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London Stadium costs – some perspective required

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The tale that £35m of taxpayers money will be used to support the London Stadium needs to be taken into context.

The Daily Telegraph reported that public funds will be used for £14.5m for fresh seating as the club redevelops its West Stand to bring fans close to the pitch.

Another £20.5m of public money will go on providing West Ham with stewards over the next four years, according to contracts disclosed by the Government.

Last season stadium owners paid £5m to convert the North and South lower stands to bring them closer to the pitch but the real business case is that it reduces the cost of moving these stands for athletics, music concerts and other events.

Should they do the same for the West stand spending a further £14.5m the primary reason will be to save money long term from moving the seats backwards and forward.  The club says it is at the early stages with the government yet to commit funding adding that the club continue to explore and deliver for further enhancements for supporters.

As the £20.5m price tag for stewarding over the next four years, this is nothing new!

The Hammers pay over £3m in rent each which equates to around £130,000 per game based on 25 games per season.

It is claimed that each West Ham games cost up to £250,000 to host because stadium owners got their business case drastically wrong back in 2013.

The figure suggests that stewards cost a massive £205,000 per game which seems high for the one thousand plus stewards required for each match.

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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