You're not West Ham anymore

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Camden Blade

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I just noticed that the attendance at the London Stadium on Saturday was 62,459 which was more than the Spurs Liverpool attendance. West Ham used to average around 27,000, could draw 35,000 at the Old Boleyn if they were doing well. On the walk to and from the ground we noticed groups of German, American and other nationalities all in West Ham colours. The facilities around the stadium and the stadium itself are fantastic to be honest. If you compare it to the old ground and area! That's the Premier League now. That's what money buys. It's true a lot of the character has gone. It's a different experience. But it's not all bad...
 

Did WHU money actually buy the stadium?

I’ve mentioned before on this forum, there’s only a handful of atmospheres in this country that are actually decent.

I get football and life moves on and we should EmBrAcE ChAnGe but football for me now has changed beyond recognition since I started watching in the early 90’s. On and off the field. I don’t like it.
 
A modern day football stadium is not just a football stadium anymore.. it's a complex which incorporates a museum, hotels(plural), 5 star restaurants (plural)event center, concerts and so on.

I know SUFC can tick several of those boxes but not at the elite level of London clubs.

Theoretically turn up to a modern day football stadium any day of the week and there's something to do.
 
There are tens of thousands of foreign tourists pouring into London every day.

Some are attracted to the West End Shows and some are attracted to other events / attractions for example seeing a Premier League football match.

We cannot compete with London.
 
bornablade said:
There are tens of thousands of foreign tourists pouring into London every day.

Some are attracted to the West End Shows and some are attracted to other events / attractions for example seeing a Premier League football match.

We cannot compete with London.
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I think we could. If Sheffield had a successful team with a big enough ground we would get much bigger crowds. As it is we have two unsuccessful clubs that pull decent crowds.
 
Let's not forget we all helped to buy thst stadium. It cost around 600m of taxpayers money and West Ham have a 99yt lease for a cost of 15m and 2m a year rent.

It's actually a scandal that they have been basically given the stadium! They average 25-30k a game more than they did at Upton Park. If we assume the average ticket price is say 35 quid they are taking 1m more per match at a cost of 2m per year!

No wonder West Ham have moved into the upper mid tier of English football
 
FriethBlade said:
Let's not forget we all helped to buy thst stadium. It cost around 600m of taxpayers money and West Ham have a 99yt lease for a cost of 15m and 2m a year rent.

It's actually a scandal that they have been basically given the stadium! They average 25-30k a game more than they did at Upton Park. If we assume the average ticket price is say 35 quid they are taking 1m more per match at a cost of 2m per year!

No wonder West Ham have moved into the upper mid tier of English football
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They pay closer to £4m than £2m but it's still laughable as that includes maintenance, cleaning etc
 
Camden Blade said:
I just noticed that the attendance at the London Stadium on Saturday was 62,459 which was more than the Spurs Liverpool attendance. West Ham used to average around 27,000, could draw 35,000 at the Old Boleyn if they were doing well. On the walk to and from the ground we noticed groups of German, American and other nationalities all in West Ham colours. The facilities around the stadium and the stadium itself are fantastic to be honest. If you compare it to the old ground and area! That's the Premier League now. That's what money buys. It's true a lot of the character has gone. It's a different experience. But it's not all bad...
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I was shocked how many empty seats there were on Saturday. I would be surprised if there were more than 50k there in reality.
 
Le Cynique said:
We haven’t got an airport, for one thing
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I have heard the ‘we haven’t got an airport’ thing before. Numerous times. Sheffield is not a desirable tourist destination. At all. Unless you like snooker. Even the Sheffield Arena loses out on big acts these days due to Leeds opening their own a few years back.

The only good things going for the city are the universities, which draw in people from far and wide.
 
Bristol Blade said:
I was shocked how many empty seats there were on Saturday. I would be surprised if there were more than 50k there in reality.
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It's been said on KUMB before. It's a complete joke that the attendance figures quoted after games are based on the number of tickets sold rather than actual number of people through the turnstiles & therefore bums on seats, on the day of the match. 62k for every home game? False representation, imo.
However, I believe that the attendance figures for all cup games are genuine.
During the Conference Cup run, we only reached 62k for the semi-final home leg. Fucking glory hunters.
 
HammerInPeace said:
It's been said on KUMB before. It's a complete joke that the attendance figures quoted after games are based on the number of tickets sold rather than actual number of people through the turnstiles & therefore bums on seats, on the day of the match. 62k for every home game? False representation, imo.
However, I believe that the attendance figures for all cup games are genuine.
During the Conference Cup run, we only reached 62k for the semi-final home leg. Fucking glory hunters.
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Wednesday make up attendances too, just without the glory hunters.
 
Mag-83 said:
I have heard the ‘we haven’t got an airport’ thing before. Numerous times. Sheffield is not a desirable tourist destination. At all. Unless you like snooker. Even the Sheffield Arena loses out on big acts these days due to Leeds opening their own a few years back.

The only good things going for the city are the universities, which draw in people from far and wide.
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Mag I get your point but the city should make a lot more of the Peak District including Hathersage as a a world climbing centre. But as it stands tourist's can fly into Manchester and access it from that side.

One noticeable factor on Saturday was how many groups of foreign blokes there were on the tubes and in the bars around Stratford. Football tourism is now big business and a lack of an airport hits that.
 

From the top tier its the worst view I've had at an Away game - probably 50 meters from the pitch?

Extremely soulless and much worse transport connections than I was expecting
 
FriethBlade said:
Mag I get your point but the city should make a lot more of the Peak District including Hathersage as a a world climbing centre. But as it stands tourist's can fly into Manchester and access it from that side.

One noticeable factor on Saturday was how many groups of foreign blokes there were on the tubes and in the bars around Stratford. Football tourism is now big business and a lack of an airport hits that.
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How can you be so certain that these groups of foreign blokes are not actually people residing in the UK and not tourists?
 
Camden Blade said:
I just noticed that the attendance at the London Stadium on Saturday was 62,459 which was more than the Spurs Liverpool attendance. West Ham used to average around 27,000, could draw 35,000 at the Old Boleyn if they were doing well. On the walk to and from the ground we noticed groups of German, American and other nationalities all in West Ham colours. The facilities around the stadium and the stadium itself are fantastic to be honest. If you compare it to the old ground and area! That's the Premier League now. That's what money buys. It's true a lot of the character has gone. It's a different experience. But it's not all bad...
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I've always found West Ham to be the most supported team down there if I'm honest?
Arsenal and Chelsea are probably the most recognised internationally, but wherever ive been down south there are West Ham fans.
As for "their ground", that isn't really a ground, its more a track n field tent with a football pitch in the middle, I find it a bit of a soulless place, made a ground by the fans.
But I'm just a northerner looking in.
 
Camden Blade said:
I just noticed that the attendance at the London Stadium on Saturday was 62,459 which was more than the Spurs Liverpool attendance. West Ham used to average around 27,000, could draw 35,000 at the Old Boleyn if they were doing well. On the walk to and from the ground we noticed groups of German, American and other nationalities all in West Ham colours. The facilities around the stadium and the stadium itself are fantastic to be honest. If you compare it to the old ground and area! That's the Premier League now. That's what money buys. It's true a lot of the character has gone. It's a different experience. But it's not all bad...
Click to expand...

Outside it was good, plenty of things going on, places to eat and drink but once inside I thought it was a fucking awful stadium, zero atmosphere, a soulless, bowl, the worst I have been to for a long while....the fact that the 2 sections of away fans were 50m apart didn't help.

Title of the thread is correct, not West Ham anymore......even the home fans looked embarrassed at their pathetic attempts of banter....especially the fat twat on the front of the upper tier, he tried bless him but failed miserably...
 
Been to the ground a few times and the atmosphere isnt the best for football, but last saturday there was no reason for any atmosphere from them as it was a stroll in the park like a pre season friendly as we were no opposition.

Overall the owners of West Ham played an absolute blinder getting that ground, incredible piece of business. Cheap rent, landlords spend for the upkeep etc etc. Up and coming area of London, developing all the time, so a brilliant 'destination' venue for a floating supporter / visitor. Have to applaud their long term thinking.

Sheffield as a city cant compete with the area of Stratford, let alone Greater London.
 
Brian Deane said:
How can you be so certain that these groups of foreign blokes are not actually people residing in the UK and not tourists?
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He can’t. He’s making an assumption which I’m sure is based on legitimate factors. Does it matter? His point Football tourism is big business is truth.
 
West ham was selling out every game when they was in the prem they have a very good fan base. Can't just be a extra 30k tourists just fancying a football match there.
 
The view from the rail seating in the upper away section Saturday – it might have nice facilities, but the gap in between our fans never makes this feel anything other than a weird stadium that’s temporarily hosting football. That’s the sort of view you’d expect at a preseason game in a stadium that has been asked to host the match as a one-off – it just doesn’t feel like a football stadium.


IMG_8784.jpeg
 
West Ham is a 'work in progress' "Disneyfication" of PL Football. Not for me, I'm afraid. And from the conversations with some old time West Ham lads in Bow before the game, not for them either.
 
BiggerBladeThanThou said:
He can’t. He’s making an assumption which I’m sure is based on legitimate factors. Does it matter? His point Football tourism is big business is truth.
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It’s sports tourism which is growing not just football.
Every time I visit the USA I like to go to a baseball game (easy to understand even if you don’t get the finer points). The experience is great. My son’s off to Canada soon and he’s booked a seat to see at an ice hockey game for the same reason.
 
Camden Blade said:
I just noticed that the attendance at the London Stadium on Saturday was 62,459 which was more than the Spurs Liverpool attendance. West Ham used to average around 27,000, could draw 35,000 at the Old Boleyn if they were doing well. On the walk to and from the ground we noticed groups of German, American and other nationalities all in West Ham colours. The facilities around the stadium and the stadium itself are fantastic to be honest. If you compare it to the old ground and area! That's the Premier League now. That's what money buys. It's true a lot of the character has gone. It's a different experience. But it's not all bad...
Click to expand...
Why we need a bigger stadium and facilities, whilst the other side of the city is floundering we need to take full advantage. The people who say we'd not fill a bigger stadium are talking crap, and have no ambition. We need to grow like any other business.
 
There's loads of questions on the UK Travel Reddit from people flying in to see "Premiership Football" e.g.

Spurs was much the same. Lots of new shirts taking photos outside the ground.
 

UTB said:
Managed to get a half-half scarf before they sold out, added it to my collection.
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If you're missing any, have a word with The Don of half-half scarves SwissBlade. If he hasn't got what you want, he's plenty of 6 year olds around the globe pumping these out, they could knock one out in an hour.
 
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