West Ham - and Spurs - "Bid" For Olympics Stadium

Shame it wasn't built in W12

I can hear the echo, echo,echo.

West Ham want it free. Spurs have teamed up with AEG to bid. Olympic stadium is 5 miles from White Hart Lane (2 stops on the train) and 4 miles from Upton Park (4 stops on the tube)...

All very interesting.......

Makes sense but I thought Spurs had a site?

The plan/mockup of Spurs new stadium is awesome. I presume these would change if the Olypic stadium bid came off.

It a political tool and rabbit in the hat should Boris decide to play silly beggars or the Northumberland Development project gets "called in" by the DoE...

All very interesting - if nothing else, it's forcing West Ham to significantly redress their "bid" and sending David Gold's ultimate business plan into a spiral.......

Perspective of Martin Samuels/Daily Mail

Keep your Tottenham tanks off West Ham's manor, Mr Levy
[updated]

Manchester United are slightly to the south of town, Manchester City are to the east, but it doesn’t really matter. To the rest of the world they are the Manchester clubs, and never more specifically defined.

Nobody but a local could identify Birmingham’s Premier League duo as being from the north (Aston Villa) or south-east (Birmingham City) and the same goes for Bristol (City to the southwest, Rovers to the north) and Sheffield (United south, Wednesday north). Liverpool and Everton are separated by a communal park, Nottingham Forest and Notts County by the river Trent.

So there is only one city in England in which the specific locales of football clubs matter and it is London. The north London derby, the fact that supporters of West Ham United sing specifically of love for east London, grudges to the west, hostility to the south, beyond the capital there is no equivalent of this precise division.

So Tottenham Hotspur might as well move to Stratford-upon-Avon as Stratford, east London. As if using the Olympic Stadium as a back-up option in case the redevelopment of White Hart Lane falls through is not insult enough, chairman Daniel Levy’s idea of invading the territory of a rival London club shows contempt for the dynamic of football in the capital and the history of its teams.

Geography lessons: Tottenham's long history at White Hart Lane means thoughts of a move to east London are wrong
Not least his own. There may be irritant value in parking Tottenham’s tanks on West Ham’s lawns and nobody blames Levy for having a plan B, but why would the chairman of Tottenham wish to surrender 128 years of history from beginnings on Tottenham marshes to move to a part of the city where his club would feel alien?

Tottenham have been at White Hart Lane since the end of the 19th century, longer than Manchester United’s tenure at Old Trafford. More significantly, anyone who has visited the vicinity recently will have noticed that its rundown appearance suggests a major buildingproject is coming soon. High street shops are shuttered or empty, leases are running down. This is the proposed site of the new White Hart Lane, making Tottenham’s capacity a match for Arsenal’s 60,000, and propelling the club further towards the elite.
[columnistModule]
It may one day be that, with Roman Abramovich’s legacy at Chelsea, and a super-sized Tottenham and Arsenal, London will have three strong clubs with Champions League potential to challenge the traditional powerhouses in the north. Good luck to them all. Nothing wrong with making Tottenham strong — in Tottenham. Not Stratford; because Stratford is in east London and Tottenham are a north London club.

This may seem strange to outsiders but Tottenham could move halfway to Cambridge and still be within their traditional boundaries, but roughly six miles down the road to where the Olympic park is located and they may as well be on the moon. That is West Ham country as indisputably as Tyneside belongs to Newcastle United. One might as well attempt to parachute Leeds United into the stadium at Gateshead.

Tottenham’s Olympic contingency plans may also be a non-starter for legal reasons. Premier League rules I5 and I6 deal very specifically with ground location. I5 states that any change of ground requires the consent of the Premier League board, while I6 says there must be a relationship between the locality and the name of the club or its traditional association.
Rule I6 (5) states that the move would not adversely affect clubs (or Football League clubs) having their registered grounds in the immediate vicinity of the proposed location. The Olympic Stadium is in the London Borough of Newham, as is West Ham. It is little more than two miles from Upton Park, and West Ham have registered an interest in relocating there. The facility needs a football club to maintain its regular use, but identification with the area is important, too.

If West Ham were not interested, perhaps there would be a case to entertain Tottenham for practical reasons in the national interest; as they are it seems wrong to encourage an interloper.
Tottenham, like every London club, are not actually a London club at all. They are a north London club, and Levy should respect that, even if he finds it hard to respect much else.


www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1317411/Martin-Samuel-Keep-Tottenham-tanks-West-Hams-manor-Mr-Levy.html

One eyed West Ham fan as far as I've ever been able to tell. Makes Rob Shepherd look impartial ;D

Anyway, everyone knows Mick Dennis is the best football writer out there

Get that Dick Menace a nice hot cup of rosey. ;D

Guardian/Owen Gibson

Olympic Stadium now first choice for Tottenham
• Club may ditch plans to rebuild White Hart Lane
• Running track would be removed from east London site

The prospect of Tottenham Hotspur abandoning plans to rebuild White Hart Lane and moving instead to the Olympic Stadium moved a significant step closer yesterday when the club's corporate partners revealed plans to ditch the running track after the 2012 Games and spoke openly about outflanking West Ham's rival bid.

AEG, the US sports and entertainment company that turned the Millennium Dome from national embarrassment to a huge success story as the O2 Arena, was bullish about its chances of securing the stadium and claimed its partnership with Spurs was the only one that could fulfil the Stratford stadium's commercial potential.

The Olympic Stadium option has previously been talked of as a "back-up plan" for Spurs but it is understood that the idea is now under serious consideration as an alternative to rebuilding White Hart Lane.

Tim Leiweke, the president of AEG, said: "We've been pretty selective on the projects we get involved in here and, when we do, we haven't had many stumbles."

AEG Europe's chief executive, David Campbell, added that Tottenham's fan base made it a more viable option than West Ham. "They have got 35,000 people on a paid-for waiting list. They can fill 60,000 seats. Can West Ham? I don't know but I don't feel as confident as I do about Tottenham."

Spurs are increasingly pursuing a twin-track approach to enlarging their stadium and boosting their revenues despite last week gaining planning permission to rebuild White Hart Lane, amid fears that extra demands from Transport for London, Haringey council and English Heritage will increase the final bill. According to the latest estimates, additions to the final cost of building a 56,250-seat stadium adjacent to the club's current home have taken it to more than £400m. At the same time, Spurs have been forced to reduce the number of residential units planned to be built to help fund the scheme from 500 to 200.

AEG's proposal to remove the running track will reopen a bitter debate about the Olympic Stadium's legacy. The London organising committee chairman, Lord Coe, has been adamant that it must remain, given the legacy promises made to the International Olympic Committee, and West Ham's joint bid with Newham council proposes to retain it.

But AEG said yesterday that it has studied the terms of the Olympic Park Legacy Company's criteria carefully and is convinced it would consider proposals that do not include a running track.

"Seb [Coe] and I go back a long way," Leiweke told the Guardian. "We chose to support the London bid and picked a fight with the mayor of New York in doing so. Seb knows we're great for the legacy and invested in other sports here. We will also continue to respect the reason they brought the Olympics here in the first place. But to sacrifice the environment of the anchor tenant for one event a year or every five years, we've got to take a step back and ask whether we're not better off putting our resources in bringing back other types of Olympic sport."

The argument over the future of the stadium goes back to shortly after the bid was won in 2005. The previous Olympics minister Tessa Jowell resolved to keep it as a 25,000 seat athletics venue, reduced from its 80,000 Games-time capacity.

But the debate was re-opened when the wisdom of reducing the capacity was questioned and the Olympic Park Legacy Company took on responsibility for the post-Games use of the venues. It is estimated that it would cost at least £150m to convert the Olympic Stadium, which is being built without merchandising and hospitality facilities as part of the minimalist design. There will also have to be comprehensive changes to the floodlights and roof, which at present only covers a third of the stadium.

As last Thursday's deadline passed for expressions of interest in the Olympic Stadium, Spurs were granted planning permission by the local government to build a new stadium adjacent to White Hart Lane.

"We're not crazy. We wouldn't do things that we thought wouldn't be worthwhile in the end," said Campbell. "We don't back losers so I don't think we will be backing a loser." He said the proven track record of the O2 Arena would help convince the Olympic Park Legacy Company that it was the right choice. "We went into a big white elephant and made it work for the government and work for us," said Campbell. "We hope we can do the same here. We can make it commercially viable."

Leiweke's enthusiasm is driven by his belief London is "the greatest city on the face of the earth" and he predicted the Olympics would give the city a 20-year golden period when "the economy will thrive based on every business in the world saying they want to be part of London".

West Ham still believe they are favourites to move into the stadium after the 2012 Olympics and their owner David Sullivan claimed last night that awarding the stadium to Tottenham could cause a violent reaction locally. "It would be such a slap in the face to east London," he told the Daily Mail. "If it happens, there will be real problems that could easily lead to civil unrest. I think there could be riots, such is the ill feeling between West Ham and Spurs and I know the police feel the same."

West Ham's plans, which retain the athletics track, and have a strong community element, have been welcomed by Coe and UK Athletics. The OPLC is scheduled to come up with a final shortlist by November before anointing a preferred bidder in December and reaching a "settled position" next March.


www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/oct/05/tottenham-hotspur-olympic-stadium

BBC

Tottenham allay fears over Olympic Stadium switch

As many as 30 bids could have been made for the Olympic Stadium, says AEG

Tottenham have denied the Olympic Stadium has become their preferred new home, insisting they remain committed to redeveloping White Hart Lane.

Spurs submitted interest in the Olympic Stadium last week in a joint bid with sport and entertainment company AEG.

That led to speculation Spurs' plans to build a new home had taken a back seat.

But last Thursday the club got planning permission from Haringey Council to construct a new stadium and Spurs insist those plans remain on track.

It was always thought that Tottenham's plans to build a new 56,250-seater stadium on and around the current White Hart Lane site was their preferred choice.

However, with the planning process for that still ongoing - it now requires approval from the Mayor of London and the Secretary of State - the club say they felt it prudent to explore other avenues, prompting them to meet last Thursday's deadline to officially register an interest in moving into the 80,000-seater Olympic Stadium following the 2012 Games.

If he (West Ham owner David Sullivan) is worried about Tottenham then he can only begin to have sleepless nights about the aggravation I'm going to give him if he moves on my doorstep

Leyton Orient chairman Barry Hearn
This was done in conjunction with AEG, the company that revived the former Millennium Dome, now the O2 Arena, with AEG Europe chief executive David Campbell insisting the bid was a serious one, adding: "We don't back losers so I don't think we will be backing a loser."

Those comments were met with raised eyebrows among Spurs supporters, while West Ham owner David Sullivan - a rival bidder to take over the Olympic Stadium - said such a move would be "a slap in the face to east London".

The club, though, have moved to quash speculation they aim to move away from Haringey in a statement reading: "We are aware that coverage of comments made by AEG yesterday have been interpreted by the media in various ways concerning the club's position in respect of the Northumberland Development Project and the Olympic Stadium site.

"We should like to make two things absolutely clear at this stage: firstly, we have registered an interest in the Olympic Stadium site in order to keep our options open going forward given the early stages we are in with the Northumberland Development Project scheme.

"This is a very preliminary stage and a pre-qualification questionnaire was completed jointly with AEG in order to meet the deadline for registration.

"Secondly, we continue to progress the application for the Northumberland Development Project with Haringey Council and will continue to do so with a view to achieving full consent.

606: DEBATE
We are a business, run by a shrewd management team. We ideally want to redevelop and stay at WHL

ValenciaY
"We have not changed our position and shall not do so without due consideration and consultation."

That will likely be met with relief among Spurs fans - as well as Sullivan, who had predicted such a move by Tottenham would prompt "real problems that could easily lead to civil unrest".

However, Sullivan himself has come under fire amid the growing row, with Leyton Orient chairman Barry Hearn accusing the Hammers owner of "hypocrisy".

The Hammers' plans to move to the Olympic Stadium is a stark threat to Orient, claims Hearn, who told the Evening Standard: "If [Sullivan] is worried about Tottenham then he can only begin to have sleepless nights about the aggravation I'm going to give him if he moves on my doorstep.

"This is total hypocrisy on his part. This is a case of Tescos moving next to the little sweet shop on the corner. It means a death knell for Leyton Orient, the Football League's second-oldest club.

"We all know Tottenham are all using this to put pressure on Haringey Council to make sure they get planning permission on their redevelopment of White Hart Lane. That's a smokescreen.

"I'm upset because no-one is talking about the damage West Ham will do us because it would be terminal. It would kill the club stone dead."

The legacy company that will decide who will occupy the Stadium hopes to identify a preferred tenant by December and have a long-term lease agreement signed by next March.

newsvote.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/t/tottenham_hotspur/9067109.stm

Can you imagine this as the kind of stadium QPR played at? HORRIBLE (at least for us): The antithesis of Loftus Road

And a thought for Orient...

Guardian
West Ham in Olympic Stadium will be 'death knell' for Leyton Orient\• O's chairman criticises Sullivan over proposed move
• 'This is Tesco moving next to the little sweet shop'

The Leyton Orient chairman, Barry Hearn, fears West Ham United's proposed move to the Olympic Stadium will spell the end for the League One club.

The West Ham co-owner, David Sullivan, this week voiced his anger over Tottenham Hotspur's rival bid to move to the venue after the London Olympic Games in 2012.

But Hearn has criticised Sullivan, saying: "If he is worried about Tottenham then he can only begin to have sleepless nights about the aggravation I'm going to give him if he moves on my doorstep.

"This is total hypocrisy on his part. This is a case of Tesco moving next to the little sweet shop on the corner as far as I'm concerned.

"A club that has a 30,000-35,000 support base is moving into an 80,000-seater stadium. It obviously means very cheap tickets and it means a death knell for Leyton Orient, the Football League's second oldest club," he told the Evening Standard.

The O's play at the 13,842-seater Brisbane Road stadium in E10, and have an average attendance this season of 3,899.

www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/oct/07/west-ham-olympic-stadium-leyton-orient