Three Years On: West Ham’s move to the London Stadium

It has been over three years now since West Ham made the controversial move to the London Stadium. Since then, there have been many changes to the stadium to try to make it appear more ‘homely’ but it is arguable as to whether these have been successful or not.

The main point of concern was whether London Stadium would be able to replicate Upton Park. Upton Park was one of those grounds which created a brilliant atmosphere, with the fans yards from the pitch and a full house on almost every matchday. Therefore, when West Ham decided to move to the London Stadium, both the atmosphere and closeness to the pitch had to be brought with too. When fans were choosing their seats around a year before moving in, the photos implied that fans would be as close to the pitch as they were at Upton Park; however, on moving in it became very clear that this wasn’t the case. 

With a ground now almost twice the size, West Ham now have a ‘big-team mentality’ and therefore the ambition and potential to sign big-name players.

The view from the back of the top of the stands (especially from the back of the stands behind the goal) is very distant (something which is still the case three years on) and it became very clear very quickly that it wasn’t a football stadium. Although, as previously stated, this is still the case, it can be. There is the potential to create one of the best football stadiums in Europe; however, investment needs to occur in the right areas. One simple improvement would be moving the stands closer to the pitch, especially the stands behind the goals where the gap between pitch and stand is larger than at any other premier league ground by a considerable margin. Improvements have been made already though, such as through the introduction of claret carpet around the outside of the pitch (introduced in April 2019). Although this sounds inconsequential, it does actually make a surprisingly large difference. The green carpet which surrounded the pitch previously looked the same as the pitch, therefore sometimes making it unclear where the pitch ended. The claret carpet, therefore, makes it much easier to distinguish where the pitch ends and, quite simply, it looks a lot sleeker than it did previously. 

One of the clearest areas of concern was the atmosphere. Now, I may be biased in saying this but I believe that Upton Park had the best atmosphere in the Premier League on its day. However, it became very clear that the Olympic Stadium did not have anywhere near the same atmosphere (despite the fact that 20,000 new fans had arrived). In the way that Upton Park enclosed the pitch and reverberated atmosphere, the Olympic Stadium did the opposite. This was arguably not helped by the stewards who, in the first season tried to stop all fans from standing (this is the main way in which atmosphere can be created). However, this is an issue which has been tempered somewhat; whole areas now stand with no trouble at all. Although the atmosphere will probably never replicate Upton Park, steps are at least being made in the right direction. 

West Ham can make a success of the London Stadium if they continue in the direction that they are currently heading.

The potential is very much there. With a ground now almost twice the size, West Ham now have a ‘big-team mentality’ and therefore the ambition and potential to sign big-name players. This has already been done to some extent with the signings of Marko Arnautovic, Javier Hernandez and Felipe Anderson and, although none of these players have had massive impacts, the ambition is at least there. 

West Ham can make a success of the London Stadium if they continue in the direction that they are currently heading. The ground is becoming increasingly better, with the atmosphere, although nowhere near the standard of Upton Park, still a marked improvement on the first season. Although the vast majority of West Ham fans would probably go back to Upton Park in a heartbeat if offered the chance to, that obviously is not going to happen. West Ham have to make the most of the situation and adapt to their new environment. Progress has been made in part but until that fully happens, I don’t believe they will be able to properly succeed.