marco said:
dont know about the finacial stucture of the deal 'if any' but i'd imagine the land value of upton park would be quite high, maine road was valued at 93 million i'm pretty sure thats correct if anyone cold quote me on that, do west ham have to turn upton park over to the council or can they sell the land off to make a tidy profit
I really have no idea wher you got this information from about Maine Road. However, it's simply wrong.
Maine Road was valued at GBP 27 million in the deal for us to go to Eastlands, which was the value ascribed to it in City's accounts. The partner of a Manchester accounting firm who reviewed the accounts every year for the King of the Kippax fanzine called it, "the most dubious accounting valuation I've ever seen", and the site value was more like GBP 4 million. (This is why hostile questions were asked in Parliament about City's move to the Commonwealth Stadium).
It's been reported that West Ham have agreed a provisional sale of the Boleyn Ground to Asda for around GBP 35 million. I remember reading somewhere that, three or four years back, it was valued at GBP 70 million-ish for residential development but that market is moribund now and you'd struggle to find a taker to build houses on it. West Ham can't, unfortunately, wait for the market to pick up (and the price therefore to rise) because they need the cash now to finance the conversion of the Olympic Stadium.
West Ham have proposed to finance their revamp of the Olympic facility with the money they get from the Boleyn plus GBP 35 million of lottery cash earmaked for the post-Olympic conversion (whoever gets the site) and a loan of up to GBP 40 million from the London Borough of Newham. Sullivan and Gold are rumoured to have given personal guarantees to satisfy the OPLC that West Ham won't default on any loan repayments to Newham, for example if the club is relegated.
Of course, even assuming the BBC's report is true, the decision to go with the West Ham bid still has to be ratified by the OPLC as whole, so it isn't in the bag yet for West Ham. But the wider OPLC would seem likely to accept this recommendation from its executives and then the decision will have to be ratified by, I think, Boris Johnson (Mayor of London) and Jeremy Hunt (Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport).
Theyre politicians, of course. And realistically, they'd therefore be unlikely to overturn any OPLC decision backing West Ham in favour of an option that's highly unpopular with the public according to polls (as the Spurs bid is). That isn't how politicians usually operate, after all.
Anyway, from City's narrow self-interest, I'd be pleased if it pans out in this way. Spurs in a state-of-the-art stadium on a site with those transport links and in bed with a partner like AEG could become a huge threat to us if - as we all hope - we have great things ahead under the current ownership. They would have the potential to be one of Europe's biggest clubs. I see the guy above saying that we'll prosper anyway and that the more strength in the PL, the better. Unfortunately, we're not yet at the point where we've cracked it in terms of being entrenched as regular toprhy contenders so I'm afraid I can't embrace such magnanimity right now.
West Ham, however, are less likely to be an immediate threat to us even in the new stadium. Historically the support base is a little smaller than Spurs's, they start from a lower base in terms of their current playing strength, and you have to question whether the new venue they plan would be as exciting for a football club as the stadium Spurs would have built.
I like the Hammers, and of all the London clubs, their ethos is closest to City's traditional ethos. There's lots about them to admire. But I have fears for them playing in an athletics stadium. It isn't a coincidence that, all across Europe, teams are desperate to get out of venues with a track, and the atmosphere and spirit of the club (always a great strength of theirs) could be severely compromised. Despite these misgivings, I hope they manage to find a way to make it work, though.
As for Leyton Orient - I reckon Hearn is positioning them for a move away into Essex. It's already been rumoured over the last year or two, and he's transferred ownership of Brisbane Road to himself in return for writing off loans he's made to the club over the years. Go to a new council-funded community stadium in somewhere like Romford/Havering, which currently lacks a significant football club even at non-league level, and he can then sell Brisbane Road for his personal gain as soon as the housing market picks up. But he gets to blame it on the OPLC for allowing West Ham into their catchment area.
Incidentally, one guy asked why Hearn says he'd prefer Spurs to get it rather than West Ham. The reason is that he reckons Spurs could fill it already from their existing fan base, whereas West Ham will be dishing out cheap tickets among schoolkids in areas where Orient are doing community work and attempting to pick up fans. They'll therefore lose support to West Ham, but wouldn't to Spurs.
