Exclusive: Big Phil to give London Stadium a swerve
West Ham goalkeeping legend Phil Parkes has given an explosive interview to ClaretandHugh in which he discusses the club and its current problems.
In this three-part exclusive he first speaks here of his views on the London Stadium; why after 15 years, he is no longer involved in the hospitality suites and explains why he’s unlikely to be returning to the stadium.
Parts Two and Three are equally riveting and we will bring those to you during the course of tomorrow.
The decision was taken out of his hands to some extent by the club whom he claims decided they no longer wished to employ former players in the hospitality areas.
He said: “That was disappointing. I’ve been working in that area for about 15 years along with the other lads and none of us got a letter informing us of the decision or thanking us.”
He added: “I’m too long in the tooth to let it worry me and I’d made my mind up that my day was done anyway. I have never been a fan of the new stadium.
“I loved the Boleyn. It was my place and this is my club but I went to the new stadium and it didn’t feel like West Ham anymore. It seemed a natural time to call time on things and spend more time with the family.”
Phil admits that he had never bought into the new stadium and believes it has left the club with nothing of its own apart from the team.
And he admitted that he didn’t enjoy his first experience of watching from the stands of the former Olympic Stadium saying: “I think it may have been David Gold who said it would be the same as viewing a match at Wembley but you can’t always see everything there and you are a long way from the action anyway.
“I couldn’t believe either how the running track has been covered by some material that look really cheap and naff. It really does look so artificial.”
And he added: “I don’t know – I can’t say – whether I’ll ever go to the stadium again. If there’s a ‘Boys of 86’ reunion I probably will but I can’t see myself being a regular at all. Like I say I have my great memories of the Boleyn and want to keep them as they were.”