West Ham and the Olympic Stadium

[Billy the Fish]

I've been hearing alot about this recently and wondered what people's thoughts on it were? It looks like sullivan and gold are going all out to get the stadium post olympics by promising to keep the running track.

Personally if I was a west ham fan I'd be protesting against this already. We know full well what it's like to play in an athletics stadium, the atmosphere is crap because you're too far from the ptch and the olympic stadium hasn't even got a proper roof. Even the continental clubs are now moving away from the all in one stadiums.

Added to all that, they aren't a big enough club to fill it, in terms of support west ham and chelsea will always be also rans in terms of support compared to arsenal and spurs.

Moving away from upton park would kill the soul of the club, bad news for them if it goes through.

 

[Gav1901]

I think it should be used for events like Play offs, Concerts and all that. West Ham should just stick to playing at UptonPark as it'll be better for them.

 

[The Modfather]

do they even sell out Upton Park these days?

 

[Gav1901]

Haven't we just built a stadium for that?

Yeah and look at the pitch, it's shocking due to all the events and that what happen there so it's always good to have a back up plan.

 

[clapham_gull]

Haven't we just built a stadium for that?

Nope

 

[clapham_gull]

Interesting what they do with it, but I wouldn't worry about "the designed for athletics bit..."

Isn't that what the City of Manchester Stadium was designed for ? I presume West Ham are thinking of doing something similar.

But the Athletics people are behind this.. perhaps they thinking about putting in retractable seats ?

One thing for sure though, Leyton Orient will be buggered.

 

[middletoenail]

Barry Hearn was up in arms about it the other day, with Orient being closer to the olympic stadium than West Ham he believes it will catastrophic for Orient as they will lose support.

Not that I care for Orient but it was quite ironic how West Ham were outraged at the thought of Spurs moving there, yet they couldnt give a shit about Orient!

 

[Zamora For England]

do they even sell out Upton Park these days?

Yes. Pretty much sold out every PL game since returning to the top flight in 2005.

Filling the Olympic Stadium however, will be a challenge. If West Ham are looking for ground improvements, marry up all the stands in the ground - redevelop the 'Chicken Run'/East Stand (the older stand) - 40,000+ capacity.

Simples.

 

[jevs]

If West Ham are looking for ground improvements, marry up all the stands in the ground - redevelop the 'Chicken Run'/East Stand (the older stand) - 40,000+ capacity.

Simples.

Can't happen mate, planning rules won't allow it due to the size (blocking out light to the residents behind), having to change/block the road behind and another 8,000 people in an already over crowded area.

Gold and Sullivan aren't stupid and no supporter wants to leave the Boleyn...it's our home. but they rekon that with the sale of the Boleyn and the increased capacity, they will be able to reduce ticket prices substantially. Transport and parking links will alsi be much better.

Once WHU are in there, give it a few years and many people think that G&S will offer to build a 20k seater stadium next door....complete with running track., probably with a fair whack of the cash that they sell the Boleyn with.

If ticket prices are reduces to say £25, it can't be a bad thing and i'm sure that most people, who have been priced out of the game for many years, will return again.

 

[Austrian Gull]

Can't happen mate, planning rules won't allow it due to the size (blocking out light to the residents behind), having to change/block the road behind and another 8,000 people in an already over crowded area.

Gold and Sullivan aren't stupid and no supporter wants to leave the Boleyn...it's our home. but they rekon that with the sale of the Boleyn and the increased capacity, they will be able to reduce ticket prices substantially. Transport and parking links will alsi be much better.

Once WHU are in there, give it a few years and many people think that G&S will offer to build a 20k seater stadium next door....complete with running track., probably with a fair whack of the cash that they sell the Boleyn with.

If ticket prices are reduces to say £25, it can't be a bad thing and i'm sure that most people, who have been priced out of the game for many years, will return again.

I admire your positivity but I can't believe that any Premiership club will voluntarily want to reduce their ticket prices.

Particularly not when the club is owned by Gold & Sullivan.

 

[cattlin'srockshop]

It's too big for West Ham, and while still in East London far enough away to make it too big a move from home.

 

[adrian29uk]

Barry Hearn was up in arms about it the other day, with Orient being closer to the olympic stadium than West Ham he believes it will catastrophic for Orient as they will lose support.

Not that I care for Orient but it was quite ironic how West Ham were outraged at the thought of Spurs moving there, yet they couldnt give a shit about Orient!

I thought exactly the same thing. Its a little unfair, since orient is nearer. But you have to remember the only thing that matters is the premiership as the other leagues do not exist.

 

[bhaexpress]

Actually the NFL keep talking about a London Franchise so maybe they should think about the Olympic stadium. The problem with with American football is that it tears up the turf. However Sullivan and Gold know that moving to the stadium and flogging Upton Park would go a long way to solving their debt problems.

 

[strings]

Yeah and look at the pitch, it's shocking due to all the events and that what happen there so it's always good to have a back up plan.

It looks like they have fixed it now - by putting in a part-synthetic pitch with injected fibres holding the surface together. This is something that has been an obvious solution for years - even people on NSC have been advocating it for ages. The Emirates, Molineux, and the Millenium stadium all use they same system and their pitches are flawless.

Actually the NFL keep talking about a London Franchise so maybe they should think about the Olympic stadium. The problem with with American football is that it tears up the turf. However Sullivan and Gold know that moving to the stadium and flogging Upton Park would go a long way to solving their debt problems.

I'm not a fan of American football, but a London franchise could be quite good.

 

[Knotty]

It's too big for West Ham, and while still in East London far enough away to make it too big a move from home.

It's 3.5 miles from Upton Park to the Olympic Stadium.

It's 7 miles from the site of the Goldstone Ground to Falmer....

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Can't happen mate, planning rules won't allow it due to the size (blocking out light to the residents behind), having to change/block the road behind and another 8,000 people in an already over crowded area.

Gold and Sullivan aren't stupid and no supporter wants to leave the Boleyn...it's our home. but they rekon that with the sale of the Boleyn and the increased capacity, they will be able to reduce ticket prices substantially. Transport and parking links will alsi be much better.

Once WHU are in there, give it a few years and many people think that G&S will offer to build a 20k seater stadium next door....complete with running track., probably with a fair whack of the cash that they sell the Boleyn with.

If ticket prices are reduces to say £25, it can't be a bad thing and i'm sure that most people, who have been priced out of the game for many years, will return again.

I think you're living in dream world if you think Gold and Sullivan will move to the Olympic stadium and reduce ticket prices.

My thoughts are that they've seen an undervalued club. Move across town, sell the Upton Park for a hefty sum and they've got themselves a Premiership outfit for little outlay.

 

[clapham_gull]

I admire your positivity but I can't believe that any Premiership club will voluntarily want to reduce their ticket prices.

Particularly not when the club is owned by Gold & Sullivan.

No, they will come up with a price that makes them the most money based on the size of the stadium and fans willingness to pay.

I'd imagine that price is lower than West Ham currently pay.

 

[bhaexpress]

I'm not a fan of American football, but a London franchise could be quite good.

The NFL are much heartened by the response they've got from the games they've had here and see it as a very viable proposition. One of the problems the old WLAF has with the London Monarchs was the way that the owners of Wembley charged them through the nose which went a long way to to seeing them move away. Whilst they play the NFL games at Wembley I wouldn't mind betting that they'd see the Olympic Stadium as a very viable alternative not to mention that fact the Americans will see a lot of it thanks to the Olympic TV coverage. The majority of Yanks will know it far better than Wembley (partly due to Wembley's strong Soccerball associations).