[Football] Interesting Summary of the Olympic Stadium and what it’s done to West Ham

[blue-shifted]

It's almost like the stadium built for the athletics events at the Olympic games is really good at being an athletics stadium for big showpiece events and actually really rubbish at being a football stadium.

This whole Olympic legacy thing. Everyone has been a loser.

Taxpayer. Lost massively
Athletics lovers. Lost having a dedicated national hub
West Ham fans. They can’t stand where they are.
West Ham owners. They’ve had to spend all the Upton Park cash and more on players and wages.

So I suppose you could say it’s only really Zabaleta, Lanzini and Yarmolenko who have benefitted from this sorry affair

 

[Stat Brother]

They are only just above the drop zone having spent massively on players and with a thumping great wage bill. I'd say that's where the "myth" comes from

As I said I don't believe they have badly spent.
They may well have overspent, the palace syndrome (I had no idea they were so poor behind the scenes)
I think they've definitely been badly managed.
But I don't believe the recent players bought would be looked upon as bad buys in most other squads, even at the prices West Ham paid.

 

[Icy Gull]

Anyone thinking of the effect on Leyton Orient being just down the road amongst all this moaning from West Ham fans?

Haven’t read the whole thread so apologies if this has already been mentioned.

Edit, although a quick check on the crowd figures over the last few years suggests they may have benefited. Have some WHU fans started going to Orient?

 

[kevo]

100% I love all the brick and ironwork detailing in some rebuild baseball stadiums. Modern take on what gives each ground its unique character. Part of the ongoing destruction of the heart and soul of football in this country is the soulless bowls we now have, and taking blue and white glasses off, the Amex is just another ‘meh’ nothing experience if we’re honest. Nice views from your seat, but a four stand stadium with a modern take on our old, unique floodlights, one in each corner looming over the stadium, how fantastic would that have been?

View attachment 119541

Agreed! It would have been fantastic. As nice a ground as the Amex is, it is basically just another bowl. It's a shame stadium architechts and the clubs themselves can't be a bit more imaginative.

 

[Megazone]

Agreed! It would have been fantastic. As nice a ground as the Amex is, it is basically just another bowl. It's a shame stadium architechts and the clubs themselves can't be a bit more imaginative.

I disagree. I think the Amex with it's big 3 tier stand gives the ground some identity unlike these one tier bowl stadiums. I've heard many visiting fans praise our ground for its uniqueness. Something we should feel very proud and lucky to have.

 

[Icy Gull]

I disagree. I think the Amex with it's big 3 tier stand gives the ground some identity unlike these one tier bowl stadiums. I've heard many visiting fans praise our ground for its uniqueness. Something we should feel very proud and lucky to have.

If we had a top half of the table PL team I think the Amex would be a cauldron for big games. Nothing wrong with the stadium, it’s just that we are now almost resigned to not winning before a ball is kicked and this makes the atmosphere a bit flat most of the time.

 

[Easy 10]

Anyone thinking of the effect on Leyton Orient being just down the road amongst all this moaning from West Ham fans?

Haven’t read the whole thread so apologies if this has already been mentioned.

Edit, although a quick check on the crowd figures over the last few years suggests they may have benefited. Have some WHU fans started going to Orient?

I was about to say, their attendances have remained fairly stable since 2016, hovering between 4k-6k despite them dropping into the National League for a couple of seasons. This season they're regularly getting north of 6k, and even got 7k for the visit of Swindon, so I can't see that the London Stadium has had much of an impact at all on their crowds.

Maybe local youngsters will be more likely to gravitate towards a Premier League club in the future, but thats down to the Orient-supporting families to police from an early age. There's no sign of it happening so far.

It would seem that Barry Hearn was full of shit. Who knew ?

 

[Birdie Boy]

I couldn't give a crap about the moaning hammers fans as they wanted this, if they say they didn't, they are lying. Everybody in the world knows that an athletic stadium creates no atmosphere and fans are miles from the pitch, it has been tried and tested many times.
They have something to looks to though. The dildo brothers and Brady will be gone just after the 10 year anniversary of the hammers being at the London Stadium because, they are then allowed to sell the club and keep all profit from the sale of the boleyn ground and the club. If they sell before, they have to give a large percentage to the local council. I can almost guarantee this will happen.

Sent from my WAS-LX1A using Tapatalk

 

[vagabond]

Doesn’t seem to stop them buying players though right?

 

[brighton terra]

Forgive me if someone else has already asked this question (I can’t be bothered to read all 11 pages), but would you like the Amex any less if we’d come straight from the Goldstone Ground?

 

[Icy Gull]

Forgive me if someone else has already asked this question (I can’t be bothered to read all 11 pages), but would you like the Amex any less if we’d come straight from the Goldstone Ground?

Nope, The Goldstone was a shithole with no chance of a redevelopment to over 20k. We are all a bit starry eyed and still fuming about how it ended there, well I am anyway.

 

[Weststander]

Anyone thinking of the effect on Leyton Orient being just down the road amongst all this moaning from West Ham fans?

Haven’t read the whole thread so apologies if this has already been mentioned.

Edit, although a quick check on the crowd figures over the last few years suggests they may have benefited. Have some WHU fans started going to Orient?

I mentioned them. Ticket pricing deals at the athletics stadium, done in part to crush Orient.

 

[drew]

Agreed! It would have been fantastic. As nice a ground as the Amex is, it is basically just another bowl. It's a shame stadium architechts and the clubs themselves can't be a bit more imaginative.

What do you want a stadium to look like then?

People keep moaning about a 'bowl' but logic says that's how you have seating in the corners and uninterrupted views.

 

[Stat Brother]

I'm sure I'm being somewhat disingenuous, but who cares about that.


It's first impressions count, right?:-

 

[RossyG]

What do you want a stadium to look like then?

People keep moaning about a 'bowl' but logic says that's how you have seating in the corners and uninterrupted views.

Yes, that’s the thing. The old flat-fronted stands at each side of the pitch always have blind-spots or pillars that block the view. And the real dumps like Selhurst have roofs that block the far side of the pitch.

The Romans built “bowls” like the Colosseum 2000 years ago, but it meant everyone got a good view of the gladiators or the lions.

I’m very nostalgic for old-school stadiums and like visiting grounds like The Valley, but really, if you’re building a new one, where else is there to go but Colosseum shape?

 

[Weststander]

What do you want a stadium to look like then?

People keep moaning about a 'bowl' but logic says that's how you have seating in the corners and uninterrupted views.

There are bowls, and stadiums that just so happen to have seamless corners with interesting side stands.

The lookalike relatively cheap to build stadiums for Leicester, Derby and Stains.

Whereas the £90m Amex has an impressive 3 tier WS and 2 tier ES. The architects KSS are highly regarded and the stadium was award winning.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Forgive me if someone else has already asked this question (I can’t be bothered to read all 11 pages), but would you like the Amex any less if we’d come straight from the Goldstone Ground?

Yes, I think thats a given. At the very least we'd be constantly comparing the two. But really, in tune with the West Ham posts, it isn't the old stadium we'd miss - I can't imagine anyone preferring the Goldstone West to the Amex West - as much as the whole match-day experience, whether you're coming from the pubs by Hove station or walking across Hove Park, those things will always be missed.

 

[Easy 10]

I mentioned them. Ticket pricing deals at the athletics stadium, done in part to crush Orient.

I doubt very much a perennial 4th division minnow in the area with crowds of 5k was even on their radar. The ticket pricing was done to avoid swathes of embarrassing empty seats. Sure they might have attracted a few floating "fans" who might've opted for Orient, but "crush them" ? Nah. They're hardly going to be a threat to a PL clubs attendances, that was just Hearn spouting bollocks.

 

[Brovion]

I doubt very much a perennial 4th division minnow in the area with crowds of 5k was even on their radar. The ticket pricing was done to avoid swathes of embarrassing empty seats. Sure they might have attracted a few floating "fans" who might've opted for Orient, but "crush them" ? Nah. They're hardly going to be a threat to a PL clubs attendances, that was just Hearn spouting bollocks.

Exactly. They virtually cater for different markets. If you want more 'old school' football then go and watch Orient. If you prefer the expensive razamataz go to the London Stadium.

It's a bit like comparing us and Lewes: no one said we were going to 'crush' them by moving to Falmer, they provide a different football experience. (Although obviously quite a few Lewes residents have always historically shunned their local club in favour of following a bigger team - but that's another argument! )

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

We were stuck in our athletics stadium for 12 years, but we fought and got ourselves a proper ground, and that will have to give heart to the west ham fans that they can do the same