The regime change at West Ham seemingly has a host of extra bonuses which will unfold in the coming months and years; not least the disappearance of the latent hostility between Karren Brady and the London Mayor which had seemingly held back any sort of conciliatory talks between the two.
Indeed it seemed as if West Ham and the owners were permanently locked in some legal battle or another.
Changes in the boardroom and the appointment of Interim CEO Karim Virani appear to have swept away those days and the club and owners – finally – appear to be happy to collaborate for their mutual good.
As the Standard.co.uk reports, there is even talk of making the stadium more ‘West Ham’ – like:
“City Hall has heard a five-point plan for helping turn around the fortunes of the London Stadium.The Greater London Authority (GLA) picks up the bill for operating West Ham’s ground – and its costs have escalated by about £2 million this year now the club has been relegated to the Championship”.
And, importantly, Lyn Garner, chair of the London Stadium LLP, has admitted the fractured relationship between the club and its owners had experienced a sea change which could offer significant benefits to both parties.
“I think probably it feels a bit sterile. It doesn’t feel like the home… One of the things we’ve considered inside the bowl is turning all the seats claret…it would feel more intimate and more West Ham-like if the seats were claret as opposed to white.”
London Stadium with Claret seats.. now there’s an idea.
A big step in the right direction (aside from, of course, the cost). However, other changes under discussion apparently, for the owners’ benefits, include West Ham playing all their games away in September to allow the Stadium to be used for concerts or American Football.
Change seems certain to come. Anything that makes the stadium feel more like ‘home’ for West Ham is to be welcomed. Shame nobody has talked about ripping up the running track and moving the seats closer. Yet.
Doing away with the track is pie in the sky. The recent Diamond Games was a great success with a world record being broken. British Athletics aren’t going to give up their rights easily or cheaply, if at all. Building a completely new stadium is also pie in the sky, the hundreds of £millions required would never yield a viable return on investment. The claret seats is a good idea, making it less sterille for football, & more West Ham. Now that the pitiful Sullivan era is over and the club hopefully has ambition, the supporters would do well to follow suit and accept that staying at Upton Park would not have represented ambition. Equally recognise that West Ham could not have afforded a brand new large stadium like some other clubs have. If the team becomes successful the atmosphere will take care of itself.
A World class stadium for a……ok ok i will stop right their
Well the facts are that London Stadium/WHU have in fact already moved many thousands of seats forward over the running track, which is a lot more than other grounds in Europe have bothered to do, their fans seem quite happy, I suppose it’s just the West Ham fans like to moan a lot more.
This was reported, I thought, as being the first phase of Kretinsky’s plan a while back: get rid of the track and so have the seating configured close to, and following the shape of the pitch….If it wasn’t, then it should have been, otherwise all the talk is just hot air…
Or knocking the stadium down and building a purpose built
Next generation stadium like the Spuds 🥔.
Didn’t kretinsky mention that