Retractable seating disaster not our fault insists Brady

Karren Brady says the London Stadium retractable seating disaster is not West Ham’s fault telling London Standard readers “West Ham never had any involvement in the choice of a retractable seating solution,” 

She added: “Our only requirement has always been that the seats be brought as close as possible to the pitch. In 2013, LLDC proposed a retractable seating model akin to that at the Stade de France and, indeed, produced a video showing this at that time. This solution would have cost in the region of £20m.”

The official West Ham 99-year concessionaire contract signed in 2013 says in relation to seating:

“The front of each seat in the front row of the east and west Lower Tiers to be between 10 and 20 metres from the touchline opposite the centre spot. The front of each seat in the front row of the of the north and south Lower Tiers to be between 10 and 18.9 metres from the goal line opposite the penalty spot.”

 “To achieve the Agreed Capacity of seats in Football Mode within +1- 5% of the maximum viewing distance zone a bespoke demountable seating system has been added to the eastern side of the Stadium, behind the Lower Tier, providing a visual connection between the Upper Tier and the Lower Tier and fast turnaround from Football Mode to Athletics Mode”

A canned history of the doomed retractable seating project can be found at https://www.westhamtillidie.com/posts/2017/08/20/a-canned-history-of-london-stadium-s-retractable-seating