ago,made their money and are now fulfilling their dream and ambition,owning and steering the Hammers to being a top 6 club. Don’t forget Karen Brady,she came in,saw the ridiculous extravagances of the Icelandic circus and trimmed the whole lot down.We are now a really well run club,in good hands and with a bright,exciting future,maybe the dreams might not fade and die……..
I can’t believe that there can possibly be anyone left that can doubt the motives or integrity of Gold & Sullivan. There are no owners in the Prem that care more or have more passion for their club than those two men. They have saved our club from extinction and already set it on course to become one of the biggest clubs in the country & I have no doubt that they will succeed.
I have the tiniest fear, because like so many I grew up under a tory government and watched them destroy our great country. For those of you who are too young to remember, Tony Blair turned a nation of political cynics into evangelists. The whole country suddenly believed again and for a few years we still believed. Oops. Not quite a tory but far from the transforming hero we imagined. I’m not sayin’ it’s the same at all (and running a country is miles harder than running a club) but while I want to worship at the Davids feet as the saviours they seem to be, I’ll hang on for a couple of seasons more before hanging out the bunting. Having said that, so far, so good. Don’t let our faith down D&D.
Come on….
Youu are questioning where this cash is coming from and at the same time praising the Dave’s.
Since they have taken over money has not been a problem. They are just really good business men who understand how to plead poverty and get the best deal and have installed one of the best managers around…. we currently stand in the best position we ever have and it will only get better…. wait until they really start spending and stop worrying.
I do believe that the two davids have done great things for west ham , but I also think that the money that has been ploughed into the club is either loans or advance payment on tv revenue. and I feel that talk of bankruptcy is a bit far off the mark because of the value of upton park and the revenue from gate receipts each week would always make us an attractive proposition for any football investors. so great guys …YES….saviours of west ham …..dont think so……..I’ve just finished tony cottees latest book and would of loved to have seen him in charge…maybe one day……
Cheddars mate, I think you need to look at the numbers better regarding the David’s bailout and the real estate value of UP and the debts. We were that close to going the way of Pompey thanks to the Icelandic biscuit buffoons and their wayward spending and borrowing against revenues due in in future years. Have no doubts the porn kings were our saviours.
On the David’s I think everything that has been done so far has been fantastic. I rate Gold as a true Hammer with some good sense. I just hope he stays in good health as I think he’s the good guy. I reserve judgement on Sullivan as a ‘true hammer’. Brady is just their employee. She’d do the work anywhere else and probably will. She does fine and that’s all.
On the pitch, I haven’t been this positive about the season since god knows when! We’re doomed.
Sorry not everything they have done has been fantastic. The Zola sacking/ Grant appointment was a howler. You may have noticed Sullivan almost totally ceased PR after that with Gold and his tweets doing the work.
I guess you must be Mr PERFECT then???
Has business men the 2 davids know that in some cases you have to speculate to accumalate, but the point being missed here is that they are also footbball men who actually support the club they own, and are not a russian gas magnet or a dubai oil magnet looking for a toy to play with. Has fans we should get behind them in the quest to make whufc a major force not only in the prem but europe too. I’ll leave you with this thought, rome wasn’t built in a day but is now an outstanding monument of hard graft. COYI
There is no doubt we are moving in the right direction and I just hope that when we move and it’s all getting exciting they stay and are at the helm when we really are top dogs in London 😉
We are so lucky to have owners that really care, everything they have done has been in the best interest of the club. we’ve got local owners who have literally saved the club from ending up broke and falling through the leagues. Perhaps some ‘fans’ would rather see us owned by a foreign billionaire with mercenary footballers but I am glad we’ve got local owners, a top British manager players who put a shift in, we played some good football last year and I expect us to kick on Season by season. Well done the David’s. COYI
I don’t know why there is any question of ‘where’ the money is coming from…
The Davids, and I agree with above, have either forked out of their own pocket or got the Bank to forward up on the basis of the Sky/BT deal this season which increases about £30mil from last year.
So thats where…
After looking at what Revenue West Ham got from last season 2012/13 which amounted to a Grand total of £ 47.1 m that consist of £ 8.3 m 10th Place prize fund plus every club received a further £ 33 m from the Premier League and another £5.3 m TV money. This Is without any Corporate money and revenue raised from the Fan Base through the Turnstiles. I do think the Current Regime is the Best We have ever had and I can see West Ham hitting new Heights in the coming few seasons COYI!!!!!!!!!!!