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Football stadiums
Tottenham Hotspur have broadened their fight over the allocation of the Olympic Stadium to West Ham. Last month they applied for a judicial review into Newham Council’s role in arranging a £40m loan to finance West Ham’s move to the stadium. Now they have applied for a judicial review against the Olympic Park Legacy Company, the Mayor of London, the Minister for Sport and the Olympics and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.
As they prepare for promotion to League 1 Chesterfield Football Club are reaping the benefits of their move to the new b2net stadium. Crowds have trebled from those attracted to ramshackle Saltergate and have topped 7,000 this season. They can expect capacity crowds of 10,000 for the games against the two Sheffield clubs next season.
Club backer Dave Allen has sunk £7.5m into the Spireites. They are also bringing in over £1m a year from a well-run commercial operation.
It’s open season on Arsene Wenger at the moment as Arsenal complete another season without a trophy. The press have been having a go at him for some time and there was a cacophony of complaint from Arsenal fans on 606 last night.
One time Premiership club Bradford City may have to leave Valley Parade and ground share with rugby league outfit Bradford Bulls at Odsal. While such ground sharing arrangements with rugby teams have an economic rationale and are increasingly being resorted to as cost pressures mount, egg chasing can cut up a ground badly.
FC United Manchester have found a new location for their planned 5,000-capacity stadium. A deal to build on Ten Acres Lane, Newton Heath was torpedoed by local government funding cutbacks. However, with the approval of Manchester City Council’s executive committee, the club have selected the Ronald Johnson playing fields in nearby Moston as their new home. The Red Rebels currently play at the Giggs Lane home of League Two club Bury.
Three clubs are currently having problems paying wages. The situation is particularly desperate at Plymouth Argyle where no one has been paid in 2011. Staff and players have had to sign ‘deeds of deferral’, forcing them either to agree to wait for pay or quit the club.
Spurs are gearing up for possible legal action over the allocation of the Olympic Stadium to West Ham. Their lawyers have sent a series of questions to the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) to which it has four weeks to respond. The UK Government and the office of the Mayor of London are joint owners of the OPLC and would be involved in any court action.
Brighton & Hove Albion have been through some dark days and football fans from around the country rallied behind them. It’s 14 years since they left the Goldstone Ground and after a two year ground share at Gillingham they have spent 12 years at the Withdean Stadium. It kept the club alive but it’s not a suitable setting for football. Away fans in particular will be glad to see the end of it and to get closer to the action and the opportunity to create some atmosphere.
Brazil is lagging behind with preparations for the 2014 World Cup. The country is spending $13.3bn on preparations in 12 cities for the tournament.
However, most of the projects are behind schedule and construction of some of the stadiums has not begun. This is the case at Sao Paulo’s Corinthians club which is to be the venue for the opening match. Preparations at Sao Paulo are already at least 12 months behind an ideal schedule.
Leyton Orient have served notice on the London Borough of Newham that they intend to apply for a judicial review of its decision to arrange a £40m loan for West Ham United to help them in their bid to move to the Olympic Stadium. The move came after Baroness Ford of the Olympic Park Legacy Company knocked on the head the possible compromise of a move to a new stadium at Eton Manor, although the final decision is not hers to take.