Town chief executive Simon Clegg has backed West Ham’s bid to move to the new Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Games. The Hammers hope to take over the stadium, reducing its capacity to 60,000 with athletics, cricket and other sporting and entertainment events also part of their plans.

Former British Olympic Association chief executive Clegg told the club site: "I've been in contact with West Ham and support their push to become anchor tenants of the stadium.

"The whole of the London bid was built around not creating white elephants, yet for the biggest stadium of all we have not been able to find a long-term tenant, a long-term solution to that problem.

"The current plan is to reduce the stadium down from 80,000 seats to 25,000 after the Games. That's fine but who is going to use a 25,000 stadium every week in this country?

"The bottom line is that we made a commitment during the bid phase to the IOC (International Olympic Committee) that we would retain an athletics track in legacy mode and that has to be delivered. A track has to remain at the stadium.

"What we hadn't done at that stage is think through what the long-term legacy was going to be for the stadium with the athletics track as an integral part of it.

"There are several national athletics tracks around the country and quite rightly UK Athletics want to spread their competitions around the country. They also have their National High Performance Centre down the road at Picketts Lock, so they could not become the sole anchor tenant for the stadium.

"Therefore it's going to have to be a shared facility and it seems to me that football is the primary user of large stadia in this country and with West Ham in need of a suitable facility and very local, that looks like a very good solution.

"While there may be a fixation in this country that we can't live with an athletics track around a football pitch, if you go on the continent that is a model that you frequently find, including at some of the biggest clubs in Europe.

"There are other options but I'm convinced that the best possible long-term solution and the least drain on the public purse is a football club, like West Ham, going in and operating as the anchor tenant."

Town face West Ham in a pre-season friendly at Portman Road on Saturday 31st July (KO 3pm).

Photo: Action Images

Dolly2.0 added 09:19 - May 15 I think you missheard him Phil, he didn't say 'anchor' tenants
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raycrawfordswig added 09:36 - May 15 Get the feeling money in this for someone.
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JayITFC added 10:07 - May 15 So the day after West Ham agree to a Portman Road friendly our chief executive is supporting their bid to move in to the Olympic Stadium. Who'd have thunk it!
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keighleyblue added 10:43 - May 15 I'm sorry but WTF does this have to do with ITFC??????
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Mark added 11:30 - May 15 Why is it that teams like Man City and West Ham seem to get gifted massive new stadiums when our stadium expansions result in years of financial turmoil afterwards? That said, I would not want a stadium with a running track round the pitch. Clegg may call it a "fixation", but surely going to football is about being close to the action not needing to take binoculars to look after an athletics track.

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ThatMuhrenCross added 12:13 - May 15 Don't understand... the intro says West Ham will reduce it to 60,000, but Cleggs quotes seem to suggest its going down to 25,000- what is really happening? And also, Cleggy, its not a 'fixation' we have in English football, its a fact. Genuine football fans understands what an annoyance having a track between them and the action is - maybe those who seem to care more about Athletics than football don't.

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Blueknight85 added 12:43 - May 15 ThatmuhrenCross i think you probably speed read it.. he said the current plan without west ham going in is to reduce it to 25,000 seats and to be atheltics only statium West ham plan to only reduce it to 60,000 if they are aloowed to move in which clegg say's as more sensible. Bit Peed off as it is clearly part of the friendly agreement the cockney thugs have obviously said we will give you a friendly if you back our stadium move with your olympic background Which lumbers us having to play a team we don't like or respect in any way shape or form

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bournemouthblue added 13:10 - May 15 I'd rather it held Cricket and Football, the only time a stadium of that size would be required for Athletics would be the Olympics or Commonwealth games It surely has Ashes potential as a Cricket Stadium also
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Fatcatevans added 13:45 - May 15 Clegg mate, you are meant to be championing this club , not those cockney retards - Leave yr olmpic past behind and concentrate on ITFC or better still stand down
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brogansnose added 15:46 - May 15 I would be pleased if anyone moves in there as i assume that they will be having to pay rent or some sort of lease rather than us the tax payer shelling out to maintain and generally susidise the place. And yes with an athletics track around the outside it will have zero atmosphere but it will make it harder for them to chuck coins at players. Bonus!
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Vexorg added 17:41 - May 15 Clegg thinks X Factor is a good programme Clegg likes broccoli Clegg drinks milk etc etc The one relevant factor about Clegg and what's in his head and that I care about is that he knows feck all about football and is taking a long time to learn, most likely because procuring 2012 Olympic tickets for Evans to tout on takes up most of his time
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bluearmy69 added 21:13 - May 15 I am sure your time would be better spent on Ipswich Town rather than those west ham twa**.
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WadzillaBhoy added 06:12 - May 16 What are we relocating to Upton Park or something? What does this have to do with us! Why do we love West Ham all of a sudden?
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bennyblue added 09:33 - May 16 i think its great that cleggs going to west ham we wish him all the best hope things turn at better there than his time at portman rd
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shoopdelang added 17:25 - May 16 why the f*ck is this a story on an ipswich fanzine???????????????????????????????????/
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