Olympic stadium

WEST Ham United was announced the preferred bidder on Friday afternoon as smiles were rightly plastered across the faces of club chairmen David Gold and David Sullivan. The decision means West Ham will occupy the stadium after the 2012 London Olympic Games.

The move marks a highly significant part in the clubs history, who have been at the Boleyn Ground since 1904. The decision to move signifies the clubs attempt to develop with a target to compete with the top six clubs in the Barclays Premier League as well as across Europe.

Club chairmen, David Sullivan told the clubs official website: “It’s a wonderful day for the club and it can take us to the next level. I think it’s very, very important. We need a bigger stadium to compete with the bigger clubs. It is an iconic stadium and it will be wonderful for the club. It has been a long and complicated process and the due diligence has been enormous. Karren Brady and so many others have put endless hours into it and I can’t thank them enough for what they have done for this club.”

The move is ambitious but the club feel filling the arena is a realistic goal. The hammers current stadium, Upton Park holds 35,303 fans and is filled almost every week, with an average attendance record of 33,500 irrespective of recession and current team performance. However the move will mean the club will have to almost double their current attendance. The Olympic Stadium will hold 80,000 fans at the Olympic Games and be reduced to 60,000 post Olympics when West Ham look to move in time for the 2014-15 season.

The club have already anticipated means of reaching this attendance goal. There is a database of over 700,000 fans registered with the club and schemes are already in place for affordable ticket prices and even free admittance for schools and community groups, making this goal quite realistic.

The club had to fend off fierce competition for the Stratford site with Tottenham Hotspur FC tabling a rival bid. The Tottenham bid included plans to dismantle the current ground and build on its site; this plan would have also meant removing the running track and plans to maintain the athletics legacy of the Olympic stadium. Altogether the Spurs bid would have cost a massive £300 million to renovate opposed to West Hams plans costing just £93 million with financial backing from public funding.

Tottenham fans however weren’t too enthusiastic over the plans to move from their North London home, White Hart Lane to Stratford, East London. “I have mixed feelings because ultimately I, and most Spurs fans don't want to move out of Tottenham for historical reasons and the area will degenerate without such a huge input to the local area that the football team brings. However, as a football team we seriously need to play in a bigger stadium to keep up with the likes of the Manchester clubs to increase our revenue.” Said Tottenham fan John Brand.

The Tottenham manager, Harry Redknapp was disappointed by the result, claiming the running track would kill the atmosphere at games and fans will be ‘missing Upton Park’.

Brand added: “We have nearly 30,000 people on our season ticket waiting list so selling out a 60,000 seated stadium week in, week out would not be a problem. Improvements on our current ground are limited and moving next to our current ground as has already been looked into will cost too much money to be a viable option at this stage. So although the Olympic Stadium was never the preferred option, hopefully a viable alternative in Tottenham will arise.”

West Ham’s plans to keep the running track are part of plans to maintain the ground as a multipurpose stadium, teaming up with Newham athletics club as well as Essex Cricket Club. This was a vital part of the bid that in the end was the deciding factor, getting the nod from Mayor of London Boris Johnson.

The move from  Street will see a massive impact on the community in East London, with many fans unconvinced by the move away from Upton Park. : “I’m not very happy about the move, I have family that live about three minutes from the current ground and I’ve been coming here for years, its a bit sad really.” said Sandeep Cheema, West Ham fan.

Though the move is seen as a shame for those who will miss the famous and unique atmosphere generated by Upton Park and the streets of East Ham on a match day, the club assures that the move is only a positive thing for the club and supporters, with the ambience being second to none even with a running track. The UEFA Euro 2012 final next year is also to be played at a stadium with a running track as was the case in three of the last four hosts of the FIFA World Cup final.

This was strongly believed by West Hams Vice-Chairman Karren Brady, who told the BBC: “It’s really exciting; the conversion will assure that every fan will have as good a view as in Wembley and always see the ball when it’s in play. In fact the seat furthest away in the converted Olympic Stadium will be ten yards closer to the pitch than the seat furthest away at Wembley.”

As well as maintaining the clubs famous atmosphere, plans are already being discussed to ensure the clubs history and heritage is not lost. Plans are being considered to take the clubs memorial statue and even the John Lyall Gates to the new site. The majority of fans share the vision of the clubs owners and are positive that the move is one that is in the right direction for the club.

Lifelong West Ham Fan, John Banks said: “I’m a little bit sad about leaving Upton Park, but at the same time I’m excited for the future of the club as the new stadium will see us recognised on a bigger scale and I can’t wait to be at the opening game in 2014.”

West Ham, along with Newham council was a unanimous verdict and preferred occupier of the stadium by the Olympic Park Legacy Company. It is believed that the hammers’ bid to maintain the Olympic legacy as a multi-purpose venue swayed OPLC officials and eventually the Mayor and Government officials.  

The conversion of the stadium will also establish more jobs and transport links in the community of East London, making the venue directly accessible to multiple boroughs in the East of the capital. Whatever the long term outcome the stadium has on West Ham, its supporters and the community, one thing is certain, the Olympic stadium will be one of the many great sights to see in London come the near future.