The Olympic Stadium [2010 Poll]

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Do you support the proposed move to an Olympic Stadium with a running track, post-2012 games?

Poll ended at Thu Jun 03, 2010 1:48 am

Yes
75
18%
No
299
73%
Undecided
36
9%
 
Total votes: 410

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The Rebirth
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Re: Stratford 2012: the running track [POLL]

Post by The Rebirth »

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Last edited by The Rebirth on Sun Oct 17, 2010 10:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Mike420
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Re: Stratford 2012: the running track [POLL]

Post by Mike420 »

Bucks Hammer wrote:
Problem solved we build nice new stadium for 60 euro's, I'll even pay myself! :D
:lol: oops.
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Bucks Hammer
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Re: Stratford 2012: the running track [POLL]

Post by Bucks Hammer »

Bucks Hammer wrote:Problem solved we build nice new stadium for 60 euro's, I'll even pay myself! :D
Mike420 wrote: :lol: oops.
There's always some smart arse on here...this time its me! 8-)
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Re: Stratford 2012: the running track [POLL]

Post by UniS-Hammer »

So, the Olympic Stadium committee has compared the maximum viewing distance as a 50000 seater stadium to the 90000 seater Wembley Stadium, and Wembley is only 6m worse :lol:

The Emirates fits 10000 more seats, but the viewing distance is better by around 30m :lol:

No from me :thdn:
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Re: Stratford 2012: the running track [POLL]

Post by Fishbone »

My decision would be based on whether we could have temporary seating that covered the track while there was no athletics going on. If covered then I would have no qualms in there being a 'hidden' running track. However if you need binoculars to watch the game then it is a big no for me.
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Re: Stratford 2012: the running track [POLL]

Post by GideaParkHammer »

UniS-Hammer wrote:So, the Olympic Stadium committee has compared the maximum viewing distance as a 50000 seater stadium to the 90000 seater Wembley Stadium, and Wembley is only 6m worse :lol:

The Emirates fits 10000 more seats, but the viewing distance is better by around 30m :lol:

No from me :thdn:
And as I said in the other thread, they have been clever with their comparisons. Both Wembley and the Emirates have an "arched" upper tier. That means that the upper tier taper to the corner. The Olympic Stadium is a a "perfect" bowl. They also decided not to include comparisons for the distance from the front row to the centre circle. This would show the true problem of the track
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Re: Stratford 2012: the running track [POLL]

Post by GideaParkHammer »

Northern_Light wrote:But other possibilities exist, such as sinking the pitch further and bringing temporary seating close to the pitch all round.



I wonder how much of the atmosphere depends on the roof design rather than distance to the pitch?
The club have already ruled out digging down. Not only would it be costly to overcome the water table, it is near impossible due to contaminated ground below.

Atmosphere does suffer because of the track. Ask Bayern Munich fans, ask Juventus fans, ask Brighton fans, etc etc. They are all moving to, or rebuilding to create, a track less stadium.

As for placing temporary seats on the track. The front row of the OS is already ground level, so any seats would have a ZERO gradient
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Re: Stratford 2012: the running track [POLL]

Post by Johnny Byrne's Boots »

If the track were to be removed after the games and the seating somehow extended to the touchlines, every seat you see in the pictures of the stadium as it is now would still be no nearer the pitch. Only the additional new seats would be nearer, and their rake would in all probability be so shallow that all the occupants would see is the back of the head in front.

I'm beginning to think the costs associated with turning the OS into a real football ground, even assuming the track is to go, would exceed the cost of a fleet of bulldozers and a clean sheet of paper.
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F.U.B.A.R.
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Re: Stratford 2012: the running track [POLL]

Post by F.U.B.A.R. »

I think the players are demanding a running track, so the can't hear the verbal assaults they receive from their own fans...
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Re: Stratford 2012: the running track [POLL]

Post by WestHamIFC »

Quite simple for me:

With a Running Track = NO.

Without a Running Track = YES.



However we should not pull out of the application process. Yet.

Let’s lobby the new government right up until the point of no return (whenever that is). Only then should we pull out.

Hopefully by then the powers that be will realise we are the only viable option.

It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Due to the benefits of the transport infrastructure and promised price reductions I’m convinced that with a move, minus the running track, the following will happen:

1. Our fanbase will expand
2. Older fans (with their families) will return



The above won’t happen at The Boleyn because of it’s location and rubbish accessibility. People with screaming kids don’t wanna queue for miles at Upton Park tube, or have walk several blocks to find where they parked their car!

However the bottom line is no sane football fan on Planet Earth wants to watch the beautiful game from at least 8 lanes away.
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Re: Stratford 2012: the running track [POLL]

Post by hadleighhammer »

No from me. I'd never set foot in somewhere that looks like any of the Olympic stadium mock ups.

Some on our fanbase are obviously willing to look past killing the little atmopshere and soul the club has left just to (apparently) slightly increase a chance of success. Not what I thought West Ham was about. :?

Also, without significantly reducing prices and therefore not making a major increase in turnover, how do we plan to fill 60k? Tourists and daytrippers I assume? What happens if the arse falls out of Sky/football in a few years time and we're stuck with this 60k plastic bowl forever?
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Re: Stratford 2012: the running track [POLL]

Post by Arch Dandy »

hadleighhammer wrote:how do we plan to fill 60k? Tourists and daytrippers I assume?
Maybe the fan's who used to go but were priced out would come back?
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Re: Stratford 2012: the running track [POLL]

Post by hadleighhammer »

Arch Dandy wrote: Maybe the fan's who used to go but were priced out would come back?
From the days of terracing when we averaged 20k-25k in a good year? Wouldn't bring back those who dislike the lack of atmopshere or no terracing. The cheap seats will be stuck at the back of the top tier in a corner aswell.

I'll stick with mostly toursits and daytrippers as the plan they're looking at, especially as they're the ones who put the most into buying merchandise per head.
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Re: Stratford 2012: the running track [POLL]

Post by HarrowInnHammer »

The Boleyn with an extended East Stand, which is possible is fine for me, BUT if we need to move then please not to this dump. Why don't people understand the facilities won't be amazing like at the Emirates, they are temporary and hadleighs right the ground will be full of 'plastics' day trippers like the sort that go chelsea now, just what I don't want. The views would be awful as well, running track or not, due to the incline of the stands. If we move on then make it a purpose built ground with the right facilities and the right design i.e. close to the pitch!
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Re: Stratford 2012: the running track [POLL]

Post by Arch Dandy »

hadleighhammer wrote:From the days of terracing when we averaged 20k-25k in a good year? Wouldn't bring back those who dislike the lack of atmopshere or no terracing. The cheap seats will be stuck at the back of the top tier in a corner aswell.

I'll stick with mostly toursits and daytrippers as the plan they're looking at, especially as they're the ones who put the most into buying merchandise per head.
Well from any who used to go or wanted to go but have been priced out in the last 10 years, that'll be people who stopped going in the 70's/80's due to violence, people who used to go but can't afford it themselves, people who want to take their kids but can't afford it as well as people on day trips & tourists. It's not like we don't get those now is it?

I'd think the cheap seats would be at the front, that'll be the worst view I would think, like now.
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Re: Stratford 2012: the running track [POLL]

Post by whufc32 »

Couple of points to make here, View from the new Wembley is great no matter where you sit, The old wembley was a bit before my time, but can any of you tell me what it was like watching a match there? of course sand covered the track there? oh and in the new wembley one on the stands behind the goal has retractable seating.
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Re: Stratford 2012: the running track [POLL]

Post by Westbourne Bill »

Could Arsenal fill an Olympic stadium with a running track? Probably, because they play attractive football, have top players, a bigger fan base and despite not winning a trophy for 4-5 years, can provide Champions League football.

Even if ticket prices were halved, the matchday experience of watching a West Ham team that cant offer all of the above will never produce crowds of 55,000 especially if youre too far away to recognise the players.

Unless they offer me a S/T in the dug-out, I expect I'll stop going.
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whufc32
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Re: Stratford 2012: the running track [POLL]

Post by whufc32 »

Johnny Byrne's Boots wrote:If the track were to be removed after the games and the seating somehow extended to the touchlines, every seat you see in the pictures of the stadium as it is now would still be no nearer the pitch. Only the additional new seats would be nearer, and their rake would in all probability be so shallow that all the occupants would see is the back of the head in front.

I'm beginning to think the costs associated with turning the OS into a real football ground, even assuming the track is to go, would exceed the cost of a fleet of bulldozers and a clean sheet of paper.
I think it would make a difference, we're all psychologically affected by stuff like that, for instance view in the City of Manchester stadium from the main stand is fine!
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GideaParkHammer
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Re: Stratford 2012: the running track [POLL]

Post by GideaParkHammer »

hadleighhammer wrote: From the days of terracing when we averaged 20k-25k in a good year? Wouldn't bring back those who dislike the lack of atmopshere or no terracing. The cheap seats will be stuck at the back of the top tier in a corner aswell.
Very good points. There are many that are either too young, or do not remember when Football almost imploded. I remember our best ever season, (when we was 3rd). The opening home game saw an attendance of 13,000 against Luton. Attendances did improve slightly, but we only had one attendance over 30,000 and that was the last game of the season, (in a stadium that held 33,500). The main cause of this "implosion" was mainly due to a reaction to hooliganism.

Attendances did recover until the Bond Scheme. The following year, we were allocating the whole of the South Bank to visiting teams as attendances went as low as 10,000.

What could cause the next implosion? I personally think the biggest threat is online streaming. At the moment sites like Sopcast and Veetle are either a bit of a "nudge, nudge wink wink" with people discovering them by word of mouth, or known to internet geeks. With HD technology, and widespread knowledge, people will be able to plug their computers straight into their HD plasma screens to watch the game free. This will have many effects not least making in harder to attract new supporters to a ground, especially if the cheapest seats are miles from the pitch. Remember, these "lost" fans in places like Southend and Basildon still have to pay for train tickets, (the club tried free coaches in the past with little success). The other threat posed by widespread internent streaming could be that Sky will be reluctant to pay a premium rate to the Premier League if games can be accessed for free. Saturation TV has killed attendances in Italy, and to a lesser extent Spain.

So what happens if we move to Stratford, after selling our ground, and football implodes? We would have lost our biggest asset, and no way to downsize.

Perhaps I am being negative, but are people really willing to take the risk that football will always stay as it is?
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Re: Stratford 2012: the running track [POLL]

Post by GideaParkHammer »

Westbourne Bill wrote:Could Arsenal fill an Olympic stadium with a running track? Probably, because they play attractive football, have top players, a bigger fan base and despite not winning a trophy for 4-5 years, can provide Champions League football.
Arsenal are a good example. A few years ago, when they were at Highbury, they played their Champions League games at Wembley. Nearly every Arsenal fan hated the experience as they were so far away from the pitch, and could not wait to get back to Highbury
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