By Kris Gonzo | Senior West Ham Columnist (Follow on X)
Burying bad news is a tactic as old as time itself, and it certainly appeared to be the case when stories began to emerge yesterday regarding Karren Brady’s plans to upgrade the London Stadium.
Convenient? Of course it was.
Brady has come under increasing scrutiny over the last few days following the Panorama investigation into former West Ham chairman David Sullivan.
A subject of particular interest has been safeguarding at the football club after it emerged that Sullivan had been internally restricted from attending both women’s and academy matches.
That inevitably brought Brady back into the spotlight, with many questioning what role she played in those decisions and whether more should have been done.
Suddenly The Stadium Was Being Fixed
From a safeguarding perspective, it was fascinating to then see reports emerge claiming the Baroness was working on plans to transform the London Stadium and address many of the issues supporters have complained about for years.
The report suggested the venue would become a 70,000-seat stadium, with supporters moved closer to the pitch and the much-maligned gaps between the stands, currently covered by trampoline-style surfaces, significantly reduced.
Add in an extension of the cantilever roof, which Brady once described as the largest and most innovative of its kind in Europe, and suddenly West Ham were apparently on the verge of rebuilding their home.
All without a single nut, bolt or brick being moved.
The Numbers Simply Don’t Add Up
Most West Ham supporters will recognise the problem immediately.
The club lost £104 million last season. It is carrying significant debt.
And has borrowed money at eye-watering interest rates.
Against that backdrop, it is difficult to see how any major redevelopment of the London Stadium could realistically have been funded under the stewardship of David Sullivan and Karren Brady.
That is not to say improvements couldn’t happen one day. As I have indicated over the last few days, there is a hope that Kretinsky will realise that ambition.
But the timing of this particular story crediting Brady with moving the club forward with a visionary stadium plan was too much.
The Real Questions Remain
Ultimately, grand plans for the stadium were never likely to divert attention from the issues currently facing the football club.
The questions surrounding safeguarding, governance and transparency are not going away.
Nor should they.
And whilst shiny stadium concepts may generate a few headlines, I suspect they will do little to distract attention from the far more pressing issues that many supporters are now asking about.
Thanks for all the info on stadium development and such Gonzo, some very interesting points. As one who has followed this club since 1963, I can attest to the fact that there has often been more to cry about than to celebrate. Somehow, the end of this last season seemed more depressing than others. Given my age now, I wondered if I would ever see West Ham as a top 6 success story. One positive was that I could not understand Kretinsy buying into an organization run by Brady and Sullivan. They just did not jive as his kind of people. How nice it would be if just a little of what you have described, comes to fruition.
I did mention on here the other day , with the safeguarding in place , that i hadn’t about until after sullivan resigned, how does the club /FA look in outsiders eyes. Surely the club should have had this in the open at the time of the safeguarding was put in place , we know look like we have tried to hide it or have i got this wrong .
KB = Wrong un.
Nuff said.
BS from BS
Just another piece of evidence of how stupid Brady and Sullivan think us plebes are. We are too stupid to connect the dots. Remember just a few months ago, the fans would have to pay for the installation of “Safe Standing” seating. If they were planning a huge revamp of the stadium, would that not be part of giving fans what they’ve been asking for as the rest of this seems to point towards.
Also did she think leaving 2-3 months prior to all this coming out, we would just forget that she’s been in bed with Sullivan (pun possibly intended) for almost 40 years. She has A LOT to answer for. And we finally want to hear the actual truth.