By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions. We in turn value your personal details in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
Please log in or register. Registered visitors get fewer ads.
Used to enjoy our trips to Upton Park, always reminded me of a slightly bigger version of Portman Road, usually a great atmosphere, a good bit of banter between fans, and when they scored against us in the playoffs (westlake post game), it was the loudest ground I think I’d heard. Yesterday was the polar opposite, I actually came away sad for their fans, the stadium is soo not a football stadium, crap sight lines, terrible distance, half finished setup and terrible atmosphere. Unless the club can buy the stadium and totally redo the setup, it’ll never improve. Just totally soulless, can understand why a number of their fans have stopped going, to be replaced with tourist day trippers.
Came away so glad that we have Portman Road as a place to visit, with lots of potential for development in a good way.
Football wise, lots for McKenna to reflect on, not great from us. At least we appear to have a goal scorer in the side, which is one of the hardest things to find.
10
They sold their soul on 09:15 - Oct 6 with 3643 views
The fact that the whole ground didn't sing until the 55th minute sums up how awful the new ground is. Apart from bubbles when they came out and a quick 10 second goal celebration you wouldn't know they were there.
We've done Upton park many times and really enjoyed the atmosphere there, as you say, it was like a bigger portman road.
There were always a few scuffles/issues/songs aimed at us on the way out of the ground and a big police presence before and after the game. The fact I didn't see one policeman or police horse also spoke volumes. I'm not saying I promote violence etc, just that the heart of their fan base has been lost. We all mixed together on the way back and you'd have thought we all supported the same team, again, not a bad thing but not what you'd expect from West ham fans of old.
All these new grounds are the same, just with different coloured seats. I hope we never become a soul less bowl
1
They sold their soul on 09:18 - Oct 6 with 3625 views
Yes same feeling, sadness, a really great football club who played in a great stadium has been sold out.I was in home end and there were so many tourists it was unreal, all wearing their half'n'half scarves. Those that looked like proper fans looked like it was more about being back in their east-end homeland with similar people and the game day is just a date in the diary to call them home, They were there to be together, the church of all things old East-end, a place long gone and their cathedral has gone too, so now they hang out in a shopping centre together and pop along to the game.
1
They sold their soul on 12:16 - Oct 6 with 3386 views
I couldn’t do that slow babysitting escort to get to the nearest station every week. Must have taken over 30 minutes and I was with the home fans who are “prioritised” to get out quicker.
I wondered why home fans were leaving in their droves with 20/15 minutes to go and understand now. That would cause me to find a local team to support and never go again. If you’re missing 15/20+ minutes of the game every home match it’s almost pointless going at that point.
Also the insane queues to get into the ground and security, then insane queues to get into the turnstiles.
The concourses in the home end were ugly and just empty concrete. You’d think the team with history which “won the World Cup” you’d think they would have posters of ex-players or banners or colours up. It’s like they were renting the stadium for the season and terrified they may not get their deposit back.
Walter Smith's Barmy Army
1
They sold their soul on 12:21 - Oct 6 with 3365 views
Yeah I sat in the home end yesterday & felt the same. Was a pretty depressing experience all round really, I think I displayed more passion for West Ham by standing up when they scored than most of their own fans did!
I'm sure they could make changes to the stadium if they wished. They just don't want to spend the money.
They are not allowed to make changes without authorisation as they do not own the stadium but lease it. It has to be made ready for athletics among other events at relatively short notice. If they were authorised to do so the changes would be minor and not change the layout.
Ground and by extension overall experience was really poor. The huge gaps between lower and upper tiers behind the goal were odd and at times yesterday I also reflected on just how far the home fans at the sides were from pitch compared to Portman Road and other older traditional grounds like Goodison. I can't actually remember why they moved from Upton Park in the first place, other than maybe a quick fix to increase capacity, but whatever the reason it seems a huge mistake.
0
They sold their soul on 14:33 - Oct 6 with 3132 views
Ground number 89 for me yesterday following Ipswich domestically. Looks nice, but just not fit to be a football stadium. Like already said, absolutely soulless and complete opposite of Upton Park.
Can’t say I’ll bother next season if West Ham stay up.
3
They sold their soul on 14:36 - Oct 6 with 3121 views
They sold their soul on 14:33 - Oct 6 by yesjohn99
Ground number 89 for me yesterday following Ipswich domestically. Looks nice, but just not fit to be a football stadium. Like already said, absolutely soulless and complete opposite of Upton Park.
Can’t say I’ll bother next season if West Ham stay up.
Three to go for the full set?
0
They sold their soul on 04:31 - Oct 8 with 2510 views
Sadly it seems you can’t have it all ways,yes I went to Upton Park a few times and yes it was a good experience. But football is different now to what it was,more families more day trippers etc. I said this to a Spammer season ticket holder yesterday,that many of the town fans preferred Upton Park,he replied we couldn’t fit 60+ thousand into that 😂. I wonder how many football fans town would be able to attract to some of the more attractive PL games if they had the capacity? 45k ?
Sadly it seems you can’t have it all ways,yes I went to Upton Park a few times and yes it was a good experience. But football is different now to what it was,more families more day trippers etc. I said this to a Spammer season ticket holder yesterday,that many of the town fans preferred Upton Park,he replied we couldn’t fit 60+ thousand into that 😂. I wonder how many football fans town would be able to attract to some of the more attractive PL games if they had the capacity? 45k ?
Think we would top out at around 40k, all things being positive, but it wasn't that log ago we were getting 11/12k for a long time and you couldn't give your ST away.
Hopefully we won't go back to those days, I think it would be prudent to see where we are in 3 years time before committing to ground redevelopment, as this has a history of biting us on the ar5e.
Ground and by extension overall experience was really poor. The huge gaps between lower and upper tiers behind the goal were odd and at times yesterday I also reflected on just how far the home fans at the sides were from pitch compared to Portman Road and other older traditional grounds like Goodison. I can't actually remember why they moved from Upton Park in the first place, other than maybe a quick fix to increase capacity, but whatever the reason it seems a huge mistake.
I think the reason they moved is that they saw the opportunity to double their capacity while paying next to nothing and having Londoners pay for it while they picked up the profit.
It's also far easier to get to than Upton Park for the average tourist. As everyone's said previously on this thread, it's a disaster for the proper fans but I'm not sure there's ever been a better deal in football from a purely business point of view.
And Premier League clubs are businesses WAY before they're football clubs. Sad truth, but it's the way nowadays.
1
They sold their soul on 07:58 - Oct 8 with 2350 views
I think the reason they moved is that they saw the opportunity to double their capacity while paying next to nothing and having Londoners pay for it while they picked up the profit.
It's also far easier to get to than Upton Park for the average tourist. As everyone's said previously on this thread, it's a disaster for the proper fans but I'm not sure there's ever been a better deal in football from a purely business point of view.
And Premier League clubs are businesses WAY before they're football clubs. Sad truth, but it's the way nowadays.
Indeed, and London clubs thrive on day trippers/tourists for revenue, obviously a by product of that is the flat atmospheres. But football has changed, whether you like it or not, it's a far more family friendly experience, and as someone brought up at the tail end of hooliganism, and now enjoy going with my children, I'm glad of the changes.
The Beauty of PR is that we can still generate a raucous atmosphere, whilst still having a family feel, we are lucky both can exist in equal measures.
I think the reason they moved is that they saw the opportunity to double their capacity while paying next to nothing and having Londoners pay for it while they picked up the profit.
It's also far easier to get to than Upton Park for the average tourist. As everyone's said previously on this thread, it's a disaster for the proper fans but I'm not sure there's ever been a better deal in football from a purely business point of view.
And Premier League clubs are businesses WAY before they're football clubs. Sad truth, but it's the way nowadays.
One other thing... It looks good on the TV... Another priority for the game. Even if the atmosphere is affected...
One other thing... It looks good on the TV... Another priority for the game. Even if the atmosphere is affected...
In what way does it look good on the TV? On TV it looks exactly what it is, a game being played on a grass pitch in the middle of a much larger area, with fans nowhere near and therefore little atmosphere or excitement
They sold their soul on 08:31 - Oct 8 by JimmyJazz
In what way does it look good on the TV? On TV it looks exactly what it is, a game being played on a grass pitch in the middle of a much larger area, with fans nowhere near and therefore little atmosphere or excitement
A global audience wants to see big stadiums and drama. The camera angles are good and I believe they have the flying zip wire cameras too.
Think we would top out at around 40k, all things being positive, but it wasn't that log ago we were getting 11/12k for a long time and you couldn't give your ST away.
Hopefully we won't go back to those days, I think it would be prudent to see where we are in 3 years time before committing to ground redevelopment, as this has a history of biting us on the ar5e.
Indeed, and London clubs thrive on day trippers/tourists for revenue, obviously a by product of that is the flat atmospheres. But football has changed, whether you like it or not, it's a far more family friendly experience, and as someone brought up at the tail end of hooliganism, and now enjoy going with my children, I'm glad of the changes.
The Beauty of PR is that we can still generate a raucous atmosphere, whilst still having a family feel, we are lucky both can exist in equal measures.
Yeah I actually saw someone recently (maybe it was even on here?) talking about how the big clubs don't really need or want season ticket holders any more - in some ways, they're a drag.
Obviously the money up front is great, but if you can fill a seat with a 'first timer' for 30 games in a row, the chances are that's also 30 shirts, 30 programmes and 30 people spending big on their 'day out', rather than a regular fan who drinks beforehand, doesn't visit the club shop and gets there for KO and leaves at full time.
Never thought of that, but it's both terrifying and also probable true.
0
West Ham fans getting a bit triggered on YouTube over new ground criticism on 14:29 - Oct 8 with 1820 views
Don't think the video criticism of the ground isn’t different to what most of the Hammers fans I spoke to were saying.
The thing that was strange is when you’re just taking the lead again, or going 3 or 4 goals to the good, to have no sustained home singing when there’s 60K +… it’s either a problem with the ground or fan base. A few fans did say it is good for London derbies.
Anyway such a shame we were error strewn, and didn’t give West Ham a good game.
They sold their soul on 14:33 - Oct 6 by yesjohn99
Ground number 89 for me yesterday following Ipswich domestically. Looks nice, but just not fit to be a football stadium. Like already said, absolutely soulless and complete opposite of Upton Park.
Can’t say I’ll bother next season if West Ham stay up.
Didn't think town had played that many
0
They sold their soul on 17:30 - Oct 8 with 1666 views
Would be a lot more on top of that. Grounds I never got to such as Ayresome Park, Roker Park and Burnden Park immediately spring to mind were ones that got away from me.
0
They sold their soul on 17:32 - Oct 8 with 1659 views
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
