David Gold defines the next level at the London Stadium

West Ham Joint Chairman was asked to define what the next level is for West Ham on the back of promises back by the board that the move to the London Stadium would help us move to the next level and the original seven-year plan for Champions League football;.

Speaking to Claret and Hugh Associate Editor Sean Whetstone on the MooreThanJustAPodcast Hammers podcast Gold said:“To me it is growth, to me, it is forever improving, we are going forward and the best and easy way to do that is to say where did we finish up in the league or did we win or how far did we get in the cup. What we mean by the next level is that we want to be challenging at the highest level, nobody knows where that is, it is a moving item, we want to do better, we want to challenge at the highest level. West Ham United has been the fourth largest football club in London and it has been like that since I was a boy, go back 50 years, I remember when we had a lengthy period in the fifties in the old second division, Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs, they were much bigger clubs than us, they were all in the so-called first division which is now the Premier League.”

“West Ham as long as you can remember have been the fourth largest (in London) we have to break that mould, we have got to challenge, we have to get closer to them and I think that is what we are doing. Part of that is going to the Olympic Stadium, bringing the (new) fans, we always believed the fans were there.”

“The most important thing for me to say is my love of Upton Park, it has been my life since a young man, right from the age of 7 right the way through, it’s a long time. I loved Upton Park, it was just across the road from where I lived as a young boy so the last thing I wanted to do is leave Upton Park but we want to challenge at the highest level if you keep on doing the same thing and expect the same result you are mad.”

Asked on David Sullivan’s comments of the ambitious plan of Champions League football within seven years of taking over West Ham in 2010 Gold said:

“That only shows his enthusiasm and his optimism, the fact that we have not achieved that will obviously be held against us but that doesn’t alter the fact that’s our belief and our desire and our passion to get to the Champions league, our passion to go to finals in the FA cup and the league Cup, that is what we want to do and maybe sometimes we are over-optimistic but that doesn’t alter our desire and passion to achieve these things. It is there for all to see!”

You can listen to part one of the Exclusive David Gold Interview at Moorethanjustapdocast.co.uk

Part two of the Interview will be published next week