Would you believe it, we still haven't managed to sell out a home game against Tottenham? I don't care if there is a recession, this is nothing short of incredible. In the week when the West Ham Process published the results of the survey into the fans' views on moving to the Olympic Stadium, this should give Sullivan and Gold further food for thought.
Not that they will care about the team playing in a half empty 60,000 stadium of course. Nor will they give a toss that the majority of fans prefer expanding the capacity of the Boleyn. All they care about is releasing the redevelopment potential of the current ground.
9 comments:
the reason people ain't going is because they dont want to pay 50, 60, or 70 pounds to watch a load of crap. if tottenham or chelsea was in our position or playing as bad as we have in the last few years then they wouldn't sell out either. look at liverpools last two home attendances just above 20 thousand. just because they have had a couple of bad results. so does that mean liverpool wouldn't sell out a 60 thousand stadium considering that anfield has been half empty for the last two home games. no of course not. HF how many teams in the premier league would sell out their home games if they were bottom of the league and playing shit like us. errrrrr none thats how many. ps the crowd for tomorrows game will probably be around 34 thousand for which i think is a good crowd for a team bottom of the league. how big would how crowd be if we were in the top 4 i wonder ? a hell of a lot bigger i bet.
HF staying at upton park with a 42000 capacity is restricting us to a mid table team at best. moving to a new 60,000 stadium can make us grow if the team can get it right on the pitch. otherwise we will just be left behind by all the other clubs who want to improve. and with the lack of ambition with had over the years its about time we got some ambition and moved up for a change. we certainly have the fan base. all we need now is a good team on the pitch and im sure our attendances could get very very big.
HF: Our hearts and Souls will always be in Green Street, but Green st no longer belongs to us. That is not meant to be a racist remark just an observation that demographics change and so do the priorities of the local population.
That said, moving to Stratford is hardly changing the catchment area of a fan base, so I do agree whole heartedly with you that it is unlikely we would see 60,000 at the Olympic stadium EVER!
But to get to the point, would it not be prudent to Redevelope the Boleyn site and use the huge profit from the exercise to paydown the crippling debt the club carries ?
Just an honest question. I know you believe that money would go into the 2D's pockets, but if you stand that thought aside, what other reason is there for staying ?
There is nothing left of the old stadium. No chicken run, no North Bank etc etc so its not like we're holding onto to a piece of history.
I will cry like a baby if we leave, but all good things must come to pass.
My fear is two fold. One, that the money will go into the D's back pockets and two, that the club will lose its soul if we move.
as a spurs fan ive just brought my ticket thru the west ham website, i thought it pretty funny that on the website its billed as 'the most anticipated game of the season' then underneath it says tickets still available. altho i must admit the ticket prices are a joke, i paid £49 which was the cheapest available. should be a good game tho, hopefully carlton cole can set up a couple for us!!
a) Karren Brady has publicly gone on record in regards to her admiration for Arsenal as a club ad how it is set up.
b) News yesterday: "Arsenal property deals send profits to record high:
Arsenal Football Club has announced record pre-tax profits of £56m.
The company said it had sold 362 private apartments at Highbury Square, the site of its former home ground.
Those and a social housing site nearby generated £156.9m revenue from property and allowed it to repay £129.6m of bank loans."
Need I say more?
Thing is Stani, Arsenal have cleared £130million of bank loans and, for the future of the club, that has to be good news. How long before they have cleared the debt of building the new stadium as then they will really be in a position to push on.
The difference is, we will not OWN our new stadium and so will not have an asset against which to borrow once we are tenants rather than owner occupiers. That puts us in a very vulnerable position financially in my opinion. Try borrowing an unsecured loan of £100,000. The bank will tell you to take a running jump. Then see the different attitude if you ask for a £100,000 mortgage secured on property worth £150,000. "Would you like buildings insurance with that mortgage sir?"
If its going to cost 200 mil to alter the existing olympic stadium into something suitable for a football ground and West Ham have to pay for these alterations I don't quite see where the profit from the sale of Upton Park is coming from. Surely if the stadium needs that sort of money spent on it to create a commercially viable stadium it would be worth West Ham paying a bit more to buy it out right thereby keeping the colateral from the sale of the existing ground and maintaining the club's asset value
Where does this figure of £200million come from John? The stadium will be built, it has the seats, it has the toilets, it has the bars, it has the surrounding infrastructure, it even has a patch of green in the middle of the running track. Maybe S&G will set up a company to make the stadium fit for use and charge the costs back to the club? New pitch, goalposts, white lines, name of club at front, branding around stadium, claret and blue seating, parking spaces for our rollers, Di Canio suite...now, how much does that add up to? Let's call it £200 million shall we?
To be fair, I thought the figure that they were banding about was £100 million. That still sounds ludicrous to turn a state of the art sports stadium into a Premiership football ground! Maybe they are building a synagogue into the stadium in case Yom Kippur falls on a match day again!
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