No OS veto clause but Irons safe as houses

Despite, previous assurances of a veto on Olympic Stadium ground sharing by Karren Brady, the OS agreement released today shows a different picture.

West Ham is entitled to a 50 per cent discount on their £2.5m annual rent if they ever shared the stadium with any other football club that were to use the stadium as their home ground.

There is no right of veto to sharing and West Ham’s rent would reduce to £1.25m per annum accordingly.

The club would also be entitled to a rebate of £7.5m back from their one off fee of £15m were it to happen within  the first ten years of their rental agreement, reducing to  £3.75m rebate between the eleventh to  twentieth year of occupation.

CllaretandHugh’s most senior source explained to us exclusively: ““In reality it would be prohibitively too expensive for anybody else.

“We get £7.5m back, we get half rent and the stadium also has to look andfeel like the home of West Ham United.

“We have the Shop, the only offices etc. So I’m really not sure how it works for anybody else other than as a one season home while they built their own stadium.We have to agree fixtures with the Premier League, so possibly there’s another stumbling block there” 

West Ham have a right to supremacy of  Premier League fixtures in what is termed the ‘Overriding Priority principle’ within the agreement but not a veto as such.

The clause says:  “Competitive matches will always take precedence over the activities of the other party to any agreement in relation to ground sharing”

This clause is designed to comply with the Football league regulations which say “the playing of any of the Club’s first team matches will always take precedence over the activities of the other party to the agreement”

However, ground sharing is not completely without precedence, we must remember at the birth of the Premier League Wimbledon shared with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park and Charlton once shared the Boleyn Ground with West Ham for one season many years ago so it can be done if the Premier League and FA want to and agree.