A BBC man has delivered a major update on West Ham’s London Stadium plans and says all parties could be open to a buyout.
Many West Ham fans were – and remain – unhappy with the London Stadium since the big move to Stratford in 2016.
The major bone of contention has been the distance from the stands to the pitch.
Given what West Ham fans had at their beloved Upton Park and the vision sold to them on leaving the famous Boleyn Ground, it is easy to see why.
Changes have been made to the stands behind both goals to square them off in line with more traditional football stadia.
And the redevelopment of the west stand coincided with a stadium capacity increase from 60,000 to 62,500. That is part of a wider plan to eventually raise capacity to 66,000.
The only way the issue with the gaps between the stands and the pitch will ever be resolved is if West Ham get their hands on the stadium as owners.
As fans know only too well, the LLDC owns the stadium and West Ham are merely the anchor tenants.
That means David Sullivan, David Gold, Daniel Kretinsky and Karren Brady currently have little say over certain key elements at their home ground. Take for example the latest installation at the arena, the wall between the home and away supporters.
It was put in by LLDC, killing any semblance of atmosphere that was generated in the ground.
Well it seems there is genuine hope the Hammers could one day own the stadium themselves and be masters of their own destiny.
Because a BBC man has delivered a major update on West Ham’s London Stadium plans and says all parties could be open to a buyout.
Respected BBC football journalist Simon Stone says both West Ham and the stadium owners could be open to a Hammers buyout even if it means the football club hosting athletics on a periodical basis in the future as part of the Olympic legacy.
“West Ham remain open to the idea of buying London Stadium should UK Athletics and landlords LLDC reach an agreement over a get-out deal,” Stone said on Twitter.
“Fresh doubt over UK Athletics’ presence at the iconic home of the 2012 Olympics emerged earlier this week after the governing body posted a £ 1.8m loss for the year ending 31 March, with reserves down from £2.2m to £ 431,000.
“UK Athletics says it remains committed to having a presence at the stadium and point to healthy ticket sales for the Diamond League event on 23 July 2023. An agreement with Major League Baseball to play regular season matches at the stadium up to 2026 also points to reconfiguration away from football being part of the stadium’s business plan for the foreseeable future.
“However, UK Athletics has never made any secret of the fact it is open minded about the future and its latest accounts have led to suggestions of a move away from the stadium, particularly as Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium proved a popular venue for this year’s Commonwealth Games. Officials from the London Legacy Development Corporation have worked hard to reduce losses at the taxpayer – funded stadium . In their latest accounts , to March 2021 , the stadium posted an £820,065 pre tax loss.
“Accounts for 2022 are due to be made public next month. West Ham have always believed the stadium, which still has no naming rights sponsor, would run better financially if they were involved.
“The Hammers presently pay close to £4m a year to play at the stadium. Relations between the club and LLDC have thawed in recent years, allowing the club to make cosmetic changes, including installing a claret carpet round the pitch instead of the previous green, having a statue of Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters outside the ground and raising the capacity to 62,500, second only to Old Trafford in the Premier League.
“It is understood West Ham would be open to the idea of athletics events being held at the stadium on a periodic basis.”
As reported by Hammers News previously, West Ham have been given great hope from both Russia and Spain that the bowl-shaped arena could be fully – and spectacularly – converted for football use.
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