So much has been written about the move from the Boleyn!
Many never wanted it but ClaretandHugh follower Diamond Geezer, in an interesting response, to the UP ‘remainers’ posted this on thet ‘Leave a Comment’ section of the website.
It’s articulate and offers some interesting footballing and cultural observations so it has a place here
By Diamond Geezer
I can’t be alone in thinking the move away from the decrepit Upton Park was needed, surely?
Stuck in an area where the club was an anachronism, with 30,000 mainly white, mainly men suddenly appearing every two weeks in a largely non-white area that didn’t want us there, then disappearing a couple of hours later.
The stadium was one of the worst in the league for space and facilities, taking twenty minutes to empty at the end of games. That one hour queue in the rain to get onto the Tube, the lack of parking…….only the pubs, caffs and pie shops were any good.
Did I miss the huge footballing advantage we got from the place, when we consistently won the league and dominated Europe? No, I thought not. Sentimental nostalgia won us nothing.
We couldn’t really expand further, so it was a choice of either going £1bn into debt to build somewhere new and playing somewhere totally alien for two seasons like Spurs or taking the OS and trying to turn it into a new home.
The rumoured safe standing coupled with squaring off the side
Don’t go open-ended on the protests; there’s no guarantee anyone new would be any better (and most likely be based overseas and even more remote).
A Saudi Prince? Really? Miss a penalty and get your hand cut off?
The views expressed here are those of the blogger and are not necessarily shared by ClaretandHugh
It may be “articulate” (relative to what?), but it’s a highly simplistic and partial view.
articulate
adjective
/ɑːˈtɪkjʊlət/
1.
having or showing the ability to speak fluently and coherently.
Not relative to anything therefore. Let’s have yours –
Somethings are highly simplistic – tell me your complexities.If they cover the stadium and the problems we have been there hundreds of times crticially
You are far from alone in thinking this. As a West Ham supporter since 1966 I watched the old ground reach its peak and then deteriorate, together with its surroundings. It was rarely a ‘fortress’ – I should know, having watched many poor matches at the BG! There are many season ticket holders who sit near me at the OS who never had the chance to get to see matches in the old ground, but can now, and who have been West Hams supporters for years.
This is laughable.
” One hour queue for the tube”
Possibly for those who didn’t walk 15 minutes to Plaistow or got the bus to Stratford; ( I was usually in Stratford station 30-5 minutes after the game.
‘ 20 minutes to get out of the ground? 5 mins tops for me from the BML.
The stadium was becoming decrepit in some respects as from the off the owners knew or expected to move and therefore didn’t upgrade facilities.
Let’s have a blog from your point of view then
Looking at Man City news today mega rich foreign owners piling in loads of money and ignoring financial rules could be over. We look to have missed that boat and personally I am glad given human rights abuses attached to many of the countries they come from.
I loved BG before 1975 queuing from 1.30pm most games to get into chicken run. I was16 but at 73 London stadium suits my aching limbs! I am surrounded in Billy Bonds stand by families. Now 10,000 kids can watch every game, they are the future not me and laugh at my talk of the “olden days” as they call it!
And get your hand cut off? Tell me, has this actually happened, because I have not seen handless footballers at clubs with Saudi regimes running around.
Simple minded and ignorant comes to mind. I appreciate c & h are here to post balanced views, but i didn’t expect the tone of such an article would even get published by c&h. The rest of the article is worthy of debate.
I think that may have been a ad IRONic. Had we believed otherwise it would have been sub edited out
Would still take a better throw-in than Fredericks!
what’s the colour of people’s skin got to do with football stadiums???
people tend to look back at the boleyn with rose coloured glasses.I used to sit in the west stand and the atmosphere was good while we was winning but losing you could here a pin drop.
Once they made the boleyn all seater(which by law they had to do)that special atmosphere was lost imo.
A lot of supporters don’t like being confined to seats so having a section of the ground as safe seating would be a good idea
I’ve Q’ed a lot longer getting in & out of the LS, a stadium not fit for purpose, then ever I did at UP.
The LS should be sponsored by Specsavers!! But it is what it is and unless new owners can spend big bucks on turning it in to a football stadium we’re stuck with it, there’s no going back.
All we wanted was an ACTUAL football ground when we were sold the dream, safe standing would be a great move forward but 4 metres maximum??? what’s the point ? if you are going for safe standing then it needs to be close to the pitch so the fans who are lucky enough to be standing closer can TRY to create an atmosphere.
we gotta get positive about our new home, there’s no going back. I can now take my wife and daughter to footie, have a spot of lunch locally ( not just burger vans or kebabs),visit 3 bar/ micro breweries within 10 mins from stadium, get the train from Stratford or Hackney Wick,perhaps stay the night io one of the many decent hotels in the area,have a beer on the canal in a ship!
Upton Park was different, not better or worse, but we can now accommodate another 25000 fans,cheaply,and it’s safer as well,we shouldn’t forget the violence we have all seen. The new stadium is work in progress, we gotta make it work.
Early in the season the team looked great and the stadium was full of happy faces. Maybe the the place wasn’t so bad after all. There was even talk of it being a fortress. Now the team is doing so badly that’s all changed. Not sure the move from the Boleyn Ground is to blame! As Laurie says, there’s no going back! The club must avoid relegation. Then we need new owners who can invest in converting the stadium. Then this club really could be top four.
Hugh, you say a view from an independent fan, not anything to do with claret and Hugh but jumping down anyone’s throat if they disagree with Diamond geysers view.. Sounding Like Emily thornberry when anyone dares question her I’m extremely more intelligent than you attitude… Yes Upton Park was past its sell by date but moving to the soulless bowl and lost our identity.. Sitting next to tourists and people who couldn’t name a player in the team… I feel devestated that these 3 stooges are considered saviours of the club…and devestated that I know longer feel part of west ham football club after 55 years of supporting my beloved family and friends and team…⚒️🖤
If pointing out definitions of words and asking for alternative views to publish should people want me to is jumping down people’s throats then I misunderstand the expression. Read the intro to the piece and the disclaimer before getting a tad emotional and personal. There is nothing in my four comments in the least objectionable and as for jumping down throats get a grip. I asked for comments.
The reality is that all the premier league clubs having new large stadiums now have lots of football tourists and occasional fans!
Premier league is now a brand above all else, that’s why it is awash with cash which unfortunately mostly goes into players and agents pockets!
The Boleyn was in East Ham and when WHU moved there from near Stratford there was the same outcry – nostalgia is always rose tinted. There are now tens of thousands of loyal fans who have season tickets to watch our team in the OS – the Boleyn was not wonderful if you couldn’t get a ticket and the prices were very high. So we are now back in West Ham. Have a big stadium. And the atmosphere is up to us. COYI
Moving to the Olympic stadium was the biggest mistake ever, a stadium not designed for football. Upton Park was a ground where opposing teams hated coming, a place we were proud to call home. Now we are in a stadium most fans despise, when the rain comes we get wet due to the club owners not caring.when we queue up to get in. Then we get even wetter due to the roof covering not good enough making our seats wet. No wonder a lot of the crowd stand up, it’s ok for them to sit in their warm comfy dry seats,get off their backsides and take an interest in these loyal supporters, all they do is ignore the situation with overpriced food and drinks.,please sell the club and maybe get someone with a greater love and bring this great club back to where it belongs
I’ve been a die hard fan since 1980. I have never posted anything on here before just read others making comments. I just want to say that I’m embarrased to read papers these days and see that as WH fans all we seem to do these days is moan about everything. I like the new stadium it’s easy to get to and leave. The atmosphere is not bad like prople make out. I’ve been to loads of games at the Boleyn and let me tell you that the atmosphere was not always like our final game against united. If I was a player I think I would find it hard to play with confidence at Stratford under our fans. It’s just a minority still going on about how it was. Like the previous Poster asked what did we ever win at the Boleyn? A few exciting games under floodlights. I think social media has caused a lot of our current problems as mainly its so called armchair fans that spread the hate and negativity. I see all these negative posts on this site during games every week when I know that phone signal is very poor at Stratford and these people are not at games. I amazed to see our so called fans calling for us to be relegated lol. Please let’s stop sagging off our own players and get behind the team and our manager.
We already had planning permission to expand the east stand and take capacity to 45000 so that bit is totally wrong
Joy sivaji ; i also usually just read the comments and shake my head at the negativity. with 36k at UP not all migrated to the LS, i think most of the negativity comes from new fans who didn’t regularly attend or social media keyboard warriors. and no one not even me has the moral high ground to say what is right or wrong, but heres the rub, with our hands tied by Newham council regarding stewarding, pies, beer prices etc, the corners being brought forward and sides moved nearer the pitch, the LS is what it is. we can win games there we can create a great atmosphere attract better players on our average budget. GSB may not be everyones cup of tea but they aren’t the devils in carnet that they are made out to be. i also hate the media frenzy in that every journo feels they have the right to have a pop at us and criticise us, but WE the fans are to blame, stop whinging stop sending memes and jokes about your own club saying how bad we are. if you don’t like it stop going, stop moaning stop posting rumours. you have no right just because you first attended in 1964 or have spent a fortune on traveling up and down the country. YOU are the problem.
Agree. The move is done. Up to us to make the LS our home. Up to the players to deliver entertainment as best they can.
Need grassroots effort to build larger fan base. The comments in the ToL about WHU fans perpetuates the belief we are stuck in the ’80s.
New facility, new fans, new culture.
I first went to the Boleyn in 1972 after arriving down from Yorks as a student. So I’m not genuine East End and still get funny looks when I talk, even after 50 years. But West Ham was THE London team for anyone from outside. Why? The style of football and sense of togetherness about the place. It was all part of the West Ham magic. This can happen at the London Stadium too. The media love all the whinging and its easy for them to lay into the club at the moment. Easy pickings for them. In the end this negativity has to stop. We need to contact that inner Billy Bonds and get moving up the table. And I want to see more of Fornals. He gets it.
Lets face it, if the results were going our way, we’d have none of this. People keep banging on that we have lost our soul moving to the new stadium. UP lost its soul when we went all seater, The atmosphere that most people hark back to, was as far and few between. Sure we were closer to each other and it was easier to get songs going through the whole of the ground, but how else would you get 60k people into a ground without moving some of them further away? I’d like to see the squaring off of the ends to bring things in more, but I hear they are planning that. My big moan is what they are doing on the pitch, not off of it. Moyes IMO was just a cheap step backwards and so far it has blown up massively in their faces. I prefer the new ground on the balance of everything; it has better transport links to get me out of there after watching another disappointing Saturday in the cold and rain.
BG capacity some 20,000 less than our current Season ticket holders … income massively improved. Running costs of stadium currently met by third party and not WHU … cost of stadium, therefore, greatly reduced. BG was well suited to an era when we had 30,000 thug fans all happy to wallow in the stench of thuggery with a feint waft of football essence. It was not as ‘family friendly’ … unless you attended a kids for a quid game when the so-called supporters were not likely to attend a match against some lowly opposition side and we struggled to fill a 35,000 capacity stadium. When everyone stood, short people saw nothing! I loved the BG and I think of it with the pleasant ache of nostalgia … but I think fondly of platform shoes, tank tops and 24″ flared trousers of the 70s too … this does not mean I want to wear them again! I have moved on … WHU has moved on … Football has moved on … we are finding our way in the new world of business run football … we are market traders having a go at stocks and shares and I have nothing but respect for Gold and Sullivan (it’s their money!) KB is not high on my list of favourite people, but that’s a different story … Sullivan is clumsy and prone to faux-pas, but it’s his money on the line … Gold is WH through to his inner soul, but a romantic, dreamer … like every fan I know, he dreams of challenging for the title at the start of every season … would we want it any other way? The WH brand is not yet the draw that other clubs can rely on … any player linked to us is likely to prefer an offer from one of several other PL teams with a proven track record … it must be hard to impress someone with a hand-signed photo of TB scoring with his head in the last FA cup victory! (I should know … mine is my pride and joy!) David Moyes’ track record within the living memory of any potential signing is dismal alongside Klopp, Guardiola, Mourinho and a good deal more … you have to be almost my age to recall success under our current manager. We are sadly between a rock and a hard place … but whilst we dream of reaching the reputation we all aspire to, let’s make the most of the facilities that will give us the income that will pay for it … as for atmosphere … any stadium is pretty quiet when it’s empty … when ours is full, you can hardly blame the Davids if it isn’t very much nosier!
That should read, “noisier!” …
I have just realised – after posting a reply to the piece that Hugh took from here to create an alternative view – that this blogging was actually mine!
I’m happy to respond – articulately and lucidly – to points raised by what I wrote, but I’m heartened to see that many agree with me to various levels, which reflects a body of opinion we don’t often hear from. This is possibly because the loudest and most raucous calls are those which grab the attention and generate most regurgitation by websites and the media.
I don’t believe for one moment that the new stadium is perfect – it’s not even close – but it isn’t the total disaster much of the press like to make it out to be. Location-wise, it’s much better for most people, with better links. Westfield are a nightmare of a neighbour, but so what? So long as they have a huge car park and let the kids go in for their McDonalds before games who really cares? And as another poster said, I can now go to a night game and stay in a decent hotel within five minutes of walk of the ground.
The reference I made to skin colour wasn’t a racist one; I was just trying to highlight that East Ham had changed around us over the last half century. I was born in West Ham Lane and grew up in my early ears round there, but the entire demographic of the borough has altered to the stage where we were effectively an alien invasion once a fortnight. Like may of us, my family moved away from London when I was a kid, and frankly I didn’t feel like a ‘local’ when I went back. Places change, and we have to hope that Stratford embraces us (and us it) as the new residents.
One thing is fairly sure – we aren’t moving again in the short term, so get over it and embrace the good bits. There’s always the possibility that we may one day be ‘gifted’ the white elephant, when we can start forgetting all that ‘athletics legacy’ rubbish that Seb Coe promised the world and start modifying it to better suit football. Simply calling it ‘unfit for purpose’ is ridiculous – we have 60,000 people a game watching, so that statement is patently untrue. What they mean is ‘it isn’t how I would like it’, which is something completely different.
And the truth is that when Andy Carroll scored that flying bicycle kick against Palace, no one – but no one – stood up and said ‘I wish I’d been ten years closer as I couldn’t see it properly’. We were all just grateful to have been there to see it happen.
I’ve got a reasoned view on the Board, too, but that can wait for another day. I feel like I’ve created enough debate for one match-free weekend ….
I agree 100%. Never imagined us filling a 60,000 stadium with so much going on near by.
60,000 brothers instead of 35,000. Bigger family, change is good. Still West Ham no matter what the critics say.
Travelling to and from the game is not the same for everyone. i used to get a bus from my home to Upton Park and would wait for a bit after the match until the buses started running down Green Street again. I live much nearer to Stratford than I did to the old ground. Now, it takes me twice as long to get there and even longer to get home and is a much more miserable experience
I have a season ticket at the Stadium but often find myself surrounded by fans of the opposing team who make no secret of that fact, That would not have happened at the old ground.
I can afford the prices for food and drink at the Stadium but I am well aware that not everyone can and I always feel like I;m being ripped off.
Oh, and one last thing….. I lived and worked in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province in 1982 and 1984. And, yes, saw a criminal get his hand cut off in Dammam after Friday prayers, as well as a beheading. Looking back, I really wish I hadn’t been an impulsive and arrogant little sh*t of a twenty-something who thought it might be big and clever to see, and I hadn’t had it stuck in my memory for the last thirty five years.
I’m not showing off, just saying that using lazy characterisation and stereotyping, and in extremis, ‘be careful what you wish for’.