West Ham are facing a gulf in class off the pitch after a finance expert made a damning claim over a lack of infrastructure investment.
It is fair to say West Ham’s training ground and facilities have been a running joke among fans in the recent past.
And the London Stadium itself continues to be derided by both West Ham and rival supporters as well as pundits.
West Ham’s training facilities – at the current first team base at Rush Green and the former Chadwell Heath site now used by the academy – have long been criticised by Hammers fans, past players and managers.
At Chadwell Heath in years gone by players who complained were famously told by long-serving club staff ‘It was good enough for Bobby Moore’.
And while there is an element of truth in that of course, being a Premier League club looking to attract top players and compete with the best in Europe, West Ham should have facilities to match.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s criticism of Man United’s ageing facilities and lack of progress in terms of infrastructure shows how important it is to keep up with your rivals off the pitch.
Hammers fans have seen a host rival clubs, including the likes of Tottenham, Brighton, Leicester and even Burnley and Norwich invest heavily in their training facilities in recent years.
West Ham co-owner David Gold was forced to defend the club’s facilities at Rush Green a few years ago.
Brighton spent £30million on a brilliant new training complex. Leicester spent £100million on a new training base, Spurs around £45m on theirs and even Liverpool have been upgrading theirs too.
This time last year Hammers boss David Moyes said he hoped some of the investment from new co-owner Daniel Kretinsky would go towards improving West Ham training ground and facilities.
There have been improvements made. But while West Ham have focused serious funds on improving the squad, it has become abundantly clear the club is lagging behind in another key area.
West Ham are facing a gulf in class off the pitch after a finance expert made a damning claim over the lack of infrastructure investment.
Kieran Maguire, of The Price of the Football fame, has revealed West Ham have the third lowest investment in infrastructure over the past 12 years between 2009-2021.
Bitter rivals Spurs come out top with £1.52 Billion of investment in that period – £1bn of that being on their amazing new stadium – their training facility built in 2012 cost £45m.
By comparison West Ham have only spent £31m, of which £15m was the up front cost of moving to the London Stadium and approximately £10m revamping Rush Green.
Newcastle spent the least over the past dozen years with just £8m while Norwich spent £29m.
Man behind Tottenham and Leicester training grounds is West Ham season ticket holder, GSB have missed a trick over Rush Green
Construction firm McLaren is owned and chaired by West Ham fanatic and season ticket holder Kevin Taylor.
And in a rare interview the Hammers nut revealed his firm, which is set to announce a record £700m turnover soon, were behind Tottenham’s Hotspur Way training complex AND Leicester’s jaw-dropping £120m Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Building base.