Olympic Stadium Discussion and Questions

[1mcavennie]

David's Cross - do you think it was worth demolishing our home?

No improvement on the pitch - 3 bottom half / mid-table finishes

No improvement in match day or commercial income

The only people who clearly benefited were Sully's mates at Galliard who trousered c£20m for passing on Upton Park without doing much...and of course Karren who got her £1m bonus

What was the point of the move?

[Marlow Vaderman]

David's Cross - do you think it was worth demolishing our home?

No improvement on the pitch - 3 bottom half / mid-table finishes

No improvement in match day or commercial income

The only people who clearly benefited were Sully's mates at Galliard who trousered c£20m for passing on Upton Park without doing much...and of course Karren who got her £1m bonus

What was the point of the move?

1mac
Well put.
I think lots of people benefitted (and still are) from the move but they weren’t fans..
you also forgot to mention the debt that we are still saddles with and paying interest to our owners (saviours?)
And you also missed the many thousands of loyal WH fans, dyed in the wool home and away types, who have walked away.
West Ham United it being cleansed of its past and its heritage.
We have to make a stand and say No More..
While we still have a club to save.
Stand as one.. as Hammers.. United...
COYI
MV ⚒⚒

[costa75]

Way too cold to stay for a beer afterwards, that wind was absolutely Baltic.

It's like you go through the turnstiles, but your still out f***** side. The top half of the stadium was built as a temporary structure, and it feels like it. It's not a solid building, just a metal frame with bits of cheap sheeting acting as a wrap. The rain gets in through all the gaps. It is a new stadium, but the concourse is already very scruffy and dirty in parts. It's not the sort of place where you want to get there early or stay after.

In truth, this is just one of many problems. At least you can get a beer at half time now though.

[Colours never run]

Whatever fans opinion of the ****hole, we still turn up to watch the Team play in record numbers (50,000 or there abouts is outrageous for a Club starved of success and good football for years and yet we can't get enough of the west ham drug) and most of them being ST holders. I'd wager most that attend don't like it and find it incomparable to the beloved Boleyn as do I, however we still pack the stadium out which says something about people's desire to still see us do well on the pitch. And no, they ain't all going to be Johnny come lately tourists, some are, many faces are still familiar going to see West Ham down the years. Point being, you don't have to like the cunthole to still enjoy watching us play, catch up with long standing mates/family and go for a few beers before and after 90 mins of torture. And it heartens me to see so many fellow suffering Hammers still attending in huge numbers because it restores my faith in what this Club has always been mainly about - The fans.

My message to anyone either contemplating of jacking it in or already done so, for understandable reasons, think twice about walking away for good as West Ham does still exist regardless of where we now play, it exists in the stands filled with passionate supporters who refuse to be beaten and wanna make the best of it. Each to their own though and good luck to any Hammer on what they individually decide is best for them, whether that's call time on it, or decide to stick around or return. It always has been us that truly makes the Club and that's what I cling on too.

Something else I've been thinking about is if we actually started doing well in the Stadium challenging for and in Europe, no outsider can say we were given it because now everyone understands what a burden this has all been for us holding the Club back more than anything. To many it's a hindrance rather than a massive leg up. If we do achieve things, it will be purely down to merit because it certainly won't be down to extreme finances or masterminding a botched deal.

One day, I reckon we will get our day in the sun again and us fans will be rewarded for sticking through thick and very ****ing thin with this Club.

[the pink palermo]

I wonder how any potential investors would view disenchanted fans?

They hear all the noise....I'm sure.

But whisper it quietly because it's not popular on this thread.

There are loads and loads of fans who are perfectly happy with where they are now......but they'll keep quiet about it..........much like Thatchers vote in the 80s.

I suspect that's true to some extent DC.

We can argue all day long about whether it's 35,000 going, 40,000 or 50,000, but it most certainly isn't an empty stadium.Some of course will be attending as "pressed men", others the disengaged but present, but there will be thousands there who quite like it.I sit next to two people who like the place, I know another two who I do the aways with who are ok with it....so if somebody as anti the place as me knows at least 4 who like it, it stands to reason there will be plenty of people who know dozens who like it.

They won't shout out loud....or go on forums....or on twitter to make their support public. But there is a big silent majority out there.

Anybody saying anything even mildly positive about the stadium just gets a verbal kicking on this thread. So why should they bother.

We do try to moderate fairly DC, and it was myself who started the thread you refer to below, just so there was some balance.

We once started a thread about everybody who liked the new stadium............and it was full of replies...happy ones.

This thread is just a lot of the same people going over the same old views. For sure, I'm sure their views are heart felt but I don't think that overall they are particularly representative of all West Ham fans.........though they want you to make it feel like it is...........and if you disagree, your somehow a bit of a wrong un.

It's why I don't post much.......doesn't feel right or representative .........on this matter.

Of course this thread, and others, has a hard core posting numerous times in a negative way about the new place, I for one cannot find it in my heart to forgive or forget not just the move but the way it was done....the lies, the deceit, the shameless propaganda, all designed to con the support, much of which gave these owners the benefit of the doubt.

I know there's a school of thought that says we should just move on, but I can't, not until the guilty are punished - they lied to us, their own supporters, and I'll have nothing positive to say about the new place until they are gone.

I do though accept there are many who seem happy with their lot.

[Up the Junction]

It's why I don't post much.......doesn't feel right or representative .........on this matter.

That's a shame, DC. Never forget we are a broad church here on KUMB and all are welcome to share their opinions. If you don't, it'll soon become an echo chamber - and that's good for nobody.

[Colours never run]

In part, it already has become an echo chamber when it comes to talking about certain issues regarding the Club. Unless most subscribe to ****ing off everything the Dildos do, it becomes very difficult to give an honest opinion on matters when it just ain't the case. For instance when the Dildos managed to convince Pellegrini to come and pay him handsomely to do so is one clear example of when they do get it right, but it feels like some can't admit it or get coated off as she kind of board sympathiser/stooge... it's happened too often in the past for posters to feel comfortable giving an honest response and I can see where David Cross is coming from. Personally I couldn't give a f*** what people think or say about me, it won't stop me saying it, but others I'm sure do hold back so not to be seen as some kind of splitter, even if they have a valid point that may rub many up the wrong way if it doesn't fit their own belief.

[clawhammer]

David’s Cross and CNR have articulated exactly how, in my experience , the majority of the fans I have met in and out of the ground feel. Full marks for speaking the truth as you see it and risking the trolling that often follows.

[Mega Ron]

You are welcome to this West Ham and they are welcome to you.

[e17]

I’m in the camp of those who doesn’t hate everything about the match day at Stratford, as is previously documented.

BUT...

I’d like to make it very clear that I will never ever forgive these owners for how they handled the migration and how many fellow supporters they’ve alienated and turned away, and the ONLY way they’ll ever get “credit” from me is on the day they realise that they’ll never be wanted or forgiven here and they sell up.

Never. I simply refuse to stop going and refuse to blame fellow supporters for whatever their outlook might be, both good and bad, but they will never ever be forgiven.

[pbenjy]

You are welcome to this West Ham and they are welcome to you.

I’m no fan of GSB and what they have done to the club and fanbase,

However, comments like this making personal digs at posters who aren’t wholly negative about the new stadium are unhelpful and boring

[Dwight1970]

I don't dislike the place but I do struggle to think of anything that it is truly positive about the place that makes the sacrifice of leaving Upton Park seem worthwhile.

My main gripe is that what was sold to me before moving is a long way from the reality that I have experienced since us moving and had I known what I know now I would not be a supporter of a move to what is a second rate venue for football.

We shouldn't forget that we were told the stadium would be world class for football and as someone mentioned above whilst things like the scaffolding stands with gaps and concourses open to the elements remain it will never be that for any events let alone as a football stadium with a running track.

Ultimately so many of issues faced were predictable and should have been dealt with before we moved there but the fact as fans this reality was hidden from us until we got there so you can only assume this was deliberate, with doing this and the eagerness to leave Upton Park for the far from ready London Stadium you have to wonder what was the benefit in doing this?

[Napoleon Solo]

Dwight1970, I can't remember many fans protesting when Gold and Sullivan first proposed the move.

[mushy]

Dwight1970, I can't remember many fans protesting when Gold and Sullivan first proposed the move.

Were you on this forum then?
Plenty protested.

[Up the Junction]

My main gripe is that what was sold to me before moving is a long way from the reality...

The poll published today also revealed that of those that voted in favour, more than 50 per cent said they did so because they believe the move to the Olympic Stadium, due in 2016-2017, will provide the resources to improve the squad and build the Premier League club.

Source.

[Gsbgsb]

For me the major positive is 15,000 plus extra fans watching the team week in week out. Maybe a number are tourists or only go to a few games per year etc (equally I do not see being either as the crime some seem to) but the chance for people to get season tickets outweighs many of the negatives which for me personally are more about the move and it’s handling than the stadium itself.

Near me are three generations from one family who have got seasons and started going, yes the grandfather went to the occasional game at UP has fond memories of his time there, the young grandkids aged about 7/8 never did and these are the fans of the future whose memories are being made at the new place, loving beating Man Utd and Arsenal for example.

As others have noted there seems to be a majority of fans who are quite happy to follow the team at the new ground, I expect however the improvement on the pitch has influenced the reaction off it.

[hammerman11]

its not our home like the Boleyn but that has sadly gone.

IF we eventually own the bowl ND if WE BRING SEATS CLOSER TO THE PITCH AND Iif WE MAKE OTHER MUCH NEEDED REPAIRS AND IMPROVEMENTS TO THE GROUND AND SURROUND IT MAY ONE DAY BE !

a lot of IF`s though. watching the liverpool match last night one thing I always think of when I see anfield is how close klopp is to the crowd . pelle is miles away. That is what I miss most being close to the action not 15 metres away !

[Dwight1970]

Dwight1970, I can't remember many fans protesting when Gold and Sullivan first proposed the move.

First of all if the club were delivering on what was being sold to us at the time of move then why would I or others feel need to protest?

If on the other hand you didn't believe anything that comes out of the owners mouth and thought was being sold was misleading then you would but unfortunately those voices were generally ignore by most of us.

Leaving Upton Park is not issue but where we ended up after doing so with is.

[NorthBankAlliance]

Were you on this forum then?
Plenty protested.

I make him right, far more were happy to go along with the move, or wait & see.

[NorthBankAlliance]

For me the major positive is 15,000 plus extra fans watching the team week in week out.

Not according to FOI requests and Newham Council...