WhenProgrammesWereAShilling
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 30 Dec 2013
- Messages
- 211
Ive been down in the smoke for a week so i thought i would take a game in at the new home of West Ham and managed to get myself a ticket in the away section, i hope my opinions of the ground are of interest;
We stopped off for a beer beforehand on Stratford High Street at 'The Butchers' which is a traditional no frills local which had a good mix of ages and in the main many seemed long standing Hammers. Next to this pub was a 'Pie and Mash' stand which sold the speciality for a fiver a portion... not my cup of tea but there you go. Its roughly a fifteen minute walk to the ground from the pub via a couple of side streets and a bridge under the railway and road, you could park in the Westfield Shopping Centre car parks (signposted from the A12) and try the more upmarket bars and eating houses within but they are pricey and its a good walk.
The approaches to the stadium are wide and programmes are on sale outside for £3.50, alongside the usual mechandise outlets and food vendors. Fish and Chips from one of these was £8.50....
The stadiums modern design was made to look a bit tacky in my opinion due to the fabric wrap they have put on the exterior to hide the fact you are otherwise looking at the underneath of the concrete upper tier terracing. Suppose a classy glass finish was beyond the builders as they only spent £300m converting the Olympic Stadium into this. Inside the usual modern food and drink outlets and modern loos. The only draught beer was Amstel at £5 a pint, and theirs not many cubicles if you need a number two so make sure you go beforehand!
We sat in block 117 which was in the lower tier near the corner flag and it seems their nobheads are in 116. Theirs a gap between these blocks as the seating here is temporary and is retractable. If you want to avoid the bullshit go in block 118 which is the middle block in the lower tier. The rake is pretty shallow and your quite a way from the pitch, best views i would say would be towards the back of the lower tier or the front of the upper tier, although the front tier is covered and a decent view is to be had where ever you are, unless right at the back of the upper tier! This temporary seating reminded me of the school theatre but the huge TV screens are a winner and needed when the action is at the opposite end.
To get back to the concourse from your seat you have to walk over a platform which is actually above the permanent seating which is in place below for when the athletics is on. At the end the steward said all fans are let out together, no one is held back so that could make for fun and games from time to time.
To sum up, its not on a par with us or Arsenal by any stretch and i would say its better as an athletics stadium than a football one. I cannot blame West Ham for wanting the move, but sometimes what you wish for...
The atmosphere is decent but they dont sing that often, well not at the moment they dont. It made me realise again how lucky we are and how well our stadium was converted from athletics to football. Good luck to them but when the novelty of the new stadium wears off they may well struggle, and i think the fact the stands are well away from the pitch favours the away team every time.
We stopped off for a beer beforehand on Stratford High Street at 'The Butchers' which is a traditional no frills local which had a good mix of ages and in the main many seemed long standing Hammers. Next to this pub was a 'Pie and Mash' stand which sold the speciality for a fiver a portion... not my cup of tea but there you go. Its roughly a fifteen minute walk to the ground from the pub via a couple of side streets and a bridge under the railway and road, you could park in the Westfield Shopping Centre car parks (signposted from the A12) and try the more upmarket bars and eating houses within but they are pricey and its a good walk.
The approaches to the stadium are wide and programmes are on sale outside for £3.50, alongside the usual mechandise outlets and food vendors. Fish and Chips from one of these was £8.50....
The stadiums modern design was made to look a bit tacky in my opinion due to the fabric wrap they have put on the exterior to hide the fact you are otherwise looking at the underneath of the concrete upper tier terracing. Suppose a classy glass finish was beyond the builders as they only spent £300m converting the Olympic Stadium into this. Inside the usual modern food and drink outlets and modern loos. The only draught beer was Amstel at £5 a pint, and theirs not many cubicles if you need a number two so make sure you go beforehand!
We sat in block 117 which was in the lower tier near the corner flag and it seems their nobheads are in 116. Theirs a gap between these blocks as the seating here is temporary and is retractable. If you want to avoid the bullshit go in block 118 which is the middle block in the lower tier. The rake is pretty shallow and your quite a way from the pitch, best views i would say would be towards the back of the lower tier or the front of the upper tier, although the front tier is covered and a decent view is to be had where ever you are, unless right at the back of the upper tier! This temporary seating reminded me of the school theatre but the huge TV screens are a winner and needed when the action is at the opposite end.
To get back to the concourse from your seat you have to walk over a platform which is actually above the permanent seating which is in place below for when the athletics is on. At the end the steward said all fans are let out together, no one is held back so that could make for fun and games from time to time.
To sum up, its not on a par with us or Arsenal by any stretch and i would say its better as an athletics stadium than a football one. I cannot blame West Ham for wanting the move, but sometimes what you wish for...
The atmosphere is decent but they dont sing that often, well not at the moment they dont. It made me realise again how lucky we are and how well our stadium was converted from athletics to football. Good luck to them but when the novelty of the new stadium wears off they may well struggle, and i think the fact the stands are well away from the pitch favours the away team every time.
