Sullivan on Spurs, London Stadium, promises and relegation

West Ham Chairman David Sullivan has told Jacob Steinberg in the Guardian that Spurs model of building a new stadium would have bankrupted the club. He also says that West Ham are only around £10m better off in the London Stadium saying he didn’t want West Ham to feel like a tinpot club.

However, in a wide-ranging interview, he did admit he regrets making ambitious statements like Champions league in five years or moving to the next level saying he didn’t release how hard the task was. On the possibility of relegation, he says he will do whatever it takes to keep the club afloat and get the Hammers straight back up.

On the Spurs new stadium model he told Steinburg: “I think Daniel Levy has done a fantastic job at Tottenham, but his cheapest season-ticket price will be three times ours. There might be a tiny little corner with 200 kids he calls the family stand. Maybe we should have gone a different route and borrowed it all. We would have bankrupted the club.”

On the London Stadium Sullivan said: “We’re about £10m a year better off,” he says. It’s not going to change our lives. I just think we feel like a big club, not a tinpot club. When players come to look at West Ham, they look at where you play.”

On fan promises such as Champions League and the next level the chairman said “I’m sure there’s 100 things I’ve said that I regret,” he says. “I didn’t realise how hard that task was. The money going into the top six is getting bigger.”

On the possibility of relegation this season he added “It’s going to be very damaging if it happens, we’d have to do whatever it takes to keep the club afloat. If we go down, we’ll come straight back up. We always come straight back up. We had to put £30m in the last time.”