Olympic Stadium Discussion and Questions

The Forum for all football-related discussion, including West Ham United FC. Our busiest Forum and the place to begin if you're new to KUMB.

Moderators: Gnome, last.caress, Wilko1304, Rio, bristolhammerfc, the pink palermo, chalks

Post Reply
User avatar
Jon
Posts: 3063
Joined: Sat Jan 30, 2010 6:31 pm
Location: Still in the past..
Has liked: 102 likes
Total likes: 142 likes

Re: Olympic Stadium Discussion and Questions

Post by Jon »

Samba - once UP was made all seater and the fans moved further from the action, football changed forever.

I guess I saw the move to the OS as another step to move us further away and sanitise the ‘product’ (yuk) even more.

I took all of GSB’s bluster with a spoonful of salt but yes the retractable seating did give me hope. Seeing the stadium shape though it was always a false dawn and wouldn’t help the upper tiers anyway.

I stayed quiet so no I didn’t protest officially. I saw the move more for younger fans many of whom know no different . What I gather from sons of friends who go they’re quite happy. My generation will always have the memories of the old UP. Somehow we have to try and create new memories for the kids taking our place.

Success on the pitch and a united fan base off it will do that.
mushy
Posts: 18465
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 3:17 pm
Location: Kumb Poster of the year 2009
Has liked: 640 likes
Total likes: 841 likes

Re: Olympic Stadium Discussion and Questions

Post by mushy »

Jon wrote:Samba - once UP was made all seater and the fans moved further from the action, football changed forever.

.
My seat five rows back was closer to the pitch then when I used to stand.
There was no significant increase in distance from the pitch when we went all seater.
User avatar
hadleighhammer
Gentrified
Posts: 9992
Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2004 6:18 pm
Location: On my computer trying to keep up with the Sky fixture changes
Has liked: 11 likes
Total likes: 8 likes

Re: Olympic Stadium Discussion and Questions

Post by hadleighhammer »

sutts07 wrote: On a much smaller scale, what you are saying is the equivalent of, it’s not worth putting an extension on your house or fitting a new kitchen and doing it up when you move in, because you can’t make any profit from it it’s all outlay, right? But people still do it because they want to improve the quality of their own home and they know that it all counts towards the resale value.
It's really not like someones own personal home kitchen though is it.

At best it's more like a landlord with a property that has a kitchen that does the job and comes up to code, his tenants signed a long-term lease, then they decide they would prefer a different design of kitchen but of course would see out the lease with it's current kitchen design as they're locked into it.

Why would a landlord bother when there is no ROI?
User avatar
Ben
Posts: 14643
Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2004 6:00 pm
Location: Overdue warning for being a twat on the rumours thread
Has liked: 22 likes
Total likes: 134 likes

Re: Olympic Stadium Discussion and Questions

Post by Ben »

as moving is probably almost impossible the first step should be moving out the athletics mob.
then sign a new deal paying more to be sole tenants and have full control of the place.

Or better still taking it over fully so we can start looking at options of making it better, I'd build a new stadium inside the bowl
User avatar
Colours never run
Posts: 25386
Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2015 1:46 am
Location: "Be in no doubt, we are part of the most successful stadium migration in history"
Has liked: 6811 likes
Total likes: 2363 likes

Re: Olympic Stadium Discussion and Questions

Post by Colours never run »

Ben wrote:
Or better still taking it over fully so we can start looking at options of making it better, I'd build a new stadium inside the bowl

I'm warming a lot to this idea. It'll solve a few problems, not only bringing stands closer to the pitch, but also meaning the possibility of having concealed Concourses from the elements once more.


Image

Anyone good with Paint? :D
User avatar
Duff
Posts: 713
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2006 1:11 pm
Has liked: 3 likes
Total likes: 6 likes

Re: Olympic Stadium Discussion and Questions

Post by Duff »

hadleighhammer wrote:
It's really not like someones own personal home kitchen though is it.

At best it's more like a landlord with a property that has a kitchen that does the job and comes up to code, his tenants signed a long-term lease, then they decide they would prefer a different design of kitchen but of course would see out the lease with it's current kitchen design as they're locked into it.

Why would a landlord bother when there is no ROI?
We're not the Landlord though, if you had a 99 year lease on your house, you'd do it up so you could enjoy it while you were there.
User avatar
sutts07
Posts: 13066
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2007 2:55 pm
Location: Block 112, a far cry from CR1
Has liked: 24 likes
Total likes: 539 likes

Re: Olympic Stadium Discussion and Questions

Post by sutts07 »

James P wrote: The biggest mis-step here is to compare the stadium to a home. No one lives there. It is a business premises. It is a building that exists in order to generate revenue and to make money for the shareholders. If you want to use an analogy you should be comparing it to a factory, not a family home.

No one would spend hundreds of millions of pounds on a cosmetic face lift to a factory if it made absolutely no difference to productivity, or output, or costs or profit. That's what you're asking to be done to the Olympic Stadium. It's never going to happen.
Everyone saw the Boleyn as 'our home' so why wouldn't we feel the same pride around our new home IF it was revamped and made fit for purpose?

And of course businesses spend big on kitting out their offices and factories. Work places are having more spent on them than ever before because there is a direct coloration between an improved working environment, productivity and output.

What is to say that it wouldn't we worth a few extra points or an additional round in a cup or two if we made the stadium a tougher place to visit for away teams, a better environment for our own, a more intimidating and hostile place, a place we could call home??

I get that you are hacked off about the current state of play and cannot in any way see a remote possibility that one day our current site 'could' be turned into something pretty impressive with the right backing and vision. I can't fault anyone with that opinion at all, sadly that is the effect the current owners have had on us.

But the bottom line is, it could be done, that much you can't really dispute (although I am sure you will). We just need new owners with money and vision.
User avatar
Nesticles
Posts: 4746
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2011 10:48 am

Re: Olympic Stadium Discussion and Questions

Post by Nesticles »

sutts07 wrote:We just need new owners with money and vision.
That we certainly do, but they would probably be more interested in other improvements that were within their control and financially made sense

I posted something a couple of pages back, but I strongly believe converting the stadium is sadly a non starter

The only hope would be owners with great wealth coming in, and out of the goodness of their hearts building a new stadium from scratch for the fans. That is possibility, but a fairytale scenario

We are almost certainly stuck in an irreversible nightmare when it comes to the stadium
mushy
Posts: 18465
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 3:17 pm
Location: Kumb Poster of the year 2009
Has liked: 640 likes
Total likes: 841 likes

Re: Olympic Stadium Discussion and Questions

Post by mushy »

sutts07 wrote:.

But the bottom line is, it could be done, that much you can't really dispute (although I am sure you will). We just need new owners with money and vision.
You need owners that are likely to want a return on a huge investment -which seems unlikely, where would they get their money back and profit?
Or new owners that throw money at the club Man City style with no intention of ever getting any of it back.
Even more unlikely.
ornchurch ammer
Posts: 1273
Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2017 6:49 pm
Has liked: 133 likes
Total likes: 47 likes

Re: Olympic Stadium Discussion and Questions

Post by ornchurch ammer »

Ben wrote:
I'd build a new stadium inside the bowl
This is actually an ironic idea as when asked by friends what the stadium was like after being in the upper tier for a rugby game I said "sitting in the upper tier is like sitting in a stadium watching a game taking place in another stadium" as it was so disconnected by the gaps between the tiers.
User avatar
Samba
Posts: 21811
Joined: Mon Apr 03, 2017 3:36 pm
Location: David Sullivan's least favourite fluffer.
Has liked: 2484 likes
Total likes: 895 likes

Re: Olympic Stadium Discussion and Questions

Post by Samba »

Ben wrote:as moving is probably almost impossible the first step should be moving out the athletics mob.
then sign a new deal paying more to be sole tenants and have full control of the place.
Or better still taking it over fully so we can start looking at options of making it better, I'd build a new stadium inside the bowl
I think Ben has the answer.
But not before GSB F*** RIGHT OFF.
User avatar
Colours never run
Posts: 25386
Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2015 1:46 am
Location: "Be in no doubt, we are part of the most successful stadium migration in history"
Has liked: 6811 likes
Total likes: 2363 likes

Re: Olympic Stadium Discussion and Questions

Post by Colours never run »

What decent examples are there from around the world that have successfully achieved building up close to the pitch inside an athletics stadium?
User avatar
hadleighhammer
Gentrified
Posts: 9992
Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2004 6:18 pm
Location: On my computer trying to keep up with the Sky fixture changes
Has liked: 11 likes
Total likes: 8 likes

Re: Olympic Stadium Discussion and Questions

Post by hadleighhammer »

Duff wrote:We're not the Landlord though, if you had a 99 year lease on your house, you'd do it up so you could enjoy it while you were there.
The owners are though in Sutts analogy. Theyve basically bought a 99 year leasehold buy to let flat with a small annual maintenance fee and a (just about) functional kitchen. The supporters are the tenants paying the landlord GSBs profits on their buy to let.

I dont agree with the home/kitchen analogy, but only trying to make it closer reflect our situation regarding the need/desire for GSB or any future owners to invest in a new kitchen (ie there is no reason as there would be no ROI).
User avatar
Westbourne Bill
Posts: 7454
Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 5:49 pm
Location: W Sussex
Has liked: 129 likes
Total likes: 329 likes

Re: Olympic Stadium Discussion and Questions

Post by Westbourne Bill »

I'm not even sure the pitch and the upper tier should share the same post code.
Kialos
Posts: 10613
Joined: Mon Jan 09, 2006 6:11 pm
Has liked: 1556 likes
Total likes: 773 likes

Re: Olympic Stadium Discussion and Questions

Post by Kialos »

Sullivan and Brady have ensured that the relationship with the other stakeholders is toxic. That is a major issue and why there will be little if any progress whilst they are still around.
User avatar
Colours never run
Posts: 25386
Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2015 1:46 am
Location: "Be in no doubt, we are part of the most successful stadium migration in history"
Has liked: 6811 likes
Total likes: 2363 likes

Re: Olympic Stadium Discussion and Questions

Post by Colours never run »

Oh to be a fly on the wall whenever GSB discuss what's going on. I wonder how strained their relationships between the 3 are these days. You only have to see in the stadium they all sit well away from each other.
Kialos
Posts: 10613
Joined: Mon Jan 09, 2006 6:11 pm
Has liked: 1556 likes
Total likes: 773 likes

Re: Olympic Stadium Discussion and Questions

Post by Kialos »

Thankfully although I am directly opposite to them where I sit in the East Stand it is so far away I can't see them. :D
User avatar
Samba
Posts: 21811
Joined: Mon Apr 03, 2017 3:36 pm
Location: David Sullivan's least favourite fluffer.
Has liked: 2484 likes
Total likes: 895 likes

Re: Olympic Stadium Discussion and Questions

Post by Samba »

Kialos wrote:Thankfully although I am directly opposite to them where I sit in the East Stand it is so far away I can't see them. :D
:D
You would with telescopic sights.
You know, for a water pistol..
User avatar
Hammerite
Posts: 3410
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2003 11:32 am
Location: East, East, East Ham!!!!

Re: Olympic Stadium Discussion and Questions

Post by Hammerite »

Colours never run wrote:What decent examples are there from around the world that have successfully achieved building up close to the pitch inside an athletics stadium?
Doesn't matter CNR, the thing would still be on an island, in the middle of a desolate wasteland in Stratford.
User avatar
Westbourne Bill
Posts: 7454
Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 5:49 pm
Location: W Sussex
Has liked: 129 likes
Total likes: 329 likes

Re: Olympic Stadium Discussion and Questions

Post by Westbourne Bill »

Would digging down for a new pitch actually need to be any deeper than the current foundations of the stands?
Post Reply