With the Olympic Stadium decision about to be announced soon, and West Ham United still very likely tenants I will look at how it compares with West Ham current ground the Boleyn Ground. Now the stadium change is still a very split decision between fans even though this has been going on for ages. So will this change actually benefit the club.
First of all the possible new home for the Hammers the Olympic Stadium. This stadium holds 80,000 which would make it the biggest Premier League stadium if we were to move there, but with the running track around the pitch retractable seating seems a sensible option. So with the retractble seating I believe that this will reduce the gorund’s capacity to around 60,000 which still makes it as big as the Emirates the home of fellow London club Arsenal. With more seats obviously brings more revenue as you are now fitting more people into the stadium. Another plus to having a bigger ground is the fact that the ticket prices may be lowered. This makes football more affordable ensuring further that you are more likely to fill the stadium. When you look at the top clubs they all have top stadiums which the Olympic Stadium definately boasts. If you speak to someone who went to the Olympic Stadium this summer they will tell you what an experience it it. I remember one person saying that the atmosphere was brilliant and that the view wasn’t as bad as everyone was making it out to be. The Olympic Stadium is also fairly easy to access as you can take the district or jubilee line to stratford and then it is a fiftenn minute walk from there.
Now onto our current home the Boleyn Ground. Our ground currently holds 35,000 which is 45,000 less than the stadium we are proposing to move too. What the ground lacks in seating it makes up for in history however. This is because the Boleyn Ground has always been our home and it has seen the likes of Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Paolo Di Canio to name a few. It has seen many legends over it’s years as a stadium to the mighty hammers. This alone cannot not be replaced and with the Olympic Stadium likely to be our home for many years it will be up to players to become new legends of the clubs and almost rewrite history. The Boleyn Ground is also very easy to get to as you can take the train to Upton Park and then walk for all of 5 to 10 minutes.
So what is the better move for us to stay at Upton Park or move to Stratford. As hard as it is I think it would have to be to move to Stratford. This is because as it is the stadium is more than twice the size of the Boleyn. It could also be the start of a new time for the club as with the bigger stadiums come more money. This can only make our club better as it will attract players to play at the Olympic Stadium and we will have more money to spend on players. However the Boleyn Ground will always be in our hearts and its history will never be forgotten.