Good luck to WHU taking it on, it's a gamble but one that they would be daft to walk away from...don't look a gift horse in the mouth! Look forward to Southampton CC and central government helping us out when we extend or move or maybe not.
Indeed, that's my only real objection. If they had shared with Leyton Orient I would have been entirely happy with their acquisition. As it is, Orient could go to the wall, simply because of the proximity of the Olympic stadium to Orient's Brisbane Rd ground. The Olympic running track will still be there, though it will be covered with seating and the capacity is to be reduced from 80,000 to between 54,000 and 60,000. The roof is also to be extended. The idea of the changes is that the ground can be turned back into an athletics stadium within 2-3 days, when required. £2M may seem a lot, but if WHU can pull it off, and there is no guarantee of it, they could become a top club.
I apologize for my ignorance on the boroughs of London. I assumed as Leytons ground was the closest it was their neighborhood. In the great scheme of things and the London transport links I doubt it matters that much which part of London you're from as to who you support. You're more Likely to follow your families team or whoever floats your boat when you make that life changing decision as a kid. It's tough for Orient, but they've survived this long.
At the moment you're in the 2nd tier of London clubs, a long way behind Arsenal and Spurs in terms of support. Not impossible to imagine that you could make the step up to the first level - after all, Chelsea were a smallish club until quite recently. Two questions for you; 1) do you realistically see West Ham challenging Arsenal and Spurs for dominance in London? 2) Do you think Chelsea could have made that leap without Abramovich's millions?
A long way behind Spurs in terms of support? Our average attendance this season is only 1400 apart and I have been told but I am yet to confirm, we have had more sell outs than them this season. There is no reason why we cant catch up with and even surpass Spurs. I have said elsewhere, it was only four seasons ago we finished on level points with them and 5 years ago we finished above them. The difference was, we were badly run from then on with some terrible managerial appoinments and Spurs kicked on. Things can change very quickly in football. I can't imagine there will be too many more attractive clubs for investment once we are in our ground, so yes, I do think its possible to challenge the top London clubs over the next decade.
I really wouldn't listen to Barry Hearn. If he is that worried about West Ham moving closer to his club, why does he want to ground share with us? Wouldn't that make us even closer? Stratford is closer to West Ham than Upton Park is. Stratford is closer to West Ham than Leyton is. No one is encroaching on anyone's territory and no one is going to stop supporting Orient just because West Ham have a new stadium. Hearn should have a little more faith in his fans loyalty.
I do think that they could lose future fans though. Imagine you are noncommitted and close by there is a PL team in a nice stadium and it is relatively easy to buy tickets...can see West Ham benefitting there. Teams have ground shared before as long as they are in different leagues. I think the main thing is that the stadium is used and run properly...too many Olympic stadiums have ended up as white elephants. West Ham are in the area and now in the PL...makes sense.
Agree with you on Hearn's motives. Even without the ground share you're not going to be playing at home on the same weekends. No doubt the ego from his other sports means he wants a larger slice of control in the football world. Access to a large stadium could potentially help Orient push to the championship, but they'd need a even cheaper lease than WHU. As for the Hammers filling the stadium I don't think it will be that much of a stretch providing ticket prices are reasonable. Since the 60s West Ham have long been a club held with a lot of affection and averaging just over 40k would not be a stretch now. Stay in the top flight, play some attractive football again and it won't just be the glamour matches which sell out
Is that not just business though Fran? My Dad run a successful used car sales business for many years. All of a sudden, a bigger forecourt opened up just a few hundred yards down the road and halved his business. No one helped him. He just had to get on with it. If Orient don't like it, they can always go back to Clapton. It was them, afterall, who moved in on West Hams "manor" in the first place.
I've been to the Bolyn a few times. I'm sure the tube stop called "West Ham" is a couple before where you get off to go to the Bolyn. It's annoying that all these taxpayers millions will be wasted because the designers of the OS didn't have the forsight to think "oh, after the Olympics, realistically it will mainly be football that is played at this ground". Can't blame WH though. Someone has to get some use out of it, maybe a share would be fairer.
Been looking at London's football clubs in relation to the populations of the boroughs that the clubs reside in. By all accounts, if supporters went to their own borough team, Barnet [2012 pop: 356,386] could have one of the highest potential attendances. They just need to expand the Underhill stadium and they're away. Croydon [Crystal Palace] has the highest population at 363,378. In contrast, Islington [Arsenal] has 206,125. Incidentally, Newham [WHU] has 307,984 and Waltham Forest [Leyton Orient] has 258,249. It's amazing how the football support map could change. OK, if you've got this far, you'll probably want to know how many potential home supporters Saints could call upon within the City boundaries. It's 239,700 and that officially makes us small fry.
Barnet are constructing a new stadium for next season. I don't know the capacity. They've done well to maintain there league status over the years and with Edgar Davids at the helm they could push on.
