The Olympic Stadium: Poll V

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Do you support the plans by WHUFC's Board of Directors to move the Club to the Olympic Stadium?

Yes
629
65%
No
219
23%
Undecided
122
13%
 
Total votes: 970

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Denbighammer
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Re: The Olympic Stadium: Poll V

Post by Denbighammer »

PP, a fantastic summary and one that largely sums up my take on the situation.

For me, I worry about the team on the pitch first and foremost, little else matters. I am totally unconvinced this move will improve the team. In terms of attending the view and the atmosphere are what matters to me. I am totally unconvinced this will improve by moving.
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Re: The Olympic Stadium: Poll V

Post by The Rebirth »

the pink palermo wrote:Rebirth...
1) I think if you're on the lower tier it will be fine. The upper tiers behind the goals are always going to feel a million miles away but with the seats rolled out in front it won't look that bad. I'm not saying that's right of course I'm just saying.

2) That is pure speculation on your part, you're not giving it a chance for the club to do something positive when you're automatically thinking negatively. You don't believe them? or you don't want to believe them? Corporate seats will be one one side of the stadium? that's where all the boxes are. I think the seats on the halfway line will be the most expensive though a bit like now...

3) Doesn't currently stop the hordes of people who go to the ground now up to an hour before kick off and pay the extortionate prices in the ground. The beauty of the Olympic Park is it's quite Central you can go East or West if you don't want to be around the stadium. Also the deal with Westfield yeah of course they will close the shopping centre if their are issues. We do not do ourselves any favours on that front.

4) I have to disagree tonnes of West Ham fans currently drink in the Hamilton Hall and surrounding pubs in the City before games then head on the Central Line and change again to UP. People from Surrey, Bucks, Herts and anywhere that isn't Essex or Kent will have the same routes through London to travel it's just they will have more lines on the Tube network to enable them to get to Stratford. The overground benefit is for the Essex and Kent lot (high speed trains for the Kent lot especially). Essex lot have an abundance of venues to drink in before jumping on the train. I can imagine a lot of people will get off at West Ham on the C2C and go into Stratford by foot drinking in Pubs like the Black Bull on the outskirts of the park.

5) Again that is a bit of an extreme! I severely doubt we will give away 20,000 away tickets. I'll take a punt at 6k max with 3k Neutral. If Arsenal take them all we should have more than enough to stand up and be counted.
adie wrote:spot on Pinky, at least not everyone is blinded by a shiny new stadium and celebrity PR lies
That's Pinky's opinion which is based off in part speculation. So you've basically shot yourself in the foot there.

If you're ANTI you're ANTI don't try and play it off of factors you don't even know the truth about and again are speculating/making up.

I think a lot of us are just being patient now. Too many times can these threads descend into Anti vs Pro when at the end of the day neither have any idea until the plans and consultations take place.

How can it be lies when it was never fact in the first place?
Denbighammer wrote:PP, a fantastic summary and one that largely sums up my take on the situation.

For me, I worry about the team on the pitch first and foremost, little else matters. I am totally unconvinced this move will improve the team. In terms of attending the view and the atmosphere are what matters to me. I am totally unconvinced this will improve by moving.
I'm afraid if you sit there being quiet at games. Then you're to blame for the bad atmosphere. It's the fans not the stadium that make an atmosphere. I'm bored of seeing this one being used now, given how bad we're at home apart from about 2 or 3 sections of our crowd.

Totally unconvinced and you haven't even seen the specs designs or anything or even experienced the stadium when full? I do wonder what truths you've made your mind up on?
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Re: The Olympic Stadium: Poll V

Post by Denbighammer »

The Rebirth wrote:I'm afraid if you sit there being quiet at games. Then you're to blame for the bad atmosphere. It's the fans not the stadium that make an atmosphere. I'm bored of seeing this one being used now, given how bad we're at home apart from about 2 or 3 sections of our crowd.
When those willing to make some noise are spread all over a larger area, when they are looked at like they've got two heads for making some noise its obvious that the atmosphere will suffer.

The stadium might not make the atmosphere but it sure does help.
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Re: The Olympic Stadium: Poll V

Post by The Rebirth »

Denbighammer wrote: When those willing to make some noise are spread all over a larger area, when they are looked at like they've got two heads for making some noise its obvious that the atmosphere will suffer.

The stadium might not make the atmosphere but it sure does help.
Back in the 70s and 80s West Ham and all other football clubs were for the working man on minimum wage who are passionate. In 2012 those same people go but they're 40-50 year olds who don't mind paying for expensive tickets providing they get a great view. They're not there to make noise anymore just support their team.

I believe we need to get the people who can not afford to go back to games the whole nation has priced out the average working man. It's the youth who make the noise and have the banter with away fans you see it every game in the STBL and ES Corner.
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Re: The Olympic Stadium: Poll V

Post by the pink palermo »

The Rebirth wrote: Back in the 70s and 80s West Ham and all other football clubs were for the working man on minimum wage who are passionate.
Some of us were there in that era and are perhaps better placed to comment than others .

Firstly "minimum wage" didn't exist .Secondly , we and other clubs had our share of bank managers and solicitors attending matches .Thirdly , it was the move to all seater stadai that changed the "atmosphere" in many grounds .

The Rebirth wrote: In 2012 those same people go but they're 40-50 year olds who don't mind paying for expensive tickets providing they get a great view. They're not there to make noise anymore just support their team.
Have you asked all those 40-50 year olds whether they mind paying for expensive tickets or are you making a sweeping generalisation ? I happen to stand next to one of our fans in his 50's who minds very much indeed paying the price he has to for a ticket - but he never misses a game .At least not since 1976 anyway .The two other lads I stand with at away games have different backgrounds , one is super well off, the other averagely so, but both have families and both know they are paying too much .None of us sing that much these days, and neither will you when you get to our age .Frankly , you tend to grow out of it .We do the odd twist and shout though to keep our vocal chords trained .

The Rebirth wrote: I believe we need to get the people who can not afford to go back to games the whole nation has priced out the average working man.
The club has priced tickets at just £1 for kids at the Everton game .I reckon most adults would have stretched to a fiver .
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Re: The Olympic Stadium: Poll V

Post by The Rebirth »

the pink palermo wrote: Some of us were there in that era and are perhaps better placed to comment than others .

Firstly "minimum wage" didn't exist .Secondly , we and other clubs had our share of bank managers and solicitors attending matches .Thirdly , it was the move to all seater stadai that changed the "atmosphere" in many grounds .
Considering I was just about born, I'll go by the words of my grand parents, uncles and mother thank you. You're nit picking. I don't give a monkeys if it was called minimum wage or even if it existed I am using that term to show the sorts of people who went to games, the majority of our fans were working class. That is my point.
The Rebirth wrote: Have you asked all those 40-50 year olds whether they mind paying for expensive tickets or are you making a sweeping generalisation ? I happen to stand next to one of our fans in his 50's who minds very much indeed paying the price he has to for a ticket - but he never misses a game .At least not since 1976 anyway .The two other lads I stand with at away games have different backgrounds , one is super well off, the other averagely so, but both have families and both know they are paying too much .None of us sing that much these days, and neither will you when you get to our age .Frankly , you tend to grow out of it .We do the odd twist and shout though to keep our vocal chords trained .
I was making a generalisation but based on people like yourself, someone saying the average age of a season ticket holder being in their 40s and the fact if people went back in the 80s, 70s they would be in their 50s now. But I agree with you, you grow out of it. So who do we need in the ground to fill it with noise? Youth.
the pink palermo wrote:The club has priced tickets at just £1 for kids at the Everton game .I reckon most adults would have stretched to a fiver .
That's not every game though is it? or to save nitpicking a majority of games!
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Re: The Olympic Stadium: Poll V

Post by the pink palermo »

The Rebirth wrote: Considering I was just about born,
So you weren't there then .Thank you .
The Rebirth wrote: the majority of our fans were working class.
And probably still are ..
The Rebirth wrote: I was making a generalisation but based on people like yourself, someone saying the average age of a season ticket holder being in their 40s and the fact if people went back in the 80s, 70s they would be in their 50s now.
Rebirth you are confusing a few issues .You're confusing class with disposable income and not appreciating that many fans that go currently in their fifties possibly couldn't afford to go in their late 20's .Mortgage, kids, other priorities preventing people going .
The Rebirth wrote: That's not every game though is it? or to save nitpicking a majority of games
The club could choose to price tickets differently now .Do the maths and calculate the average price of a ticket currently purchased at the Boleyn .The issue is the discounted tickets for special interest groups and the clubs desire not to have a large number of early 20's adults in the ground .

It's a deliberate pricing strategy by the club that prices tickets out of the reach of the very people you want back in the ground .

It will be interesting to see how the club deals with that at Stratford .
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Re: The Olympic Stadium: Poll V

Post by brownout »

I can't think of aclub that in moving has almost doubled its capacity (bar Darlington?) yet that is what we are looking at, despite having no waiting list for season tcikets and having to advertsie matches in the Standard.

How many year's rent at the OS would allow us to rebuild the East Stand and (if we couldn't get a grant) reopen the C2C platforms at Upton Park? 45,000 is a realistic capacity (Spurs got to Champions League with less) and woudl allow space for youngsters on cheap tickets.
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Re: The Olympic Stadium: Poll V

Post by the pink palermo »

brownout wrote:I can't think of aclub that in moving has almost doubled its capacity (bar Darlington?) yet that is what we are looking at, despite having no waiting list for season tcikets and having to advertsie matches in the Standard.
Brownout, this brings me back to my central point on this entire issue .

Why are we doing this, and who stands to benefit ?

David Dein sold his Arsenal shares for £75m , Nina Bracewell Smith for over £100m , the late Danny Fizsman for a similar amount .

None of them injected any significant equity into Arsenal , but all made a fortune off of the back of it , mostly since they decided to move to Ashburton Grove .

Meanwhile their fans pay the highest prices in England for tickets, have a worse view than they had at Highbury and watch their Manager selling their best players every year since moving .
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Re: The Olympic Stadium: Poll V

Post by Mike420 »

The purpose of moving from Highbury to the Emirates was to increase revenue, which it does.

They however choose to be tight with their money for whatever reason.

So therefore using Arsenal's move to the Emirtates as a reason why we should stay put seems illogical. If they had been spending big (which they can afford) you wouldn't be able to use them as an example. So it has nothing to do with the Emirates and all to do with board level/management.
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Re: The Olympic Stadium: Poll V

Post by the pink palermo »

Mike420 wrote:The purpose of moving from Highbury to the Emirates was to increase revenue, which it does.
And don't the Arsenal fans know it .
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Re: The Olympic Stadium: Poll V

Post by The Rebirth »

the pink palermo wrote:So you weren't there then .Thank you .
What is your point? I don't like the way you seem to discredit someone because of age. I've already explained my source of information and they're more seasoned than yourself. Thank you.

Ok I'll go down the disposable income route just to be clear then. Ok so in a day and age where apparently people in their 20s are not tied down with mortgages and have plenty of disposable income why aren't they at games?
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Re: The Olympic Stadium: Poll V

Post by The Rebirth »

brownout wrote:I can't think of aclub that in moving has almost doubled its capacity (bar Darlington?) yet that is what we are looking at, despite having no waiting list for season tcikets and having to advertsie matches in the Standard.

How many year's rent at the OS would allow us to rebuild the East Stand and (if we couldn't get a grant) reopen the C2C platforms at Upton Park? 45,000 is a realistic capacity (Spurs got to Champions League with less) and woudl allow space for youngsters on cheap tickets.
Advertise matches in the Standard? Chelsea advertise every week too. Yet they want to move into a bigger stadium? What is your point?

First things first. You don't know how much rent we'll be paying. If the rent is £8m per year West Ham will not pay that for 20 days use. So recalculate a little.

45,000 is not a realistic capacity at UP because UP will never be that big even with redevelopment. It's 42k max without doing a Spurs and demolishing half the buildings around the ground to expand.

C2C will not open at Upton Park again this argument has been done to death. People asked these questions a few years back. It's never going to happen. I think Upton Park station is too small to cope with both Tube and Rail passengers of that volume.
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Re: The Olympic Stadium: Poll V

Post by the pink palermo »

The Rebirth wrote:
What is your point? I don't like the way you seem to discredit someone because of age.
Nowt to do with age, more to do with avoiding hearsay .
The Rebirth wrote: Ok I'll go down the disposable income route just to be clear then. Ok so in a day and age where apparently people in their 20s are not tied down with mortgages and have plenty of disposable income why aren't they at games?
What era are you on about ? Are you , again, talking about something before you were born , or something that has happened in your life time ?
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Re: The Olympic Stadium: Poll V

Post by Rays Rock »

brownout wrote:I can't think of aclub that in moving has almost doubled its capacity (bar Darlington?) yet that is what we are looking at, despite having no waiting list for season tcikets and having to advertsie matches in the Standard.
I received an email this week from a well known online travel / ticketing agency offering cheap packages to go and see a Barcelona match !
I see no problem with them doing that !
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Re: The Olympic Stadium: Poll V

Post by Bradley_m »

The Rebirth wrote: What is your point? I don't like the way you seem to discredit someone because of age. I've already explained my source of information and they're more seasoned than yourself. Thank you.
Rebirth, I don't think pinkie is trying to discredit you because of your age.
What you are doing is taking someones opinion of a certain era (who was there) and forming your own opinions based on them. Your opinion is therefore based on second hand information.
As a result your arguement will automatically be weaker than someone who has formed an opinion based on first hand experience.
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Re: The Olympic Stadium: Poll V

Post by The Rebirth »

Bradley_m wrote:
Rebirth, I don't think pinkie is trying to discredit you because of your age.
What you are doing is taking someones opinion of a certain era (who was there) and forming your own opinions based on them. Your opinion is therefore based on second hand information.
As a result your arguement will automatically be weaker than someone who has formed an opinion based on first hand experience.
It's fine mate I understand

I try to explain something, I just get carried away in it all sometimes. I'm just a bit passionate about what I believe in I guess. I'm trying to be a bit more adhering to other peoples views... It's more difficult than you think. :)
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Re: The Olympic Stadium: Poll V

Post by red iron »

the pink palermo wrote: Fifthly - a significant increase in the number of away fans .Be in no doubt a home tie against Arsenal will see 20,000 gooners there .Home advantage ? I think not .Some will say it will improve the atmosphere , I don't agree .I reckon we'll hear people describing the OS as the closest thing you'll get to a neutral venue .
Good point. Anyone remember Notts Forest in the cup a few years ago? They got the upper and lower tier of the STB and completely drowned out our support. You could see how much the support galvanised their team and they were unlucky to lose. We can't afford to do that in the Prem.

"Price of everything and value of nothing" springs to mind?
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Re: The Olympic Stadium: Poll V

Post by Heysel76 »

I voted Yes, but if i could change my vote now it would be undecided, but leaning towards NO, it's not looking good :thdn:
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Re: The Olympic Stadium: Poll V

Post by The Rebirth »

red iron wrote:
Good point. Anyone remember Notts Forest in the cup a few years ago? They got the upper and lower tier of the STB andcompletely drowned out our support. You could see how much the support galvanised their team and they were unlucky to lose. We can't afford to do that in the Prem.

"Price of everything and value of nothing" springs to mind?
Who's faults that? So say we had 20,000 of our own and couldn't beat 6-7000 away fans? Well the OS is most definitely not the problem with regards to that.

And if you're worried about being outsung by Arsenal then I do despair.. really I do! :lol:
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