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Originally Posted by Barnet Flame
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...The move to that stadium has been and will be looked upon in future as great for the owners that have coined it in, and awful for the fans.
It is a terrible stadium for football. And the location is the pits. The whole match day experience is like a damp squib. The fans are not allowed to take the nearest route from Stratford station and can’t even go into the Westfield Centre for a pre match feed. You walk for ages to get to the stadium with no pre match activities and end up in a soulless ground (and I’m an Arsenal supporter!)and in a seat miles from the pitch no matter how much you pay for it...
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When I went in 2015, I was in awe of how tight-knit the area around Upton Park felt. Scarf and flag sellers were everywhere the moment you left the tube station. Grabbing a pint at the Boyelyn, you could hear singing and chanting everywhere. The pre-match atmosphere was electric, and I felt really connected with the history of football- that was something I yearned for. The stadium itself was tight around the pitch, and it basically was a cauldron of noise. Even sitting higher up in the second level, the view was wonderful. That's why I became a West Ham supporter. I showed up knowing next-to-nothing about the club, and I left totally captivated by the whole experience.
I was at the London 2012 Olympics, and while Olympic Park is very nice, it feels a bit sterile with the gleaming, modern Westfield shopping centre being the only notable infrastructure in the vicinity.
I think the soul of West Ham as a football club really has been damaged.
The question is what to do about the state of the club? I fear relegation, but it could be a needed impetus for change. You can't pretend "everything is fine" with a 60000+ seat stadium in the Championship.
I'm glad that West Ham is trying to move beyond it's Green Street Hooligans days. We saw some of that today, but I think that ugly side to the club isn't as prominent as it once was.
A modern, large stadium is needed given the economics of the Premier League today. I don't think the London Stadium should be abandoned, but the seats all need to be moved closer to the pitch like the Etihad after the Commonweath Games or even Madison Square Garden where both tiers were entirely replaced in phases.
Also, the board has gotta go. From leaking potential transfers on social media to bashing young players, the board has not acted in the best interest of fans or players.
Beyond that, I'm not sure what else could be done, but that would be a start.
There used to be a "five year plan" for West Ham to reach the Champions League. Imagine that!