Irons In Talks On Olympic Stadium - 20/10/2006

Sports minister Richard Caborn has revealed that West Ham are in 'very serious negotiations' with Olympic authorities about moving into the 2012 stadium at Stratford after the games end. Caborn added, 'Talks are going on about whether they could do a similar thing to Manchester City when they took over the Commonwealth Games stadium in 2012.' City got a favourable financial deal when they moved to Eastlands, but continuing financial constraints are cramping their on pitch performance. Both of the bidders for West Ham support a move to the new stadium so, while Caborn has had no contact with either of them and has emphasised it would be totally inappropriate for him to do so, his announcement should facilitate a conclusion to the takeover saga. However, Mr Caborn has described as 'completely untrue and without foundation' a newspaper report suggesting that he was supporting or was involved in a potential bid for West Ham. London mayor Ken Livingstone has always favoured scaling down the stadium and using it as an athletics facility, but his views have not prevailed. The talks make West Ham look an increasingly attractive takeover proposition, coupled with the fact that last week they announced a near doubling of turnover to £60.1m in the year to 31 May. A £5.1m pre-tax loss was converted into a £6m profit.

Spurs have now ruled out a move to the stadium. Sporting director Damien Cornolli commented, 'There is no way we are looking to move there. All grounds with a track have a poor atmosphere, atendances [go] down and clubs say [such moves] are a mistake.' Indeed, West Ham might bear in mind the fate of nearby interwar rivals Thames who went of business after attempting to run a football league club in a state of the art greyhound stadium. West Ham are not going to a dog track, but they still may regret leaving the atmospheric Boleyn Ground.

Across the river, opposition is mounting at Charlton to leaving The Valley with the official supporters' club planning to collect signatures against the move before tomorrow's match against Stratford. Former Valley Party activist and author of Battle for the Valley Rick Everitt has also spoken out against the move. Former communications director at Charlton, Everitt is still employed by the club on special projects, but has made his remarks in a personal capacity. He sees the key issue as one of identity rather than practicality with Charlton's previous moves to Catford and Norbury threatening the future of the club. Certainly, many clubs that have moved to new stadia have not kept their Premiership status, e.g., Derby, Leicester, Southampton. Preston's stadium, which I visited last weekend, shows what can be done by imaginative rebuilding of the existing ground.