Future of Olympic Stadium

cm1179 · 10 Feb 2011 at 13:53

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-12412739

can only help but think that this was the best in the long run though atleast we'd have sold it out. gonna be a heck of a ground for a championship side eh hammers fans?

Shamikebab · 10 Feb 2011 at 13:58

Check the banter thread dear.

Tunney · 10 Feb 2011 at 14:03

As a Spurs season ticket holder who lives in Stratford, I am not impressed.

Still, on the upside, I won't have to listen to that dreary "Say no to Stratford" song at matches again.

cm1179 · 10 Feb 2011 at 14:04

Shamikebab said:
Check the banter thread dear.

this doesn't belong in the banter thread

Weebull · 10 Feb 2011 at 14:16

Not pictured: Massive gap between fans and pitch.

cm1179 · 10 Feb 2011 at 14:20

wasn't it something like 50 metres being the closest distance to the pitch with the running track still intact?

Shamikebab · 10 Feb 2011 at 14:28

cm1179 said:
this doesn't belong in the banter thread

Why not

The whole point in the banter thread was so that we didn't have seperate threads for every news story.

cm1179 · 10 Feb 2011 at 14:36

Shamikebab said:
Why not The whole point in the banter thread was so that we didn't have seperate threads for every news story.

was it? i thought it was to wind people up. if a mod sees fit to lock/move this then fair enough but it's not a banter based thread (granted i take my tongue in cheek west ham comment in my first post on board)

Weebull · 10 Feb 2011 at 16:21

I think the Olympic stadium business is worth its own thread, since its a pretty big story. However, it could do with a better title than "FAO Spurs fans"

Rotty · 10 Feb 2011 at 19:11

Shamikebab said:
Why not The whole point in the banter thread was so that we didn't have seperate threads for every news story.

not really, I think this merits a thread of it's own

If important discussion items end up in there then it is detrimental to this forum

Chong Warrior · 10 Feb 2011 at 19:59

Not one person can really believe a club like West Ham can make full use of a 50k+ stadium, especially when weighed down by the fact will have no atmosphere. Moronic decision to give it to the hammers and that's just based on common sense. As a Spurs fan from Manchester I care not if Spurs won this.

There's been people coming out of the woodwork "slamming Spurs" for blasting £500m of public money. When infact that's nowhere near the case when you actually look at the facts. And the facts seem to point at this becoming a big mistake.... I will be there to point and laugh when this goes belly up.

Cosimo · 10 Feb 2011 at 20:04

Rotty said:
I think this merits a thread of it's own

If important discussion items end up in there then it is detrimental to this forum

Agreed, so let me kick-off by why I’m in favour of West Ham of getting the stadium:

1 We will keep the Olympic legacy.

2 We will keep Spurs where they belong, in North London.

3 UK Athletics will have a showcase home and not some redeveloped **** hole in South London that nobody can get to.

4 The stadium will be used for a variety of events.

5 Londoners (it's what we want) will benefit from the outcome.

6 The AEG & Spurs businesses will have to raise money and not get it for free from the taxpayer.

7 O2/AEG will have some competition with live events across the river.

Anyway Boris will make sure this happens.

muon · 10 Feb 2011 at 20:10

Are we giving the stadium to West Ham for free?

It's a £500m (okay maybe a lot less) asset.

"andy" · 10 Feb 2011 at 20:11

simulatorman has pretty much summed it up for me

imo it would have even been better off without a football team in it than what spurs had planned

ghost101 said:
Are we giving the stadium to West Ham for free?

It's a £500m (okay maybe a lot less) asset.

not free no. both clubs made bids , west hams bid will of been less money but offers more for london and we must remember that its londoners who are paying for it

A recent BBC London poll suggested 81% of Londoners were against the proposals to rip up the athletics track.

The ComRes phone poll, carried out between 21 and 23 January, also suggested 72% of people in London wanted West Ham to get the stadium, with only 13% supporting Tottenham.

Tunney · 10 Feb 2011 at 20:24

simulatorman said:
3 UK Athletics will have a showcase home and not some redeveloped **** hole in South London that nobody can get to.

UK Athletics get a home that they won't fill and that they can only use for 20 days of the year. Worse, it'll only really be suitable for track events.

4 The stadium will be used for a variety of events.

That was in the Spurs bid too, hence AEG's involvement.

5 Londoners (it's what we want) will benefit from the outcome.

No, we don't. The poorest borough in London is lending West Ham £40mil and the stadium will still need to be subsidised for £1mil a year once West Ham move in. It's going to be a white elephant.

Janesy B · 10 Feb 2011 at 20:34

I'm glad my beloved Spurs aren't moving across London, it may make financial sense but tearing the heart of a club doesn't work. See MK Dons.

West Ham's bid is laughable also, all that money into the Olympics and West Ham as syphoning money out of a cash strapped council. Utter lolz.

muon · 10 Feb 2011 at 21:17

"andy" said:
not free no. both clubs made bids , west hams bid will of been less money but offers more for london and we must remember that its londoners who are paying for it

I am a Londoner (even live in an Olympics borough). I want the money.

crackerman · 10 Feb 2011 at 22:05

Surely West Ham fans would prefer to stay at Upton Park? I can't see that there will be any atmosphere for a football match, even in the unlikely event that they manage to fill it everyone will feel detached from the game.

A stadium for football and athletics simply can't work, unless the seats can be moved closer to the pitch as with the Stade de France, but our Olympic "legacy" planners didn't have any foresight to take this into consideration.

I have a feeling that it will be another "white elephant" and could be the end of West Ham, who I cant see putting any more than 20k when they are playing in the Championship, will feel like a dust bowl. Stadium should have been kept as an purpose built athletics stadium with reduced capacity like the original plans.

aaron333 · 10 Feb 2011 at 22:40

The only reason I'd like to see us go to the Olympic Stadium is because Spurs won't then

I don't think it'll work, see Espanyol. Our owners obviously see it an investment opportunity. I'd say 60-70% of fans don't want to move, and I can't see that view changing unless some sort of retractable stand is put into place over the athletics track.

BaZ87 · 10 Feb 2011 at 22:54

ghost101 said:
Are we giving the stadium to West Ham for free?

It's a £500m (okay maybe a lot less) asset.

No. West Ham will lease the stadium (no idea what the terms are) and on top of that they will be paying £95m (raised through a series of loans) to convert the stadium for football use.

Both bids are rubbish but the Spurs bid always seemed to be a non-starter.