The Official West Ham United Thread. Vol 2
Discussion
bad company said:
Rosscow said:
How can your home of 112 years be in the wrong place?!
Fair question.Even when I started going to matches in the 1960's most of the fans lived close to ground. They walked to matches. Going back further many of the players also lived around the ground. The demographics have changed and the area around Upton Park is largely Asian, not traditionally football fans. The WH fans now tend to live in Essex, Hertfordshire and Suffolk, so they travel to matches by train or car. The new stadium has MUCH better communication links including parking.
Along with no suitable transport links.
sjc said:
bad company said:
...The new stadium has MUCH better communication links including parking.
In a nutshell. Along with no suitable transport links.
bad company said:
Rosscow said:
How can your home of 112 years be in the wrong place?!
Fair question.Even when I started going to matches in the 1960's most of the fans lived close to ground. They walked to matches. Going back further many of the players also lived around the ground. The demographics have changed and the area around Upton Park is largely Asian, not traditionally football fans. The WH fans now tend to live in Essex, Hertfordshire and Suffolk, so they travel to matches by train or car. The new stadium has MUCH better communication links including parking.
You can say the same for every football club going - they all started off with local people walking to the matches and the players used to live locally.
I've got an interest in your ground move (being a Spurs fan and wondering how we will get on ourselves in 2 years time).
I'm sure a lot of Spurs supporters come from Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Essex. Yes, the area is a dive. Yes, the transport links are poor. But it's Tottenham.
Clubs become ingrained in an area over time. To throw 112 years of history down the pan so that people can get a train to a closer station sounds like a poor idea to me.
Looking on forums like Kumb.com, a lot of proper WHUFC fans seem absolutely distraught with the situation they've found their club in.
I hope we don't suffer the same consequences. Right now, it seems Spurs dodged an absolute bullet when we didn't get the OS.
RichB said:
sjc said:
bad company said:
...The new stadium has MUCH better communication links including parking.
In a nutshell. Along with no suitable transport links.Not had that at all at OS.
Rosscow said:
bad company said:
Rosscow said:
How can your home of 112 years be in the wrong place?!
Fair question.Even when I started going to matches in the 1960's most of the fans lived close to ground. They walked to matches. Going back further many of the players also lived around the ground. The demographics have changed and the area around Upton Park is largely Asian, not traditionally football fans. The WH fans now tend to live in Essex, Hertfordshire and Suffolk, so they travel to matches by train or car. The new stadium has MUCH better communication links including parking.
You can say the same for every football club going - they all started off with local people walking to the matches and the players used to live locally.
I've got an interest in your ground move (being a Spurs fan and wondering how we will get on ourselves in 2 years time).
I'm sure a lot of Spurs supporters come from Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Essex. Yes, the area is a dive. Yes, the transport links are poor. But it's Tottenham.
Clubs become ingrained in an area over time. To throw 112 years of history down the pan so that people can get a train to a closer station sounds like a poor idea to me.
Looking on forums like Kumb.com, a lot of proper WHUFC fans seem absolutely distraught with the situation they've found their club in.
I hope we don't suffer the same consequences. Right now, it seems Spurs dodged an absolute bullet when we didn't get the OS.
It just meant you lost all credibility in anything that followed..
And just because each few noisy voices have a swear on Kumb and moan that it's their right to stand up,and Gid know what else, doesn't make them any more of a "proper" fan than the likes of me, who's had a season ticket for years and doesn't .
I don't know one Spurs fan who supports them because they or their parents lived close to the ground.Nor the Arse,Man U, City etc.
It's got nothing to do with location, transport, tube queues or anything else. It's all about capacity, and the massive popularity of PL football.
Such is football that even a pretty ordinary PL team like WHU can pull in 60K fans a week, no problem. So if your current ground if 30/35K and can't be expanded, then a move is a no brainer. 25K extra people at every game, all that revenue, plus food and drink and merchandise.
Makes even more sense when you get the new ground donated almost free by the tax payer. Any club owner would have sold their true fans and their wishes down the river in those circumstances.
Such is football that even a pretty ordinary PL team like WHU can pull in 60K fans a week, no problem. So if your current ground if 30/35K and can't be expanded, then a move is a no brainer. 25K extra people at every game, all that revenue, plus food and drink and merchandise.
Makes even more sense when you get the new ground donated almost free by the tax payer. Any club owner would have sold their true fans and their wishes down the river in those circumstances.
sjc said:
What do you hope to achieve with your opening sentence ?
It just meant you lost all credibility in anything that followed..
And just because each few noisy voices have a swear on Kumb and moan that it's their right to stand up,and Gid know what else, doesn't make them any more of a "proper" fan than the likes of me, who's had a season ticket for years and doesn't .
I don't know one Spurs fan who supports them because they or their parents lived close to the ground.Nor the Arse,Man U, City etc.
Well not really - it read like something that Brady or the Golds would say. Justifying your whole stadium move because people travel from Essex or Herts and it's better for them?! It just meant you lost all credibility in anything that followed..
And just because each few noisy voices have a swear on Kumb and moan that it's their right to stand up,and Gid know what else, doesn't make them any more of a "proper" fan than the likes of me, who's had a season ticket for years and doesn't .
I don't know one Spurs fan who supports them because they or their parents lived close to the ground.Nor the Arse,Man U, City etc.
My Dad lived in Tottenham, and used to travel home and away, and because of him I followed Tottenham.
Getting to or from a ground is all part of the experience. It can take me 3 hours to get to WHL now, but I wouldn't want Spurs to move so it only took me 2 hours.
And I'm not talking about the people moaning about standing up - there seems to be a lot of genuinely upset long standing fans that are washing their hands of the match day experience. Which is very sad. And makes me worry about our own new stadium.
sjc said:
Blimey, I used to wait up to an hour to get into Upton Park station after a game sometimes? Not had that at all at OS.
Oh, maybe they've improved the logistics. I went to the August Euro games and it took about an hour to get onto the platform at Stratford. Not that motivated to try again at the moment 
In terms of proposals the one I was most enthusiastic about was the development of a new purpose built stadium on the old ParcelForce land beside West Ham station. Not only would it have been a proper football ground, it would have belonged to the club and, of course, in the right location 
Sadly it came to nothing because, I seem to remember, the gas tanks were in the way. Or some such other excuse.
Sadly it came to nothing because, I seem to remember, the gas tanks were in the way. Or some such other excuse.
To move forwards, WH had to move. To move to a free stadium was a no brainer.
However, the London stadium is plainly not a football stadium. The seats on the half way line must be at least thirty yards from the pitch. It can't be much less behind the goals. How on earth are you lot going to create an atmosphere?
What's it like sitting so low down and so far away from the pitch?
Have the present owners sold your club down the river merely to spin it over to some foreign owner in two or three years' time?
However, the London stadium is plainly not a football stadium. The seats on the half way line must be at least thirty yards from the pitch. It can't be much less behind the goals. How on earth are you lot going to create an atmosphere?
What's it like sitting so low down and so far away from the pitch?
Have the present owners sold your club down the river merely to spin it over to some foreign owner in two or three years' time?
Blib said:
To move forwards, WH had to move. To move to a free stadium was a no brainer.
However, the London stadium is plainly not a football stadium. The seats on the half way line must be at least thirty yards from the pitch. It can't be much less behind the goals. How on earth are you lot going to create an atmosphere?
What's it like sitting so low down and so far away from the pitch?
Have the present owners sold your club down the river merely to spin it over to some foreign owner in two or three years' time?
All fair points, but no they haven't . They have to pay a serious amount back if they sell the club in a certain time period as I understand it.However, the London stadium is plainly not a football stadium. The seats on the half way line must be at least thirty yards from the pitch. It can't be much less behind the goals. How on earth are you lot going to create an atmosphere?
What's it like sitting so low down and so far away from the pitch?
Have the present owners sold your club down the river merely to spin it over to some foreign owner in two or three years' time?
RichB said:
In terms of proposals the one I was most enthusiastic about was the development of a new purpose built stadium on the old ParcelForce land beside West Ham station. Not only would it have been a proper football ground, it would have belonged to the club and, of course, in the right location
Sadly it came to nothing because, I seem to remember, the gas tanks were in the way. Or some such other excuse.
That would have suited me down to the ground.Sadly it came to nothing because, I seem to remember, the gas tanks were in the way. Or some such other excuse.
And I have to say that I'd be amazed if the attendance was anywhere just under permitted maximum - there were quite a few empty seats all around the stadium - do they count ST holders, even if they aren't there?
RichB said:
In terms of proposals the one I was most enthusiastic about was the development of a new purpose built stadium on the old ParcelForce land beside West Ham station. Not only would it have been a proper football ground, it would have belonged to the club and, of course, in the right location
Sadly it came to nothing because, I seem to remember, the gas tanks were in the way. Or some such other excuse.
Gas holders were granted Grade II listed status, supported by Red Ken, don't think he was much of a football fan. That sites since been sold for various use, including, I think retention of the depot as.... a depot. Sadly it came to nothing because, I seem to remember, the gas tanks were in the way. Or some such other excuse.
Tricky finding any other viable sites in the immediate area.
pincher said:
That would have suited me down to the ground.
And I have to say that I'd be amazed if the attendance was anywhere just under permitted maximum - there were quite a few empty seats all around the stadium - do they count ST holders, even if they aren't there?
Yes, always have counted ST's, wasn't there a similar issue at the Emirates sometime ago? And I have to say that I'd be amazed if the attendance was anywhere just under permitted maximum - there were quite a few empty seats all around the stadium - do they count ST holders, even if they aren't there?
s
te football + closed rail lines doesn't help, shame people who've taken tickets can't be arsed this early on. 
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