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BBC investigation into West Ham stadium deal

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pay-policing-outside-west-hamThe BBC will broadcast an investigation into West Ham’s London Stadium deal on Monday and claim the stadium is still being subsidised by the tax payer. BBC have previewed the Inside Out programme on BBC1 at 7.3opm by saying ‘Mark Jordan investigates why the West Ham stadium deal continues to be a burden on taxpayers’

The preview video clip says ‘We investigate why the West Ham stadium continues to be a burden on tax payers’ before cutting to an interview of long time critic and London Assembly politician, Andrew Boff saying: “As far as I can see there is no end to tax payers money being used to prop up this white elephant”

policeThe new investigation follows the revelation that an extra £21m was spent on the doomed retractable seating system last year and estimated costs could each as high £8m per year to move the seats backwards and forward for Athletics unless a better solution can be found. Last month the London Mayor revealed that the stadium transformation costs had increased by £51m after the information was leaked in the press. Sadiq Khan has ordered an investigation into the £51m increase in the cost of converting the London Stadium.

Additional running costs have included extra stewarding and policing. Originally stadium operators budgeted for 350 stewards but most West Ham games now have over 1,000 which have trebled the costs by an additional £30,000 per game.  Bringing Police into the Stadium to high risk matches is also costing an additional £40,000 per match day. The extra stewarding and policing is set to add an additional £1m per year to the running costs  of the stadium which will be recovered by the French stadium operators from the Stadium owners E20 Stadium owned by Newham Council and the London Development Corporation, both of which are funded by tax payers.

stadiumWest Ham have previously said on the issue: “Without us the stadium would lose money. The suggestion we are getting the stadium rent free is categorically wrong – we are more than paying our way. Our agreement with the LLDC will see West Ham make a substantial capital contribution towards the conversion works of a stadium on top of a multi-million pound annual usage fee, a share of food and catering sales, plus provide extra value to the naming rights agreement. Our presence underwrites the multi-use legacy of the stadium and our contribution alone will pay back more than the cost of building and converting the stadium over the course of our tenancy.”

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I am Season Ticket Holder in West stand lower at the London Stadium and before that, I used to stand in the Sir Trevor Brooking Lower Row R seat 159 in the Boleyn Ground and in the Eighties I stood on the terraces of the old South Bank. I am a presenter on the West Ham Podcast called MooreThanJustaPodcast.co.uk. A Blogger on WestHamTillIdie.com a member of the West Ham Supporters Advisory Board (SAB), Founder of a Youtube channel called Mr West Ham Football at http://www.youtube.com/MrWestHamFootball,

I am also the associate editor here at Claret and Hugh.

Life Long singer of bubbles! Come on you Irons!

Follow me at @Westhamfootball on twitter

0 comments

  • Radai Lama..Out of contract & available says:

    Nothing to do with this but i was just reading one of Southamptons fan sites.They are proper p*ssed off about losing Fonte.
    It is so funny,they want the Finance Dept sacked for not offering him a good deal.Les Reed the Ex Director sacked for not giving him a good deal & some other woman called Kat to be given the boot over it 😁
    Its great to see The Saints have some right whinging Richardheads on their sites too 😂😂

    • punchy says:

      So, back on topic. What’s your view lama? Have the BBC got a reasonable point or are they just all the critics just a loan of whinging Richard heads?

      • Radai Lama..Out of contract & available says:

        Oh Punchy come to get punchy have you 😁
        I dont claim to know all the details mate.Cant indulge you in a conversation i dont know all the facts about.Sorry i dont have time in my life to sit reading every article on the stadium,LLDC or other crap.
        Like i have always said i go to watch whats on the pitch,thats what i get my buzz from.Not whether i can recite hard debt,soft debt or other financies out of my *******.
        Hope that is ok with you.I will work on finding more time in my life to do it 😁😁
        Gibe me the word & i will clear it with you first if i stray away from the article matter.Get back to me later,i now have some plaster board to put up,my sincere apoligises 😉

      • Radai Lama..Out of contract & available says:

        Anyway you really shouldn’t be so sensitive punchy,who says i thought you were a Richardhead.Enjoy your afternoon 😘

        • Stick Fingers says:

          Punchy i aint the most educated but i can see through sincerity or sarcasm.Its pretty ugly to watch some mushie do it.Aint big you know that.If you was a woman you would be called a b1tch

    • punchy says:

      Wow. Thought it was a reasonable question. I mean you are one of the guys that have been on here since the get go so I thought you might have a view on th OS since it is probably the biggest change at the club in years. Seems you have no opinion and only have time to throw insults and try to belittle people’s honest post. How rude.

      • Stick Fingers says:

        Dont play silly games mush you are see through.

      • GW says:

        The return of Cometh the moment / Fish n chips and his unique brand of having a go at those have posted for more than 6 months on here? What’s next we’re all bullies 🙂

        • Colin Irons says:

          It beggars belief gw that some people have the sole intention of posting to have a go,stir or be sarcastic but believe others will not see straight through it.Possibly punchy was having a dull afternoon in the office.

          • Colin Irons says:

            The worse of it all is that his original post on reflection is an incoherent ramble at best Lol

  • Stick Fingers says:

    You tell us punch me meself i aint got a clue about it all.I think very few of us understands all the deal.I think you will find most fans aint got a clue neither.Is it something to hold against us.Meself i will never understansd it all dont claim too.Most fans probablys dont give one about it all neither.

  • Colin Irons says:

    You know what they say.Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit and it is usually followed by the “oh but i was only asking a serious question nicely”.See through,transparent call it what you will but it all adds up to much the same thing.
    In most cases a troll from another site or club whose only desire is to stir it.The internet really is a breeding ground for faceless fools who can get away with anything with little repercussions & 99% of the time these faceless warriors will never say the same thing to the other person face to face.
    Keep your sarcasm to yourself i would suggest Punchy.

  • West Ham Fan No 32 says:

    I will probably watch the programme see what it has to say but imho, is it news ? – no, did we get an amazing deal ?- yes, is that our fault ?- no, should the stadium have been built with life after the games in mind ?- yes, was it ?- no, are the press and football supporters groups on a witch hunt against West Ham ? – probably yes, who is to blame for the mess ? – The LLDC.

    If I am not mistaken Sean the Stadium made a profit last year didn’t it ?
    I wonder if they will look into how much business and regeneration has gone into the surrounding areas as a result of the Stadium having an anchor tennant ? I also wonder at what point they might consider selling the Stadium to us and whether if that was on offer would the David’s accept ? To run a Stadium that size 365 days a year must cost a lot more than £2.5m and with inflation in 99 years that will be peanuts probably about 10 x the average earnings. Depending on what happens with Brexit it might be peanuts a lot sooner than that 🙂

  • ironswatch says:

    this again ffs have the bbc got anything else to put on telly it gets boring

  • Colin Irons says:

    I shall watch it but will more than likely come away from it none the wiser.There are just too many things related to this we will never know or are too complex too understand as regular joe fans like myself & many others.
    In truth i have little inclination to find out all the intricies of the deal.
    Goodness knows how much time you need on your hands to know the deal from first to last page.

  • Hammer64 says:

    Yawn bloody yawn. Not all this again. A slow news day so let’s have another go at West Ham. Isn’t it about time Neil Warnock brought up Tevez again and starts demanding compensation. That would be marginally less tedious.

  • Colin Irons says:

    Well im still waiting for SSN to announce the signing of the Cowdenbeath player you were on about Hammer64 Lol

  • Hammer64 says:

    Me too Colin. I was getting quite excited about it. I will probably get an angry Cowdenbeath supporter on here now threatening me with a Glasgow kiss for disrespecting their left back. I think the deal was all set up but then fell through at the last moment. Maybe he could not get a work permit. Perhaps he decided he would never cope with learning a new language.

  • Hammer64 says:

    By the way, have we actually signed Fonte or not?

  • essexclarets says:

    The BBC to bore us all again repeating all the biased ******** of how bad we are for negotiating a great deal for the club. We should be punished for doing such a disgraceful thing as it is completely our fault that Lord **** refused to build the stadium that could be converted to football & after we agreed to buy it, Spurs etc went to court to stop us.. naughty West Ham… zzzzzzzzz

  • Colin Irons says:

    HaHa it is always difficult dealing with the Scots.No Fonte news yet but it appears Marseille say they have given up on Payet & are looking elsewhere.Who knows the truth i dont Lol

  • Long Fella says:

    It would appear punch & judy doesnt mind popping at other sites when it suits him.What is it they say about people in glass houses

    punchy
    January 13, 2016 at 8:48 pm
    I can’t really believe that WHTID allow him to post his anti hammer Rubbish on there. The mans a tw@t. So who took the wet pants site down then?

    • punchy says:

      do you always abuse posters who don’t come on here very often. Seems a funny old way to treat fellow West Ham supported. It’s not as if you get many people saying Mitch on here anyway. Seems just a bunch of ill mannered bullies.

      • Long Fella says:

        As the others have said punchy.You are soo transparemt.No agenda of course though.Grow up & go back to your normal site.

        • punchy says:

          I have no idea mate who you think I may be or what you are going on about. There does seem a clique on here who act like the star chamber and obviously feel they are far to up themselves to value others posts. I can’t see one word that I have said that has been offensive or tansparent( whatever that means). In spite of you lot being the most rude inhospitable group of so call West Ham supporters, I will continue to post on here and you can throw you insults as long as you like. I really do not know what sort of a site high and Sean are trying to build here. But I bet you ain’t helping

  • Hammer64 says:

    Hmmm…be glad to see the back of him now. £25-£30m would be handy too.

  • Long Fella says:

    Marseille are probably still playing games.I wont believe they have given up until the TW shuts.

  • punchy says:

    Agreed pal. Of all people to take a pop at abuse of tax payers.

Comments are closed.