West Ham have been handed a truly huge London Stadium boost that will finally make it feel like home, with UK athletics considering leaving.
A report from The Times claims that cash-strapped UK Athletics may leave the London Stadium in order to help ensure their future.
This would leave the door open for West Ham to take sole ownership of the arena.
We all know the limitations and fall-backs of our Stratford home. It quite simply isn’t a football arena, although there have been some memorable nights at the London Stadium, let’s not forget.
Sevilla, Liverpool and Chelsea and home last season were incredible occasions. There is still huge room for improvements though.
Over the past six-and-a-half years, the Hammers owners have been fairly constrained with what they can actually do to improve the stadium, due to the shared ownership with UK Athletics.
That may all be set to change now though…
West Ham handed huge London Stadium boost with UK athletics considering leaving
With The Times claiming that UK Athletics may leave the Stratford arena in order to secure their future financially, the Hammers might have a free run at ownership.
This would be a huge step in the right direction for the football club in my opinion.
If we can secure the stadium as our own, we can then make the changes that need to be made.
Firstly, the last row of seats all around the bottom need to be closer to the pitch.
It is so hard to generate an atmosphere and intimidate the away team when the fans are so far away from the action. Upton Park was chalk and cheese to the London Stadium.
No away team enjoyed travelling to The Boleyn Ground. It was a horrible experience for visiting sides, and that’s the way that it should be.
The London Stadium just doesn’t have that kind of vibe, and our home form over the past six years has suffered as a result.
And if we are to make genuine progress under David Moyes, our home needs to be a fortress.
Secondly, the areas in between the lower and upper tiers that are essentially wasted space need to be addressed urgently.
And finally, West Ham can then begin a concerted drive to sell off the lucrative naming rights.
The LLDC had that responsibility but West Ham’s ground remains the London Stadium. However, with UK Athletics potentially moving on, it will make not a lot easier for the Hammers to negotiate with interested parties.
The future certainly seems bright for the Hammers. Moyes has a whole host of exciting young players coming through the ranks at the moment.
And whilst performances in the Premier League haven’t been very good this season, some of the signings Moyes made in the summer were truly magnificent, and they will hopefully all gel together very soon indeed.
The cherry on the icing on the cake would be West Ham taking sole ownership of the London Stadium, with UK Athletics set to move on.
It may not be too long before we finally make it our real home.
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