The Olympic Stadium move has never seen such a divide in opinions amongst West Ham United supporters. On the one hand, we don’t want to move from our spiritual home at Upton Park, where of course all our good (and bad!) memories are kept. However, the move to the Olympic Stadium could prove to be the platform for bigger and better things.
With the move all set for the go ahead, and Sam Allardyce set to sign a new 3 year contract, the next three seasons are going to be vital to prepare the club for the big move to Stratford.
It wasn’t until a certain song came onto my Ipod the other day whilst I was sat on the bus home from work, that I realised just how much this move could mean to the club. Surely this move will attract a big money investor to the club, who will hopefully rid of us of the Icelandic Bank who still have an interest in the club. Rumours are that the owner of Westfield, and Australian Billionaire, is one of the potential people to give us a much needed cash injection. Mr Gold and Mr Sullivan are very wealthy men, however, they do not have the funds with which to turn us into a top 4 team. I say a top 4 team, because that is where the money is.
We have seen Abramovich turn the fortunes of Chelsea around. We have seen the rich Arabs come in at Manchester City and transform them from a yo-yo club into title challengers. Even Spurs have significant backing to turn them into a club who is challenging the top 4 every year. It took Manchester United years under Sir Alex Ferguson, to get to where they are now. My point being, without backing, we are merely going to be a mid table team each year. I am sure the Chairmen have something up their sleeve with regards to investment. The sale of Upton Park will hopefully nearly clear the debt the club has now – can you imagine that, having no debt whatsoever?! A bit like Chelsea, ManCity and Arsenal.
Can we do this under Sam Allardyce? Well I firmly believe we can, He turned Bolton Wanderers into a top 6 team in the early noughties. They played some good football too, played in Europe and he done this on a very tight budget. Given time, and patience from the fans, I think Allardyce has the experience and know-how to bring some glory days to West Ham United. Things are tough at the moment, while he rebuilds the club. He has had a little bit of money to spend, but he has had to be thrifty along the way. For me, we are certainly going in the right direction.
Now back to the song I heard on my Ipod – it was the theme tune to the Champions League on ITV/Sky, and the song that is played as the teams take to the pitch before a Champions League match. Can you imagine, the mighty Hammers with an all star team, taking to the pitch in a Champions League match in our state of the art stadium, against the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and AC Milan? Going on a European tour, whilst also challenging at the top of the table – expecting to win games against the big English clubs. It’s a long way away at the moment, but I hope one day, my dreams will come true!