West Ham United legend Mark Ward has revealed he gave co-owner David Sullivan an honest warning to his face over leaving Upton Park.
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Over four years on from leaving Upton Park West Ham United fans are growing increasingly bitter rather than settled.
Granted Hammers fans have not been in their new London Stadium home since February.
But the truth is West Ham supporters will probably never get over leaving their beloved Boleyn.
West Ham have moved to try and improve the matchday experience over the last two seasons.
There’s no place like home
As part of that the stands behind the goal have been squared off in preparation for when fans return to matches – starting with 2,000 for the visit of Manchester United this weekend.
But it cuts little ice with supporters, many of whom feel they were taken to the new ground on false pretences.
‘Sold a dream, given a nightmare’ and ‘Lies, lies, lies’ are just two of the catchlines emblazoned on protest banners sported by angry supporters.
And the stadium move sits at the very heart of the festering resentment between the fanbase and co-owners Sullivan and David Gold and their vice-chairman Karren Brady.
Hammers legend Ward gave Sullivan honest warning to his face before stadium move
Now former Hammers hero Ward has revealed on the latest West Ham Way Extra Time podcast that he warned Sullivan to his face not to move to a stadium he says simply ‘isn’t a football ground’.
“You know what this all stems from moving from Upton Park to the London Stadium, that’s the whole thing,” Ward told The West Ham Way Extra Time podcast.
“At the end of the day I do work for the club, ambassador roles and all that so I’ve got to be careful what I say. But I remember – and I can say this now – David Sullivan got me to Birmingham City as a player-coach so I had a relationship with him there, David Gold as well…
‘You’ll never replicate this’
“It’s never going to be Upton Park, we’ve got to forget that now. I loved Upton Park, it was an iconic stadium, iconic. But I always say this, the London Stadium is not a football stadium. It never will be. Never will be…
“I was invited up to the board room and one of the questions was – and I loved speaking to him because I was bigger than him! – and I was chatting with him and he went ‘What do you think about moving from here to the you know (Olympic Stadium)?’.
“My words were to him ‘You’ll never, ever replicate this’. And he said ‘Yea but you know times move on’. He just wanted my input and I told him.”
Sullivan and Gold did not listen, though.
And unless the stadium can be overhauled inside and the seats moved closer to the pitch the bitter resentment will probably never subside.
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