19 Comments

Irons ‘takeover’ statement reads like a PR puff

The statement allegedly written by Philip Beard, a partner from PAI Capital, who claim to want West Ham, seems to be a PR puff  designed to bring disenchanted West Ham fans on board

His statement is contradictory in parts, talking about a controversial commercial decision to move the club from its historic home at Upton Park to the London Stadium  but that they want to buy that club and the  Stadium. Not sure what the Boleyn Ground has to do with it – it’s not there anymore anyway?

The suggestion appears to be the consortium want to improve the experience for all fans and visitors to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

At the same time they also talk about a duty to the British taxpayer and the Olympic legacy in London without explaining how that will be achieved.

How do you keep such diverse groups with different interests as football fans, athletics fans, the local community and London taxpayers happy?  Easy to say – much more difficult if not impossible to deliver.

They also claim proof of funds were provided to the owners and if true that is a formal legal document – easily proved by publishing it.

They don’t deny the property element of the allegations confirming they want to purchase the ‘club, the London Stadium, and its place within the Olympic Park as a whole’  That sounds like an attempt to buy a £760m stadium on the cheap.

They say the bid is backed by prominent personalities in sport as well as West Ham legends who love the club and want to play a role in its development.

However, they don’t name them and no one has come forward to nail their colours to the mast. Why can’t these prominent personalities and former players speak up in their support?

I am wary of the statement which seems to be an attempt to divide and conquer a section of the fanbase who don’t like the current ownership.

It is hard not to conclude that PAI Capital see this primarily as a property investment.

Many of Philip Beard’s previous positions have been about property regeneration. He was  CEO at QPR when they were expected to be part of the White City regeneration project and he helped convert the Millennium Dome to O2.

It is very telling that the statement doesn’t talk about football or players at all which is what most supporters are  interested in when all is said and done.

I am hoping both sides don’t play this through the media in a tit for tat fashion.  Time will tell how serious Mr Beard and his friends are.

Actions speak louder than words!

 

About Sean Whetstone

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

19 comments on “Irons ‘takeover’ statement reads like a PR puff

  1. Haha was waiting for this… you really have no shame. You’re on the ropes and soon you’ll be finished. #GSBOUT

    • LOL LOL seriously? – dear God. The stuff we have to listen to . Do leave off, Why not read it and try to make a sensible judgement. Sorry to mention the word sensible – this bloke led QPR to administration. Listen to yourself. As Tom Petty sang: A rebel without a clue!!

      • Beard joined QPR in August 2011 and they went into administration one month later.

        • What you fail to mention is that to Sullivan and Gold, we were a property investment aswell.

          They attempted to get Birmingham City Council to build a new stadium…and when that failed, they wanted a way out of the club.

          Press conference announcing our takeover, it was all about the Olympic Stadium and how they were targeting the move.

          Or doesn’t that fit your agenda?!

      • Beard joined QPR in August 2011. The club went into administration (for the second time in 10 years) in September 2011.

        2nd attempt.

  2. Frantically typed that one up!
    “On it Mr Sullivan!”
    Claret and Hugh’s days as propaganda minister are numbered.
    This comment won’t get through moderation (but I’m sure some fake comments will!) but hope you know how the whole fan base feels about this toxic website. Keep up the fine work!

  3. Jim certainly does NOT speak for ‘the whole fan base’, but I imagine he will now claim that we’re not ‘true fans’ then…

    I don’t like the sound of this takeover at all. Be careful what you wish for. A ‘consortium’ doesn’t feel me with confidence at all.

  4. The comments about Olympic legacy and London taxpayer put me off a bit. I would only want a new owner who solely cares about West Ham and its fans. Sounds like a politician trying to cater to all sides. Send the athletics off to Birmingham and turn the LS into a proper football ground (without running track, squared off and close to the pitch) and one that looks like West Ham’s ground (I.e. claret and blue seats throughout) is the sort of thing us fans want to hear.

  5. Alan is quite right. I think the situation will change after Birmingham Commonwealth Games next year. It will make sense to move athletics to Birmingham in 2023 and for London Dev Corp to sell Olympic stadium to either current owners or if they won’t put up the cash then to those who will. The current massive annual deficit is not sustainable with London tax payers picking up the bill. The nonsense of current arrangement is highlighted when it’s cheaper not to have any activity other than our club fixtures!
    I suspect currentbowners will buy in conjunction with American investor who can help fund making it a better football stadium.

    • The most sensible words I’ve read about the situation with the stadium for quite some time. I just can’t the current losses being sustained in a post-Covid era when the public finances look worse than the finances at the average League Two football club. It’s time for local and central government to admit their mistakes, and to sell up, which will mean buying West Ham out of the current leasehold arrangement. I look forward to the day that we move from the current arrangement at the LS to a new stadium, either on the same site or one elsewhere on the fringes of East London/South West Essex. It’s been an Elastoplast disaster for all involved since London 2012 finished, which has been designed to allow the likes of Coe, Jowell, Livingstone, Johnson to save face. West Ham fans, unfortunately, have been taken along for the ride.

  6. In common with most fans, I want some serious investment to go into the club so that it can compete with the big boys. This proposed takeover however smacks of West Ham being an incidental side show to the main event. It should always be about West Ham alone and nothing else.

  7. Some people would clutch at anything…….and there is very little if anything to clutch at in their statement.
    NOTHING that I have read regarding this so-called bid from this consortium makes me feel that it is solely about West Ham.
    The devil is in the detail and there is very little detail or vision to look forward to. As Alan pointed out, this bid reads like it is trying to be All things to All sides.
    If it WAS all about West Ham, this vision would have been clear to us supporters from the off.
    Out of the Frying pan and Into the Fire???…… Not with this lot, thank you very much.

  8. Our football club is not responsible for the British tax payer and in this situation, the 2 sides are at complete odds with each other. The arrogance of Seb Coe and the Olympic planning committee are responsible for the losses that stadium haemorrhage. Screams of mid table businessmen trying to get a stadium on the cheap and exploit the commercial aspect of doing so. Avoid. Next please….

  9. This bloke has a seriously poor record with the QPR consortium that backs his plans.
    This isn’t about West Ham, this is like a property deal like Sullivan said ( I rarely agree).
    This wouldn’t take us to next level we would be no better off and there’s no long term plan for the club.
    If we get new owners, they need to be multi billionaires, not more loans, debt and scrambling to sign and keep top players.
    Dealing through the media is poor, weak and unprofessional. Do this privately and keep out the media, we don’t need this sideshow with the season round the corner.

  10. Hope you know how a deep fat fryer works. Once the take over happens you’ll be serving us all chips at the OS rather than feeding us this rubbish!

    How will the West Han fan base live without hundreds of copy and pasted articles with your opinion thrown onto the end of them?

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