West Ham are starting to make changes to the London Stadium to make it feel like home. Will it have an impact against Leicester? Is it going to be enough?
Ever since West Ham moved from the Boleyn Ground to the London Stadium there have been massive grumbles in regards to the atmosphere and setting of the new stadium. Things were promised that haven’t materialised and now the board are trying to get something sorted.
So we’ve now seen pictures of the new Claret pitch surrounds which are part of a deal between the club and the owning organisation of the stadium to make us, the principal tenant, feel more at home when we’re using it. Do I like it? Yes! Is it enough? No.
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We’ve been expecting something like this since the move and to have it come now, as morale is waning at the end of the season, is a bit…well…uninteresting. The fact that it took so long to negotiate is a simple reminder of the fact that the money we’re paying for the stadium is not enough, and we didn’t get enough control when we did sign the deal. And I think the board could have been a bit more savvy about the timing.
If they’d waited until the summer they could have opened the new season with it in, and it becomes a bit more of a unifying feature. Maybe they would have negotiated some other little additions by then as well, allowing it to take a big step forward in the eyes of some fans? Releasing it now isn’t really adding too much, although we as fans simply need to accept now that this is our stadium and it won’t be our home until we’re fully immersed in it.
So when asked which stadium is better, answer honestly. Yes, obviously you will have a preference and it’s probably going to be Upton Park. But that’s now our history, not our future. When we go to the stadium do everything you can to support the team, making noise and pushing for improvements in the club. But the negative attitude to support in the stadium? Leave that at home. The club needs to move on, and to do that the supporters need to lead the way.