A number of West Ham United fans are unhappy with how the club’s heralded move to the former Olympic Stadium has panned out so far.
The Hammers‘ move to Stratford from their beloved Upton Park was beset by problems from the start.
From in-fighting among the club’s fans over persistent standing to segregation issues, violent scenes between home and away supporters and a general dissatisfaction with the atmosphere and feel of a ground many refer to as ‘soulless’, it left a bitter taste in what was supposed to be a memorable and historic campaign.
Ahead of the stadium move, Hammers fans were promised a genuine retractable seating solution in communications from the club.
In reality they have been left with a temporary lower tier built on a complex scaffolding which will reportedly take weeks to deconstruct and reconstruct each season at a cost of £8 million – some £7.7m more than the original estimate.
The distance from the stands to the pitch is a major bone of contention for many fans with the bowl shape of the venue the biggest problem as the stadium was not built with football in mind.
Having signed a 99-year lease many supporters are disillusioned at the prospect of a long-term future at the ground in it’s current state.
The club’s owners David Sullivan and David Gold also pledged that the move would enable West Ham to spend more on quality players in the transfer market in a bid to compete with the Premier League’s top six.
But the club’s net spend since moving to the ground has paled into insignificance compared to their rivals despite the extra ticket cash, commercial and merchandising revenue streams pushing the club into the prestigious European Deloitte Football Money League Top 20 for the first time, as proudly paraded on its official website back in January.
Some supporters have suggested a lack of serious net spend could point to the club accumulating money to launch a bid to buy the stadium outright in the near future.
And in an interview with Sport Bible, Sullivan’s son Dave remained coy but admitted it could be on the cards.
When asked ‘Is your dad looking into the possibility of buying the London Stadium outright in the future?’ Sullivan told Sport Bible: “I cannot comment on that, but it is certainly a possibility.”
And when pushed on the situation surrounding the controversial “retractable” seating solution he added: “We are always looking for ways to improve the stadium, so if we think it will increase the fans experience then of course it is an option.
“However, in the immediate future I do not think so because it has already cost a lot of money to install the normal seating. I reckon it could happen, but not for a few years.”
Whether the opportunity to buy the stadium outright – and potentially convert it into a fully fledged football arena – is this the real reason behind West Ham’s low net spend since the big move remains to be seen and only Sullivan and Gold have the answers.
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