What Was The Stadium Like?

[Noodles34]

I couldn't make it today, shame considering the result.

im interested to know what people thought of the stadium and the atmosphere etc. What about getting there?

Obviously not a WHU fan but surely give me Upton Park any day? But th n I'd go back o the Dell if we could, , night games under the East Stand eh!

[Saint_clark]

Stadium itself was lovely, just not right for football. Would've been a fantastic option for a potential London NFL team but hey ho, Hammers are stuck with it now.

[Sour Mash]

Thought it was a joke, took ages from the station to the ground. Poor views. Ridiculous distance between the upper and lower tiers. Not a football ground.

[Saint_clark]

Guessing you went via Stratford, but from Pudding Mill Lane on the DLR the away end was a 10 minute walk if that.

[John Boy Saint]

Just as empty before the final whistle

[OldNick]

was that an hour before the game or with 10 minutes to go lol

[John Boy Saint]

was that an hour before the game or with 10 minutes to go lol

Both hats fit

[for_heaven's_Saint]

As said above, it was a lovely stadium, but terrible for football. We can complain all we like about them hardly paying anything for their ground, but I'd take pretty much any stadium over that one.

[stevegrant]

Thought the view from the lower tier was excellent, no different to what you get at the Emirates, etc, really. Seen a few photos from the upper tier that look horrendous

[Patrick Bateman]

Thought the view from the lower tier was excellent, no different to what you get at the Emirates, etc, really. Seen a few photos from the upper tier that look horrendous

 

Didn't expect anything less - it's the Olympic stadium. An excellent stadium and was awesome for the athletics, but not a football ground.

[Lets B Avenue]

In the Upper Tier.

 

Did we win?

[bpsaint]

 

That was my view from the upper tier. Notice how huge the gap between the lower and upper tiers is.

[nta786]

martin tyler spent all day wan*ing over it, so must be a good stadium.

he also took his time to mention 'the excellent transport system around the ground', as some WHU fans were leaving :lol:

[Whitey Grandad]

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That was my view from the upper tier. Notice how huge the gap between the lower and upper tiers is.

 

I can't see the pitch in that photo. Could you see anything?

[Plastic]

It's ridiculously big. Especially for the championship.

[for_heaven's_Saint]

This (upside down) photo shows the gap between the two tiers. Ridiculous!

Edited 25 September, 2016 by for_heaven's_Saint

[stevegrant]

martin tyler spent all day wan*ing over it, so must be a good stadium.

he also took his time to mention 'the excellent transport system around the ground', as some WHU fans were leaving :lol:

Presumably at the end of the season when they go down, Davids Gold and Sullivan will use their programme notes to mention that "we have transport links that are the envy of the Premier League "

[Matthew Le God]

[Mr Saints]

martin tyler spent all day wan*ing over it, so must be a good stadium.

he also took his time to mention 'the excellent transport system around the ground', as some WHU fans were leaving :lol:

 

Was just going to post the same thing! He reached Motson-like senile levels with some of the **** he was wittering on about.

[Ohio Saint]

I had a better view of the game in my garden, on an iPad, with a beer. The hammers have one hell of a white elephant on their hands!

[david in sweden]

As said above, it was a lovely stadium, but terrible for football.

We can complain all we like about them hardly paying anything for their ground, but I'd take pretty much any stadium over that one.

 

The " new stadium phenomena " happens only once in a lifetime .. but can have an effect of team performances because of "new surroundings ".

The majority of my supporting years were at The Dell where the facilities /comfort factor ranged between prehistoric and nil. However, the close proximity to the playing area was a hugely beneficial factor when the fans started to sing and back the team. Many football biographies include comments about the "fear" of coming to The Dell.

 

The move to St.Mary's gave a real facelift, but it has taken time for the atmosphere to come anywhere near that which Dell fans were capable of producing.

 

NOTE: I had contact with a Liverpool fan some years ago, who was writing about L'Pools .." great years " in the 70's-80's, and he noted that the visits to The Dell ranked with some of their worst away results....even in those years when they won the title so regularly. There are some lovely old clips on You Tube of that period.

[david in sweden]

 

can also recall that on some weekday evenings, the "old Wembley stadium" used to be used for greyhound racing. Sort of took the shine off international football games.

 

NOTE: next time you go to a WHam away game - take binoculars.

[spyinthesky]

Reminds me of going to see France v Uruguay at the old White City Athletics stadium during the early rounds of the 1966 World Cup.

 

Not designed for football.

 

QPR had a season or two there back in the dim and distant past and soon went back to Loftus Road.

 

Interesting to read the comments of West Ham fans about the number of empty seats in a supposed 'Full House' and the suggestion that quite a few fans had purchased £99 kids tickets which meant that they only had to go to 3 or 4 games to make this worthwhile versus buying tickets on a game by game basis.

[ladysaint]

Sat in row 7 lower and a great view, but as others have said it is definitely not a football stadium. Loads of us had trouble with our tickets i.e. block 120 even though I received an email from the club asking me to return my tickets which I did then told they were ok so sent back in the post to me but on entering the stadium yesterday we couldn't get in with these tickets. This resulted in being sent to the TO at West Ham to get them reprinted and therefore missing the kick off. Stewards not helpful but they are not football stewards but Olympic Stadium stewards had no idea whatsoever.

[Saint-scooby]

I guess they got a good deal for it

[Wurzel]

 

What's the blue oblongs in the flat area between the tiers? Swimming Pools?

[LGTL]

Great view from row 12 of the lower tier. But anyone in the upper was in a different postcode. It was pot luck as you couldn't specify which tier you wanted when purchasing the tickets.

[angelman]

With my poor eyes, I find it hard enough to see the other side of the pitch from the back of Kingsland!! God knows what I would be able to see should I be at the back of the stand behind the goal?? I seriously doubt I would be able to see that much action at the goal at the other end of the pitch. It might be a nice shiny stadium that has been got for nothing (and helped out the government by it not being a white elephant) and it might get big crowds, but now that it is up and running, I wonder how many will swap Brisbane Road for the London Stadium?

[simo]

West ham fans losing their **** on twitter because they're selling popcorn haha !

[Mattio]

I was on the upper tier and the view was terrible, you could just about make out the other end of the pitch. The only plus is there was a bit of atomsphere generated by the roof, don't know what it was like on the lower but sounded quiet from upstairs (probably because we were in the next postcode).

[Patrick Bateman]

West ham fans losing their **** on twitter because they're selling popcorn haha !

 

Can you blame them? From what I read (I wasn't there), it sounded like some horrendous experience with people wandering around most of the match looking for hot dogs and popcorn. I think they've royally f**ked up that move and totally misjudged what most football fans are. In that statement I include 'lads' who go, old men who go AND families that go.

 

Who wants to go along and eat bloody popcorn and have people wandering around all match going back and forth buying the stuff. Just get behind the team, TRY to build an atmosphere and support. Again by the sounds of it, our fans managed to create an atmosphere yesterday? I think they'll struggle with the new fans walking around buying popcorn.

 

So whilst it seems an odd point to raise, I do get it.

[SonicBoom]

What the hell is that big empty "shelf" thing running around the ground? Is it just empty space ?

[Matthew Le God]

What's the blue oblongs in the flat area between the tiers? Swimming Pools?

 

The lower tier is movable and it slides forwards and backwards to allow it to be used for athletics. The flat areas between the upper and lower areas allow that to happen. It is a terrible stadium for football.

[The Cat]

The lower tier is movable and it slides forwards and backwards to allow it to be used for athletics. The flat areas between the upper and lower areas allow that to happen. It is a terrible stadium for football.

 

We looked down under the shelf part and the seats used in the original lower tier were visible.

 

As for the stadium itself, well it's mightily impressive but as a football ground it isn't great. It would do my head in having to go there every other week if I was a West Ham fan.

[scotty]

It is a terrible stadium for football.

 

So, to summarise, it's perfect for west ham.

[Noodles34]

I guess they will only have to use the lower tier next season, fingers crossed!

[John Boy Saint]

We looked down under the shelf part and the seats used in the original lower tier were visible.

 

As for the stadium itself, well it's mightily impressive but as a football ground it isn't great. It would do my head in having to go there every other week if I was a West Ham fan.

As we were walking up from Stratford, Dad and his teenage daughter were marching along, and he was chuntering on about it being a blooming stupid walk, she replied it's not that bad, to which he responded, "well you won't be saying that when its ****ing down with rain and we've bloody lost again". Even West Ham fans in earshot couldn't help but laugh at his grim outlook.

[nta786]

Was just going to post the same thing! He reached Motson-like senile levels with some of the **** he was wittering on about.

 

Haha martin even did the same at whu final game at upton park

Won't forget the cra* he came out with like 'the football gods shine down towards the boleyn'

[shurlock]

We were very quiet till the 2nd goal. It wasn't just the Wham fans. Watching football on a soporific Sunday afternoon in THAT stadium is the footballing gods idea of purgatory.

[John D]

 

View from back row of the upper tier. Awful place to watch football in.

 

Met a few west ham fans at Euston on way home one of whom got rather irate when we suggested the ground didn't cost them anything. Prompted a 15 min rant on how the move has cost him his football club, its soul, identity and how it is full of tourists who haven't got a clue. He was not a happy man

[View From The Top]

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View from back row of the upper tier. Awful place to watch football in.

 

Met a few west ham fans at Euston on way home one of whom got rather irate when we suggested the ground didn't cost them anything. Prompted a 15 min rant on how the move has cost him his football club, its soul, identity and how it is full of tourists who haven't got a clue. He was not a happy man

 

I would suggest that that man made some excellent points.

[FriendlySaint]

Binoculars are required more there than almost all international cricket grounds

[Lord Duckhunter]

Strange from the station . It looks like you're nearly there but it's still ages away . I was in upper tier, but front row so views weren't too bad . Not half as bad getting out as I thought it would be .

[Graffito]

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View from back row of the upper tier. Awful place to watch football in.

 

Met a few west ham fans at Euston on way home one of whom got rather irate when we suggested the ground didn't cost them anything. Prompted a 15 min rant on how the move has cost him his football club, its soul, identity and how it is full of tourists who haven't got a clue. He was not a happy man

 

As well you didn't mention the popcorn then. I met West Ham friends before the match. Exact same points made. Also the London branding isn't going down well. They don't care about the extra revenue.

 

Being in the upper tier reminded me of the top tier at Wembley, which in one way is worse because Wembley is supposedly a purpose built football stadium.

 

Sadly, it's all about the money.

[once_bitterne]

 

[Shroppie]

Strange from the station . It looks like you're nearly there but it's still ages away . I was in upper tier, but front row so views weren't too bad . Not half as bad getting out as I thought it would be .

The designated route from Stratford station is ridiculously long. There are much shorter approaches from Stratford High Street or Fish Island, which I would definitely use if I went again.

 

But I won't. Wild horses wouldnt drag me back there, well, not for a football match.

 

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[macca155]

The stadium itself is fabulous and those TV screens are massive. However as others have said it wasn't built for football and it is a terrible venue for a Premier League team. It is a massive stadium but it isn't high and completely different to Twickenham or Wembley and the fans are a long long way from the pitch. Outside there were loads of decent catering outlets and easy access beer tents. They had drink only queues which I wish Saints would do. The DLR offered an easy route back to Waterloo so for everything other than the footie it was a good experience.

 

West ham have made a huge mistake here and are going to have a serious problem. We were halfway up the upper tier and the view was worse than Newcastle. There wasn't a chance of making out anything from the other end. For a different sport it would be perfect. Their PA is worse than ours which I didn't think was possible.

 

I just can't see how West ham supporters are going to create any sort of atmosphere. A previous poster was right even the Saints fans who were winning away in style were struggling. A few big OWTS but the chants died pretty quickly and in the end we had to leave it to the lower tier to dance around a little. Upton Park was a gruesome experience and a horrible place to go. Never an easy game and to have let that go is criminal in my opinion. I'm a child of the 60s and have fond memories of the hammers, they have always struck me as a decent club, fragile and unstable they may be but I've always loved games against them. Yesterday was sterile it was like playing a poor man's Arsenal. I wouldn't wish their current predicament on any football supporter not even Pompey.

 

They'll be 'focus group' reporting right now followed by an army of experts who will start messing with the 'experience' to artificially create an atmosphere. Watch out for flags cheerleaders, piped music, crowd 'generators', and probably a lot more pop corn.

 

It is an extremely rare event for one set of supporters to feel any sympathy for another set of fans but it might just be justified on this occasion.

 

Macca

[John Boy Saint]

Mrs JBS not too happy there was no popcorn available for away fans!!!!

[tajjuk]

I do like the moaning about the popcorn and the fighting with other people coming to watch as if you have to be a certain 'type' of fan. Confirmation IMO that a lot of football fans are complete morons.

 

Feel better though about the whole shady deal that got them it though, seems like it's back firing and have zero sympathy for them.

[nta786]

The designated route from Stratford station is ridiculously long. There are much shorter approaches from Stratford High Street or Fish Island, which I would definitely use if I went again.

 

But I won't. Wild horses wouldnt drag me back there, well, not for a football match.

 

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dw, we won't have to go there when they are in the championship next season lol