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The London Taxpayers' Stadium Shambles

the more I read and hear the more I think that that's the point



there are two types of football club now, those embracing brand culture and those who are heading out of business


flimflam! That is just self serving corporate gobbeldy gook. Yeah, right Liverpool and Man United need to promote brand recognition. What a load of crap!
 
maybe i'm misreading things and showing unfair bias to Spurs and against west ham, but, it seems to me, backed up by the evidence from games at the OS, that they have an rather unsavoury element to their fanbase that we don't have, and based on that this could be a rather effective method of thinning that down

my opinion on Spurs fans is that most of us are sycophantic cash cows already, I know I am

They definitely do have a neanderthal element to their fanbase and I'm sure Brady & co. would like to change that. They also have more "regular", "normal" fans (albeit deluded - see 1966 etc) and they risk alienating this core fanbase, and I don't think any club can afford to do that. Success can come and go, plastics and glory-hunters come and go, but if a club does not have that core support that sticks with them in the lean times, then that is a club that is going to fail. And let's be honest, it's not as if WH are likely to have the sort of success that brings the glory-hunters. Curiosity hunters, sure, but curiosity is easlly sated.

Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying watching it all go tits up. After the boasting and gloating of getting the stadium, and of what the move would mean, there's a sense of satisfaction to see it all going wrong. But everytime I hear or read something Brady has said, I can't help think that she actually has no idea what supporting a football club actually means to its fans.
There may be moans and gripes from some from time to time about Lewis/Levy/ENIC, but when you look at the car crash happening a few miles east, you have to be thankful for what we have.
 
They definitely do have a neanderthal element to their fanbase and I'm sure Brady & co. would like to change that. They also have more "regular", "normal" fans (albeit deluded - see 1966 etc) and they risk alienating this core fanbase, and I don't think any club can afford to do that. Success can come and go, plastics and glory-hunters come and go, but if a club does not have that core support that sticks with them in the lean times, then that is a club that is going to fail. And let's be honest, it's not as if WH are likely to have the sort of success that brings the glory-hunters. Curiosity hunters, sure, but curiosity is easlly sated.

Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying watching it all go tits up. After the boasting and gloating of getting the stadium, and of what the move would mean, there's a sense of satisfaction to see it all going wrong. But everytime I hear or read something Brady has said, I can't help think that she actually has no idea what supporting a football club actually means to its fans.
There may be moans and gripes from some from time to time about Lewis/Levy/ENIC, but when you look at the car crash happening a few miles east, you have to be thankful for what we have.

above all else i'm absolutely thrilled with what we have

regarding the hammers though, what if the neanderthal element is the core fan base?

on the surface it's hilarious but I can't help think it's part of a larger longer term plan, Stratford is an incredible opportunity, they can make a hell of a lot of money there if they attract the right customers
 
above all else i'm absolutely thrilled with what we have

regarding the hammers though, what if the neanderthal element is the core fan base?

on the surface it's hilarious but I can't help think it's part of a larger longer term plan, Stratford is an incredible opportunity, they can make a hell of a lot of money there if they attract the right customers

I think that's why they're so desperately pretending everything is fine and blaming it on media spin. It's the money from corporate tickets they want. This season the prices are low to make sure the stadium is sold out, but longer term they want to get them closer to ours and Arsenal's. Some decent football and a nice atmosphere is obviously key to keeping it full and they've probably deluded themselves into thinking this can't fail. Being a two-bob outfit where everything is done on the cheap, they've left far too much in the hands of the stadium owners and basically washed their hands of the average fans. Now we get to watch it blow up in their faces and it's all happening in glorious slow-mo.
 
In principal what they are trying to achieve makes good sense. I lived in Bermondsey for over 30 years and saw what a small number of feral fans can do to a club. Millwall always did have a reputation for hooligan fans along with Chelsea, QPR and us. Unfortunately they were unable to rid themselves of this element and normal fans started to stay away, the same could happen to West Ham. They have an opportunity to move forward if they can get it right, but it appears they are trying to do it on the cheap. Corporate entertainment is all about the experience and needs a greater focus on the customer comfort than actual performance on the pitch. I've been entertained at many sporting events, The Open, Royal Ascot, Wimbledon, Lords and Wembley and the majority of people in the groups had a passing interest in the sport and seemed more concerned with their seat and the catering/booze. If you have a venue were you don't feel comfortable of the safety of your clients your're not going to want to buy that product.
 
They definitely do have a neanderthal element to their fanbase and I'm sure Brady & co. would like to change that. They also have more "regular", "normal" fans (albeit deluded - see 1966 etc) and they risk alienating this core fanbase, and I don't think any club can afford to do that. Success can come and go, plastics and glory-hunters come and go, but if a club does not have that core support that sticks with them in the lean times, then that is a club that is going to fail. And let's be honest, it's not as if WH are likely to have the sort of success that brings the glory-hunters. Curiosity hunters, sure, but curiosity is easlly sated.

Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying watching it all go tits up. After the boasting and gloating of getting the stadium, and of what the move would mean, there's a sense of satisfaction to see it all going wrong. But everytime I hear or read something Brady has said, I can't help think that she actually has no idea what supporting a football club actually means to its fans.
There may be moans and gripes from some from time to time about Lewis/Levy/ENIC, but when you look at the car crash happening a few miles east, you have to be thankful for what we have.

This. I don't understand why they don't seem to have the same stigma attached to them as Millwall, they are easily in the top 5 in the country in terms of the amount of trouble they cause both inside and outside the stadium and yet they have a reputation as simply being "passionate fans".
 
above all else i'm absolutely thrilled with what we have

regarding the hammers though, what if the neanderthal element is the core fan base?

on the surface it's hilarious but I can't help think it's part of a larger longer term plan, Stratford is an incredible opportunity, they can make a hell of a lot of money there if they attract the right customers

How much are they going to make from it realistically though? That idiot son of David Sullivan recently tweeted that they make only marginally more than they did at Upton Park IIRC. And they will never be able to compete with the likes of scum, us or even Chelsea in terms of fanbase and revenue through things like marketing for example.
 
How much are they going to make from it realistically though? That idiot son of David Sullivan recently tweeted that they make only marginally more than they did at Upton Park IIRC. And they will never be able to compete with the likes of scum, us or even Chelsea in terms of fanbase and revenue through things like marketing for example.

I think there is potential for football as a tourist experience alongside the obvious benefits they can offer corporate clients. They need to Disneyfy the experience though.

The first step should be to change the allocation, its a 60k stadium, i'd be splitting that at 30k each way for a start and advertise it as an opportunity to see PL stars in London rather than West Ham (they obviously need to retain PL status for that to work).
 
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