West Ham United are set to move one step away from surpassing bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur with their London Stadium plans.
David Moyes ensured West Ham surpassed Tottenham on the pitch last season, dumping Spurs into the UEFA Conference League.
And soon the Hammers will be one step from surpassing Tottenham off the pitch too.
West Ham are eventually looking to increase the capacity of the London Stadium up to 66,000 in order to become the biggest club ground in the capital and second biggest in the Premier League behind only Manchester United’s Old Trafford.
Hammers capacity increase plans must be done in two stages with 66k the end goal
The Hammers have long planned to increase the number of seats at their Stratford home, which must be done in two phases to satisfy the local Safety Advisory Group.
West Ham plan to raise the capacity by 2,500 to 62,500. This is the first step before another increase in the future up to 66,000.
Plans for the stage one increase finally look set to grind into gear following 18 months of Covid hell according to West Ham insiders Claret and Hugh.
The Newham led London Stadium Safety Advisory Group confirmed the news during a meeting in June – as published in the meeting minutes.
“The meeting revealed there has been a planning application to increase the football capacity from 60,000 to 62,500 for Business As Usual,” Claret and Hugh states.
“There will be a normal planning consultation process. A seating manifest from West Ham will be required clearly identifying the restricted viewing seats. Newham reminded West Ham that the wet seats manifest was still due with operators London Stadium 185 asked to share details with Newham Council.”
Council minutes show first phase of West Ham’s London Stadium plan is grinding into gear and will put the club one step away from surpassing rivals Spurs
West Ham’s plans would see the London Stadium – which as stated has space to eventually increase capacity to 66,000 in ‘football mode’ – rise to within 350 seats of Tottenham Hotspur’s newly increased 62,850 capacity stadium.
An increase to 62,500 will put West Ham above Arsenal’s Emirates stadium which stands at 60,260 and just one step away from jumping over Tottenham.
If approved West Ham will jump from the fourth-largest capacity in the Premier League to third behind Tottenham and Old Trafford (74,140).
Once West Ham eventually satisfy the authorities that 66k can safely attend and be appropriately serviced by police and public transport, permission should be granted to make the Hammers’ home just one off top spot.
Second biggest Prem capacity and all stands squared off and closer to the pitch will make stadium feel more like West Ham’s home
There was also a major announcement regarding the London Stadium last week.
If capacity is eventually upped to 66k and the side stands are straightened and brought closer to the action West Ham fans may finally start to feel more at home after years of bitterness towards the club’s hierarchy over broken promises surrounding the big move.
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