Knock it down and start again? How to fix West Ham's stadium problem

“A world-class stadium for a world-class team.”

That was the pitch that Karren Brady made to West Ham fans to convince them to leave Upton Park.

Some remained adamant they didn’t want to leave the ground that had been home for more than a century, but those who could see the way the wind was blowing in modern football conceded that if the Hammers wanted a piece of the big time, they needed a ground to match.

They bid a tearful farewell to Upton Park, and headed to the Olympic Park where, they were promised, bigger and better things awaited them.

‘Generational objections’

“What followed was three or four years of looking over our shoulder,” says James Jones of The West Ham Way podcast.

“And when the team’s winning football matches, the atmosphere is, naturally, is a lot better.”

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