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News > Spurs scupper West Ham stadium move

Spurs scupper West Ham stadium move

News | admin | October 11, 2011 at 10:39 am
Olympic Stadium - Tottenham Hotspur News

Sports minister Hugh Robertson has confirmed the Olympic Stadium deal with West Ham and Newham Council has collapsed.

Legal challenges by Tottenham and Leyton Orient, plus an anonymous complaint to the European Commission, have led to fears that court action could drag on for years while the stadium remains empty.

The stadium will now remain in public ownership and leased out to an anchor tenant following a new tender process by the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC).

West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady has already confirmed the club will bid again to become tenants at the stadium.

Robertson said: “The key point is the action we have taken today is about removing the uncertainty. The process had become bogged down in legal paralysis.

“Particularly relevant has been the anonymous complaint to the EC over ‘state aid’ and the OPLC received a letter from Newham Council yesterday saying because of the uncertainty they no longer wanted to proceed. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back and we thought it better to stop it dead in it tracks now.

“We know there is huge interest in the stadium out there from private operators and football clubs and crucially we remove any uncertainty.”

Some £35million already earmarked under the Olympic budget will be used to transform the stadium after the Games. Prospective tenants will then be asked to bid for the stadium with the running track remaining in place.

Robertson added: “This is not a white elephant stadium where no one wants it, we have had two big clubs (West Ham and Tottenham) fighting tooth and nail to get it.

“The new process will be more like how Manchester City took over the Commonwealth Games stadium which is regarded as a leading example of how to do it.”

The tenants will pay an annual rent to the OPLC which should actually prove to be less costly for the likes of West Ham.

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15 Comments

  1. john says:
    October 11, 2011 at 10:55 am
    It's great news! We will now get a great stadium at a fraction of the cost..
    Thank you spurs and leyton!
    Up the Hammers!
    Reply
  2. McHammer says:
    October 11, 2011 at 10:59 am
    Pretty much pulls the rug out from under Levy's legal challenge,and his demolition plans for the stadium .It's suspected that Boris now won't give Levy the regeneration millions.
    Redknapp will be leaving before next season, and the police are investigating the illegal taping of phones etc that Levy is accused of.
    Reply
    • essexian76 says:
      October 11, 2011 at 1:56 pm
      Sorry, but you're' Barking' up the wrong tree, this is not a done deal as West Ham have only applied not been granted anything yet! As for your'allegations' of wrong doing, you've not considered the voting process which was clearly rigged as was everything else to favour West Ham. That support is no longer in place and from now on end all bids will be transparent, just as it should be! But we all know that track has to go sooner or later, it's only a question of how long West Ham can play there with diminishing crowds paying subsidised ticket prices.
      Reply
  3. johnny says:
    October 11, 2011 at 11:02 am
    Excellent news, we get a state of the art stadium with hardly any outlay!
    Thank you spurs and mr hearn!
    Reply
  4. Roy Singh says:
    October 11, 2011 at 11:10 am
    Recommed that all tax payers pursue this issue (irrespective of which team you support). Mobilise & find out exactly how your money is been spent. Expose all the fat cats that are thriving on you money.
    Reply
  5. tom says:
    October 11, 2011 at 11:20 am
    cant we just knock down the old east stand and stay at upton park please…45,000 is enough and we dont have too watch football from beyond a running track..
    Reply
  6. jonny says:
    October 11, 2011 at 11:21 am
    Greedy spurs outflanked, whinging hearn out thought!
    A great day for my glorious hammers.
    We love you WEST HAM!
    Champions of Europe inside 10 years!
    Reply
  7. johnny says:
    October 11, 2011 at 11:27 am
    East London's our home, East London's our home!
    Now go away tottenham East London's our home!

    You've scuppered nothing, only your own future!
    Your chairman's greed is your downfall!
    You've played right into our hands
    Up the Hammers

    Reply
  8. calebray says:
    October 11, 2011 at 11:30 am
    headline should read – west ham have acted illegally as has the government and this way saves face and legal ramifications
    Reply
  9. Lillywhitetilidie says:
    October 11, 2011 at 12:03 pm
    Not quite sure what to make of this as it’s not really an about face more like an acceptance that the decision to award the stadium to west ham was fundamentally wrong in the first place given that effectively for West Ham to have taken over the stadium it was with total funding from public money. Effectively a loan. I was one of those supporters and still am in favour of a move as I see it as the way forward for the club but I must admit that I am still miffed as to why Tottenham were INVITED to place a bid in the first place. Were it not for the fact that West Ham were the only bidders at the time and would surely have done away with the running track had Tottenham not entered the bidding process under invitation. It seems to me that there was a lot of posturing and manoeuvring on the part of the OPLC to have their way and have the track remain with their preferred bidder. As I remember it the Tottenham bid right from the outset never made any provisions for the track to stay but once it was clear what the OPLC wanted then West Ham started singing off the same hymn sheet as the OPLC. Upon reflection on all that has happened since the bids went to tender is it beyond the realms of possibility that a ground share option between West Ham and Tottenham would be a better solution to the problem? Keep the running track and offer it as a multi event stadium? AC Milan and Inter Milan share the San Siro so why not Tottenham and West Ham? Thereby saving the tax payer millions in the process. Just a thought. Lillywhitetilidie
    Reply
  10. TUCKER says:
    October 11, 2011 at 12:42 pm
    Dont know why spammers are so happy, them leasing the stadium means they have no say in what happens to it. So it will be knocked down to the 25,000 the OPLC had at the start….and with a massive athletics track.

    Oh darn WHU, what are spurs to do now…!

    Reply
  11. big g says:
    October 11, 2011 at 12:46 pm
    I like WEST HAM but lets face it a new stadium for the REAL yids of London aint gonna ever make them a better team. Look at the history of White City, it was a state of the art stadium that QPR got embroiled with and quckly moved back to Loftus Road, take the arsenal slipping down a slippery road cods they lost all heritage, they play on a former railway track that is meaningless. What does as Football team mean? it can only mean the legacy of the past. Look at Wimbledon who now play in Milton Keynes along Yankee lines. America has the hot dog as its emblem of culture=nuff said? Levy is a person who should be involved in other things , not running Spurs.
    Reply
  12. big g says:
    October 11, 2011 at 1:00 pm
    west ham united even though I like their Supporters means=sell all your best players =end up in the Serie B of England and sing im forever blowing bubbles in memorium of geoff hurst and martin peters etc etc.Why do they need a new stadium. Look at Arsenal, they're shite since they got the emirates.
    Reply

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