The Irons face stiff competition if they are to move to the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Games.
More than 150 expressions of interest were received by the Olympic Park Legacy Company, and now the organisation wants detailed plans to be submitted by the end of September.
It appears West Ham’s idea to convert the stadium into a 60,000 seater ground while preserving the running track to permit athletics events is currently the frontrunner.
However, there will be many other strong bids and the Irons need to ensure they don’t slip up.
It’s likely the financial side of things will be the biggest stumbling block – a lot of work will be needed to convert the building into a football ground and the total bill is estimated to be £125 million.
Even with the backing of Newham Council, that’s still a lot of cash for a club which has only recently emerged from financial difficulties and who, according to the latest football betting odds, are not certain to avoid relegation.
Of course, the move should provide a long-term boost to West Ham’s finances, the bigger capacity should attract more fan while improved facilities should mean more corporate guests, both of which should increase takings on match days. You can bet on football games being well attended at the new stadium, so it would definitely benefit the club.
However, they may be a balance to strike. Just look at Arsenal and the Emirates stadium. The gunners are still paying for the cost of construction and it has had a negative impact on their ability to compete in the transfer market.
Although the cost of building a new stadium is much less than that of taking control of one, Arsenal were in a better financial position than West Ham before they started work.
It would be ridiculous to suggest moving to the Olympic Stadium could ruin the side, but it could end up leading to severe restrictions on spending and wages for a number of seasons.
This would limit the side’s competitiveness on the field for some seasons to come and convincing fans the move is for the long-term good of the club will become even harder if this happens.
Let’s just hope the owners get their sums right.
Drew, you don’t make any mention of how fans might feel about the other restrictions sharing the Pudding Mill Stadium would bring – co-existing with an athletics track continental-style and so on. The sellout by the Browns to the banksters started the process of Hammers no longer being a ‘family’ club, surely a move to this type of stadium would go further down that road? That’s just a part of the process?
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It’s possible that I am in the minority here but I really do not care about the stadium conversation. We had a terrible season in footballing terms and that is what needs to be addressed now. I am not an old codger who want to hold onto the tradition of the Boleyn but what is wrong with it? It doesn’t get filled most weeks now why move to a souless Wigan-esque arena where Boyzone will go for their comeback gig. It’s ridiculous. We should be concentrating on staying as West Ham, playing good football and playing well. Hats off to Carlton Cole for his comments about staying at West Ham, a few other players could learn from his example.
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