I don't understand this. I live in west ham land and used to have a season ticket there as a kid. There fans don't want to go there at all. It'll be a hopeless venue for watching football because its near enough a circle.
Yes they do pretty much sell out most weeks, but not all the time. They don't have a waiting list for season tickets, they have to advertise on the radio to even sell out the big games like Chelsea and Liverpool recently.
I also thought they couldn't be given a publicly funded stadium, or that due to Fa regulations they couldn't move to stratford because you can't move into a certain radius of another club. Orient only get about 3-4k at the moment as it stands.
Doomed from the start this was. The stadium isn't right for football. Anything else it is used for would not be used often enough. Add to that it is a terrible looking stadium they should have just dismantled it.
So has the extra money that Londoners paid in Council Tax to fund the Olympics gone towards a private company? Surely this is not right on a number of levels. The most concerning for other football clubs is that it gives West Ham a financial advantage over every other club. It's also anti-democratic as I would have voted against being taxed to pay for them.
My understanding is that they will lease the stadium (rent £15m per year). They would need to stay in the PL, relegation would be a disaster, as they would not be able to afford that sort of rent.
This could be the end of Orient. Got to feel sorry for them as this will probably end up taking away most of their support.
I don't really see how. It's not exactly difficult at the moment for someone in Orient's catchment area to get to Upton Park and I would imagine most at Orient are fans, not just casual football spectators.
My understanding is that they will lease the stadium (rent £15m per year). They would need to stay in the PL, relegation would be a disaster, as they would not be able to afford that sort of rent.
I think it's £15m up front then £8m a year? Not to mention the huge (£10m's) from LB Newham who somehow are up to their danglies in this deal. It is utterly beyond me how we have a situation developing where quite so much public money is proping up a Premier League football club.
Why do they want to move anyway? Upton Park is a fantastic ground, the Olympic Stadium - when not full and with 35,000 West Ham fans there - will be completely souless, like many of the Italian grounds are.
I imagine it would have something to do with the ability to sell Upton Park on to developers. Take the cash, pay the rent at the new place for a couple of years and then flog the club.
I imagine it would have something to do with the ability to sell Upton Park on to developers. Take the cash, pay the rent at the new place for a couple of years and then flog the club.
I imagine it would have something to do with the ability to sell Upton Park on to developers. Take the cash, pay the rent at the new place for a couple of years and then flog the club.
nice pension fund
But incorrect. The money from the sale of upton park will all have to go to paying down the debt on the clubs balance sheet as they will no longer have an asset (stadium) to secure it against. It does obviously make the club a more attractive buying proposition however, which is why sharing the profits on any potential sale of the club will have to be part of the final agreement.
I wouldn't trust West Ham and especially the dildo salesmen who own them as far as i can throw them.
Just do what we told the World we would do (for once...) in legacy.
Stadium back to a 25,000 seater, retaining athletics (clues in the fact it's located in an Olympic park), give it to Leyton Orient at a minimal rent, as it's on their turf, for football and then have Essex especially but not exclusively, play 20/20 cricket games there. With a few open air concerts in the summer, bobs your uncle fanny's your aunt!
Who the hell in their right mind would ever think that West Ham would ever deserve the leg up from the tax payer that such a situation would inevitably give them off of the pitch. They are a car crash football club who no doubt will be back in the Championship at some point in the near future trying to flog 60,000 tickets every other Saturday, even their own jellied eel swallowing, my old mans a Bangladeshi support don't want to leave Upton Park.
That makes no sense. Doing what we told the world we would do is certainly not giving it to Leyton Orient! If it's going to go to a football club West Ham is the only team that makes sense.
The mistake was made in 2007 when it was decided that football wouldn't be part of the stadium's future, which was an unnecessary and ultimately flawed decision, as this process shows.
Stadium back to a 25,000 seater, retaining athletics (clues in the fact it's located in an Olympic park), give it to Leyton Orient at a minimal rent, as it's on their turf, for football and then have Essex especially but not exclusively, play 20/20 cricket games there. With a few open air concerts in the summer, bobs your uncle fanny's your aunt!
I wouldn't say it is any more on Orient's turf than West Ham's. It is located in the borough of Newham so technically that's West Ham's borough as opposed to Leyton which is Waltham Forest. I think it is slightly closer to Orient but we are only talking about a mile difference.
I think soapy_jones point about Orient is that they are a 'beggars-can't be choosers' club who would have to take what they are given, whereas a club like West Ham want to fundamentally change what the stadium is about. I agree with his post. In addition to his correct point that West Ham shouldn't get a leg-up from the tax payer, the football solution will also cost the taxpayer a lot more than sticking to the plan will.
Richard Murray is among those who think the stadium isn't right for a football club and that West Ham will bitterly regret it if they move in there.
I have to admit I don't understand the anger about the taxpayer 'funding' a stadium for West Ham. The truth is that the taxpayer funded a stadium for London 2012, which was a huge success. As a result of this, we are now left with a publically-owned stadium, and surely it makes sense to get as much value from this as possible. If this means leasing it to the highest bidder then so be it - it will help to recover some of the money spent building the stadium which otherwise would be wasted if it just sat empty.
Surely West Ham will be paying a suitable market rate to lease the stadium? It's not like they are getting it for free.
I should also add that personally I'm relieved it hasn't gone to Orient. I think the plans to rebrand the team London Orient and dish out free season tickets like there's no tomorrow, right in our back garden, could have seriously damaged our future support. I don't have the same concerns about West Ham.
I despise West Ham, and when ever anything good happens to them it, genuinely, makes me unhappy.
However, having seen photos of the Greek Olympic venues in decay I think we have to find something useful to do with the stadium, and there is, realistically, no other option available to them than to use it as a football venue. Sure Leyton Orient could get it, but they are way too small a club to ever make use of it in it's present capacity. Turning it into a 15,000 stadium is crazy, and I don't believe that they will ever be able to attract bigger crowds than that on more than one or two occasions a season - and then only if they get a big home draw in the FA Cup. Wigan, in the Premier League for nearly ten seasons, still average less than 20,000.
Spurs would have taken it if it were going, and I'm not sure they weren't just ensuring that they stayed as the third biggest club in London as there is a possibility that West Ham could become that if this stadium move works. As much as I hate West Ham I think having Tottenham play in East London is a worst idea.
Thus the only real option for the Olympic Committee is to 'give' it to West Ham. With that being the case they are unable to drive a very hard bargain otherwise West Ham will refuse to take it and they will be left with a white elephant. Getting a bidding war between West Ham and Spurs, as they did previously, might increase the revenue they can earn, but there is no way anything like the cost of building can ever be recovered. Having said that there is an argument that the Olympics, itself, justified the cost.
As much as it pains me (and it really, really does) we are probably going to have to 'give' it to West Ham and accept that they will sell the Boleyn, clear all their debts and become a much, much bigger club over night.
Comments
There fans don't want to go there at all. It'll be a hopeless venue for watching football because its near enough a circle.
Yes they do pretty much sell out most weeks, but not all the time. They don't have a waiting list for season tickets, they have to advertise on the radio to even sell out the big games like Chelsea and Liverpool recently.
I also thought they couldn't be given a publicly funded stadium, or that due to Fa regulations they couldn't move to stratford because you can't move into a certain radius of another club. Orient only get about 3-4k at the moment as it stands.
Just do what we told the World we would do (for once...) in legacy.
Stadium back to a 25,000 seater, retaining athletics (clues in the fact it's located in an Olympic park), give it to Leyton Orient at a minimal rent, as it's on their turf, for football and then have Essex especially but not exclusively, play 20/20 cricket games there. With a few open air concerts in the summer, bobs your uncle fanny's your aunt!
Who the hell in their right mind would ever think that West Ham would ever deserve the leg up from the tax payer that such a situation would inevitably give them off of the pitch. They are a car crash football club who no doubt will be back in the Championship at some point in the near future trying to flog 60,000 tickets every other Saturday, even their own jellied eel swallowing, my old mans a Bangladeshi support don't want to leave Upton Park.
The mistake was made in 2007 when it was decided that football wouldn't be part of the stadium's future, which was an unnecessary and ultimately flawed decision, as this process shows.
Sorry for being a pedant.
Richard Murray is among those who think the stadium isn't right for a football club and that West Ham will bitterly regret it if they move in there.
Surely West Ham will be paying a suitable market rate to lease the stadium? It's not like they are getting it for free.
However, having seen photos of the Greek Olympic venues in decay I think we have to find something useful to do with the stadium, and there is, realistically, no other option available to them than to use it as a football venue. Sure Leyton Orient could get it, but they are way too small a club to ever make use of it in it's present capacity. Turning it into a 15,000 stadium is crazy, and I don't believe that they will ever be able to attract bigger crowds than that on more than one or two occasions a season - and then only if they get a big home draw in the FA Cup. Wigan, in the Premier League for nearly ten seasons, still average less than 20,000.
Spurs would have taken it if it were going, and I'm not sure they weren't just ensuring that they stayed as the third biggest club in London as there is a possibility that West Ham could become that if this stadium move works. As much as I hate West Ham I think having Tottenham play in East London is a worst idea.
Thus the only real option for the Olympic Committee is to 'give' it to West Ham. With that being the case they are unable to drive a very hard bargain otherwise West Ham will refuse to take it and they will be left with a white elephant. Getting a bidding war between West Ham and Spurs, as they did previously, might increase the revenue they can earn, but there is no way anything like the cost of building can ever be recovered. Having said that there is an argument that the Olympics, itself, justified the cost.
As much as it pains me (and it really, really does) we are probably going to have to 'give' it to West Ham and accept that they will sell the Boleyn, clear all their debts and become a much, much bigger club over night.