By Kris Gonzo | Senior West Ham Columnist (Follow on X)
Vanessa Gold’s decision to invite Amanda Staveley to attend the London Stadium as her guest was certainly a bold move.
Because when Gold invited the person she has agreed to sell her Hammers shareholding to to attend West Ham’s 4-2 victory against Wolves, she did so safe in the knowledge that it would be photographed and documented.
And so it proved.
People captured Staveley entering the Olympic Park on their mobile phones and, of course, the Sky TV cameras zoomed in on her in her seat during the match itself.
All of this would have been done in the knowledge that the news would not only get through to West Ham fans, but possibly more importantly to Daniel Křetínský himself.
Staveley And Gold Send A Message
The Czech billionaire is, of course, attempting to thwart Staveley’s pursuit of the shareholding he thought he’d had wrapped up following an agreement with Gold and other shareholders in June.
But a delay in payment, followed by Staveley’s increased purchase price and her intention to purchase all of the Gold family shares, was enough to turn Gold’s head, it seems.
The subsequent battle has seen Křetínský make his own move to block Staveley’s proposed purchase, with the complicated pre-emption process now crucial to what happens next.
As Claret & Hugh were informed last night by a source close to the involved parties, Staveley and Vanessa Gold have become close since the negotiations took place.
And whilst, of course, it’s nice to think that the pair just attended an event together because they’re such good pals now, the cynic in me is fully aware that this looked like a statement from both Gold and Staveley.
One which says who she’d really prefer to sell the shares to.
Vanessa Gold invited Amanda Staveley to the London Stadium
West Ham Ownership Battle Continues
We’ll find out more in the coming days about what’s happened with the pre-emption process.
As we looked at yesterday, Křetínský’s own attempt to manoeuvre his West Ham shareholding is not without risk either.
Meanwhile, Staveley has already demonstrated that she has no intention of disappearing if the Gold deal is blocked, with discussions having taken place over David Sullivan’s shareholding as another possible route into the club.
But I’ll just leave you with this final thought.
Amanda Staveley, the person who wants to take control of West Ham, has now attended more Hammers games this season than the man who is actually in control.
“Amanda Staveley, the person who wants to take control of West Ham, has now attended more Hammers games this season than the man who is actually in control.”
Mandy’s current project. She has very little else to do better than accepting Nessa’s courteous invitation.
Danny is a very busy man with better things to do than watch his two football teams playing low profile games.
Reading too much into innocent life.
The unanswered question is why Kretinsky doesn’t want to take complete control of the club. If he gets a controlling interest, what exactly are his plans? At least Staveley has made clear her intentions and most supporters will probably prefer to see her group take over
I know her real interest is in the land but at least that’s better than having major shareholder only interested in themselves. Her previous acquisitions aren’t too distressed as assets these days.
This clearly needs resolving very soon. I think this affected what has to be a poor transfer window. We did well getting the fees we got, but without spending much of this money, seems to be a huge gamble.
9 signings and still not happy?
Well of course she would be focusing on what her PR people tell her is most likely to win “friends”, so whether she is actually interested in West Ham United or not, she will do whatever it takes to achieve the end goal. The potential value to any real estate developer has been made clear, so attending the odd game or two is an easy point scoring opportunity, especially as the other guy publicly displays very little interest in the team..
Compared to Sullivan Kretinsky seemed like a saviour but is he really? Seems very half arsed about the club and never to be seen.
Not at all sure who is the best owner but it needs to be resolved quickly
So no Kretinsky at the ground last night! Sparta Prague must have been playing.
Kretinsky rarely goes to Sparta Prague games either. He suffers severe anxiety at football matches and prefers to watch them in a controlled environment so that he can better deal with it.
To my knowledge she has attended more games than the total attended by DK in his 5+ years of owning shares. I may be wrong as he may have attended the Prague final.
Shes only interested in the land.
Go Amanda. Can’t be worse than the untruths we’ve been tossed by Kretinsky. He had his opportunity to fully invest in the WHUFC family back in June and turned us down.
That last sentence is VERY telling, Gonzo. I take it that you’re a fan of Staveley taking over?! If so, I share your hope in that respect.
Kretinsky is no West Ham fan. I guess many owners aren’t fans in an emotional sense and so that’s not really an issue but the fact that our 2nd largest shareholder is hardly ever to be seen at the stadium surely reflects that, to him, West Ham are solely a business opportunity and nothing else? Or that he just can’t stand to be around Sullivan (which is also a very likely scenario!).
Staveley is a P.R guru and last night was all about being seen. Gold will receive the money Staveley offered her from whoever buys the shares but perhaps would like to see Staveley take them; a woman on the board carries on the legacy Brady started from before we moved stadiums plus maybe she will have a share in the property development that will undoubtedly take place if Staveley’s people take over (pure speculation but i’d want in on that if was her).
It’s an exciting time to be a fan in my opinion
I would sincerely hope that Staveley is better qualified business wise than Brady was, considering the state of the club now that accumulated under get watch, no matter what gender she is.
Saul, the last thing we need is a continuity of Brady’s legacy.
During her tenure we moved to a stadium that the majority of fans seemed to oppose, our commercial income has fallen miles behind our London peers in relative terms, our last Accounts recorded a loss of £100m+……… oh, and we are now plying our trade in the Championship!
I should think that Stavely would be horrified to be compared to a no substance, hologram of a financial operator such as Brady. Like comparing the Premier League to Hackney marshes.
My point was regarding the gender, not following on from Brady’s accomplishments (or lack of, depending on your stance)
Brady’s legacy? I’ll question your perspective of finances and you conveniently forgot about the 1st European trophy in 60 years.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m no fan, but she was never the answer, but not the problem either
My worry is if these investors are here for the property development, in the short term, it wont matter which league West Ham are in, in fact if we were relegated again it might strengthen their case with Sadiq Khan.
Naturally if down the line a proper stadium.was built, if it was allowed to be, at that point the investors would want a football club in the Premiership competing for and in Europe.
But that is many years away, and for someone who is 69 already, time isnt on my side.
Staveley’s visible passion for the club’s she is involved in, provides me with greater hope, so she gets my vote, but only just, as profit is her aim (as it is with the others)
maybe gold buys the two percent of kretinsky shares on right of first refusal and sells the 27 percent to stavely