Three of the six John Lyall gates are up for sale to the highest bidders in the upcoming West Ham auction the club have confirmed. Bids are invited for a pair of John Lyall gates starting at £5,000 with the additional gate accepting bids starting at £2,500. The floor lettering spelling out the words ‘The John Lyall Gates’ is available for bids starting at £200.
Three of these famous gates were relocated to the new club shop but the club claim there was no room in the Olympic Stadium for the remaining three gates. Supporters had submitted ideas how the gates could be used to the club. Suggestions included: incorporating them into the new development by Galliard homes at the Boleyn Ground as a permanent reminder of West Ham, relocating them to the club’s training ground at Rush green or using them to create a memorial to replace the Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters champions statue at the corner of Green street and Barking road.
The decision to sell the gates to the highest bidder has angered some Hammers fans who believe the current owners are merely custodians of the club’s memorabilia.
Friend of the site, Nigel Kahn contacted Claret and Hugh to register his disappointment telling us:“The club owners do not own the history, they are the guardians of it! The selling of the John Lyall gates together with the Martin Peters collection and trophies, the club has picked up over the years is akin to selling the grandmother’s heirlooms before she’s even had the good grace to die. A shameful way to treat the past they are supposed to protect”
This one could cause a upset,wish I had a spare £10 k I would love those gates,
Why are we giving up our history we are moving grounds not starting a new religious sect,
We could become The Wetties,pray in front of a statue of a large fat man ( no bit like budist)
Cry in the street to sack the manager after 1 defeat,
Take on Animal features like the leader Bellend,
It’s a ****ing disgrace if true why not stick them up at the academy and let the young players look at it every day to remind them of our past? As for the Wetties they’ll all be down at Tesco’s deciding whether to spend an extra few quid on the balsam hankies or just go for the plain ones..
Such a shame. Surely they could have found somewhere to locate them to. Feels all a little cheap to me.
I am really disappointed that a home cannot be found for them at Rush Green. Selling heritage is rarely a good thing.