The Olympic Stadium [new poll]

An archive of news, events and discussion leading up to and post West Ham United's historic move from Upton Park to Stratford in 2016.

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Do you support the Board's plans to move WHUFC to the Olympic Stadium post-2012 games?

Yes
727
57%
No
412
32%
Undecided
139
11%
 
Total votes: 1278

mushy
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Re: The Olympic Stadium [new poll]

Post by mushy »

Ironworx wrote:I was on a train back from Edinburgh, it stopped for a very short time at Newcastle, there were notices all along the platform saying don't get on the train if you're not traveling. The doors closed and the train began to move, a woman came rushing along the carriage wanting to get off. Just as she got to where I was she explained to a ticket collector and all he said was '...You're going to York'.

We're going to the Olympic Stadium, the only choice we have is whether to get on the train or not, it has already been accepted by WHU that those who don't go won't be missed, they knew that some wouldn't go before they made the bid.

That's the deal, sometimes depending upon where you stand sh*t happens.
And your faith in this statement is base on what exactly?
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Pop Robson
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Re: The Olympic Stadium [new poll]

Post by Pop Robson »

Will those that don't renew if we go down be replaced ?
Monkey Spanner
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Re: The Olympic Stadium [new poll]

Post by Monkey Spanner »

Season ticket holders are a tiny proportion of our support.
mushy
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Re: The Olympic Stadium [new poll]

Post by mushy »

Monkey Spanner wrote:Season ticket holders are a tiny proportion of our support.
based on that none of them would be missed and they all may as well just f*** off now.
Where are you getting these strange facts from?
Ironworx
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Re: The Olympic Stadium [new poll]

Post by Ironworx »

mushy wrote: And your faith in this statement is base on what exactly?
On logic Mushy, by analysis of the boards actions.

The board knew full well before the bid was placed that a certain number wouldn't go to the Olympic Stadium, yet they still decided to place the bid.

In doing that they were absolutely prepared to lose some, they knew that much would be a certainty.

No doubt they reckoned that some would be lost and some would be gained, so those that were lost wouldn't be missed.

If the losing of some had been an overbearing consideration then they wouldn't have bidded.
mushy
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Re: The Olympic Stadium [new poll]

Post by mushy »

Ironworx wrote:
On logic Mushy, by analysis of the boards actions.

The board knew full well before the bid was placed that a certain number wouldn't go to the Olympic Stadium, yet they still decided to place the bid.

In doing that they were absolutely prepared to lose some, they knew that much would be a certainty.

No doubt they reckoned that some would be lost and some would be gained, so those that were lost wouldn't be missed.

If the losing of some had been an overbearing consideration then they wouldn't have bidded.
Logic?
I am aghast that you trust this board and their actions, based on what I have seen so far I would have said the board have hardly got one thing right so far, a f*** up at every hurdle, and whatever way you look at it, this has to be a gamble.

The board by the way knew f*** all before they placed their bid, they just saw the olympic stadium and like a kid in a sweet shop they bought West Ham. Logic or planning never came into it.

Still onwards and upwards as they say.
In Gold and Sullivan we trust.
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Re: The Olympic Stadium [new poll]

Post by Monkey Spanner »

mushy wrote:based on that none of them would be missed and they all may as well just f*** off now.
Where are you getting these strange facts from?
There are just over 20000 season ticket holders. In the last ten years 150000 people have been to Upton Park. And you can multiply that by between 5 and 10 as to how many supporters there are out there. (a low estimate). Season ticket holders are a tiny proportion of our support.
mushy
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Re: The Olympic Stadium [new poll]

Post by mushy »

Monkey Spanner wrote: There are just over 20000 season ticket holders. In the last ten years 150000 people have been to Upton Park. And you can multiply that by between 5 and 10 as to how many supporters there are out there. (a low estimate). Season ticket holders are a tiny proportion of our support.
I ask you again, where do these facts come from?
And if we have so many supporters, why even when we were a pretty good team did we struggle to fill Upton Park?
You indicate that approx one person in fifty out of the total UK population supports West Ham.
This I find hard to believe.
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Re: The Olympic Stadium [new poll]

Post by Ironworx »

mushy wrote: Logic?
I am aghast that you trust this board and their actions, based on what I have seen so far I would have said the board have hardly got one thing right so far, a f*** up at every hurdle, and whatever way you look at it, this has to be a gamble.

The board by the way knew f*** all before they placed their bid, they just saw the olympic stadium and like a kid in a sweet shop they bought West Ham. Logic or planning never came into it.

Still onwards and upwards as they say.
In Gold and Sullivan we trust.
Whatever Gold and Sullivan might or might not be they are unquestionably successful businessmen, they both have personal fortunes measured in hundreds of millions, I believe that Gold has more than Sullivan.

If they did things like kids in a sweetshop, or with planning not coming into it, then they wouldn't be the successful men that they are.

The decision to bid was taken before they bought the club even, it was part of their reasoning from that far out.

They are businessmen and they will have analyses, projected attendances given various scenarios, marketing initiatives, you name it.

They will be very reasoned with their business plans, the moot point is that their reasons will not coincide with the interests of all supporters. But they knew that before deciding to bid.

There really isn't any point in thrashing it all over, the decision is taken, we are going to the Olympic Stadium regardless of whoever thinks its right or wrong, it's a fait accompli so we may as well make the most of it.
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the pink palermo
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Re: The Olympic Stadium [new poll]

Post by the pink palermo »

Monkey Spanner wrote:There are just over 20000 season ticket holders. In the last ten years 150000 people have been to Upton Park. And you can multiply that by between 5 and 10 as to how many supporters there are out there. (a low estimate). Season ticket holders are a tiny proportion of our support.
In the last 10 years we have played around 250 games at the Boleyn ground .

Lets take the number of different teams to have played against us as 50 in that period , and it's easy to see with only 3000 from each visitors we could have had 150k just from away fans .

The question is how many will come in the future of both away fans and home fans - both exisiting and new .

My view FWIW - some clubs could easily bring 7,000 to the OS for PL games - Man Utd , Liverpool , Newcastle, Everton , Arsenal .

Home fans - well there will be a change in the profile for sure .Many like me won't go - and the owners are comfortable with that .They will have made the calculated decision that even a life long fan can be only that : a fan whilst alive .So eventually there will never be a fan at Stratford who saw West Ham play at the Boleyn .We all die eventually , and the priority the owners have identified is generating new fans .

Thats what business people will do - think rationally - even though it will severely dismay a number of us .

The new fans won't care about the view - they will have no reference point .No end of fans that go to the new Wembley cannot compare with the old Wembley - they never went there .If the tickets are priced approppriately they will have no problem attracting an average gate at home of 55,000 .

None whatsoever - with one caveat .

The team needs to be in the PL , every single season .
Ironworx wrote: There really isn't any point in thrashing it all over, the decision is taken, we are going to the Olympic Stadium regardless of whoever thinks its right or wrong, it's a fait accompli so we may as well make the most of it.
However , despite the harsh reality of that statement - I for one will not just accept it as a fait accompli .

They have made their decision as they feel they are entitled to .

I have made mine, as I am entitled to .

And should the club be relegated after just 1 season at Stratford , there won't be much point in asking me and I suspect thousands others to change our minds .
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Re: The Olympic Stadium [new poll]

Post by Monkey Spanner »

the pink palermo wrote:
The question is how many will come in the future of both away fans and home fans - both exisiting and new .

Lots

The new fans won't care about the view None whatsoever - with one caveat .

The team needs to be in the PL , every single season .
Why do you keep talking about new fans? We've got hundreds of thousands as it is.

And I imagine the plan is to be in the PL, don't you?
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Re: The Olympic Stadium [new poll]

Post by Monkey Spanner »

mushy wrote: You indicate that approx one person in fifty out of the total UK population supports West Ham.
No I don't. I know at least 1 West Ham supporter who lives abroad.
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Re: The Olympic Stadium [new poll]

Post by mywhufc »

Monkey Spanner wrote: There are just over 20000 season ticket holders. In the last ten years 150000 people have been to Upton Park. And you can multiply that by between 5 and 10 as to how many supporters there are out there. (a low estimate). Season ticket holders are a tiny proportion of our support.
the club app have 600,000 registered on their data base, yet only 17,000 members and 21,000 season ticket holders.
you may think s/t holders are a TINY proportion, but we probably supply the most money outside of tv revenue.
how do you get your figure of 150,000 people to have been to U/P in the last 10 years
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Westbourne Bill
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Re: The Olympic Stadium [new poll]

Post by Westbourne Bill »

So according to Monkey Spanner between 750,000 and 1.5million people "support" W Ham but only 150,000 of them have bothered to watch them in the past 10 years? Of that 150,000 I'd guess maybe 40,000 names have had a season ticket at some point over that time so it's bonkers to suggest that they make up a tiny proportion of the support.
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Re: The Olympic Stadium [new poll]

Post by Monkey Spanner »

mywhufc wrote: the club app have 600,000 registered on their data base, yet only 17,000 members and 21,000 season ticket holders.
you may think s/t holders are a TINY proportion, but we probably supply the most money outside of tv revenue.
how do you get your figure of 150,000 people to have been to U/P in the last 10 years
An educated guess based on the fact that since West Ham have run a computerised ticketing system they have amassed 600000 punters. My guess is that 150000 is a conservative guess. During that period there have probably been 50000 different kids for the Kids For A Quid games. Why is it so hard for people to understand that given the right investment we will prove to be the massive club most of us know we are?
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Re: The Olympic Stadium [new poll]

Post by Monkey Spanner »

Westbourne Bill wrote:So according to Monkey Spanner between 750,000 and 1.5million people "support" W Ham but only 150,000 of them have bothered to watch them in the past 10 years? Of that 150,000 I'd guess maybe 40,000 names have had a season ticket at some point over that time so it's bonkers to suggest that they make up a tiny proportion of the support.
20000 is a tiny proportion of 1.5 million wouldn't you say?
Mr_Andersonn
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Re: The Olympic Stadium [new poll]

Post by Mr_Andersonn »

Just out of curiousity, how many fans turned on Green Street when we had our promotion parade? I thought they suggested somewhere near 100,000 and I would imagine the majority of those were locals and not from the further reaches of Essex like myself.

I think we under estimate our fan base and I believe we could easily fill the Olympic Stadium. We do however, have our fair weather supporters and then the people who just want to go to the catagory A games.
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Re: The Olympic Stadium [new poll]

Post by the pink palermo »

Monkey Spanner wrote:Why do you keep talking about new fans? We've got hundreds of thousands as it is.

And I imagine the plan is to be in the PL, don't you?
Monkey Spanner .

Please define a fan .

You see , I class myself as one , being a season ticket holder, home and away of many years stading .You , I believe have been a ST holder since 1964 - is that correct ?

So - who are all these hundreds of thousands - and where are they ?

Last time we were in the Championship our gates were around 26,000 .

Our best ever season 85/86 we averaged less than that .

So for me , a fan is somebody who actively supports the club by attending matches - and I don't see hundreds of thousands - I do think the OS will be full though .I have doubts as to by how much revenue will increase .
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Re: The Olympic Stadium [new poll]

Post by the pink palermo »

Mr_Andersonn wrote:Thanks for that. i will dedicate the rest of my weekend a trawl through the EUFA website. LOL
Well , if you did, you will have learnt that only 12% of European clubs ( including Engand) attract average gates of more than 20,000 .

That's 83 clubs in the whole of UEFA .
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Re: The Olympic Stadium [new poll]

Post by Mr_Andersonn »

Pink Palermo,

If you define a fan as someone who attends matches, is that someone who attends on a regular basis, a couple of times a season or once in a blue moon.

My son for example would accompany myself to matches maybe once or twice a season. Lets not waste our time with the reasons for him not attending on a more regular basis but would you class him as a fan of West Ham United? Because I know I do and I know he would love to attend more games...

You have active supporters, casual supporters, overseas fans and supporters, armchair fans and fans that are just happy to watch us on 3D TV in the local bars. They are all however still fans and supporters who have pledged their allegiance to West Ham United. They could have chosen Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool or Man City.

Just because they don't all attend matches on a regular basis does not mean they are one bit less passionate than the next fan. These fans make up the many thousands that I believe we refer to as not being at the ground week in week out.

Gold and Sullivan no doubt hope to tap into this fan base and get them back to supporting the club by attending regularly at the Olympic Stadium. Whether they are successful or not remains to be seen but I would imagine the first couple of seasons at the Olympic Stadium will be successful in terms of attendance.

I remember the 85/86 season quite well and attended several games at Upton Park, and I recall most games being packed to the rafters. We had a few years where we suffered with a lower capacity due to the building of the new stands and even in the last few seasons I have seen that our capacity is approx 94% which isnt too bad if you ask me for a club that has been lingering in the bottom half dozen teams for the last few years!
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