West Ham fans and the London stadium, it hasn’t always been the best combination. We have had some very big highs but also some lows, but here’s my take on our home as we enter our tenth season. Since we have joined, the atmosphere has always been a huge talking point. I have been to 99% of the games at the London stadium and around 20% of them had a good atmosphere, if that. But fan groups like Ironworks Alliance are really trying to increase the atmosphere and I believe a few changes can make a huge difference. Having the seats closer to the pitch, making a very well known singing/atmosphere area – these should be stated when buying season or match day tickets – and lastly having the claret wall taken down between home and away supporters. We can all admit the atmosphere is bad but when we have been in Europe, every single home game had an unreal atmosphere and I believe that is because we had something so big in front of us. We can’t compare the atmosphere against Leicester at home to Sevilla at home. But if these changes are made, I can see every game always having a good atmosphere and the bigger games having a huge atmosphere. But we need these to happen soon before even more supporters give up on the home games.
The Match Day Experience: Fan Park vs. Concourse
The match day experience is definitely different between both stadiums, and I believe that has come down to prices. At the stadium now there are so many options in what you want to do, you can shop, grab all different foods, bars of all different types and do much more. My normal routine consists of getting to the ground a couple of hours before and having a few drinks right outside the stadium. Now the prices aren’t brilliant but I do believe the atmosphere can be good there especially if the weather is nice and the game has a chance to be a cracker. A lot more people stand and have a drink there than in the concourse in my opinion and I believe it will stay this way especially if the Heineken bar stays there and has the DJ. This creates more of a fan park vibe which I think a lot of fans like compared to having a more civilised drink in Stratford Westfield. If there is a good 12:30 game on TV, I sometimes go up in a group to The Abbey Taps, they have respectable prices, it’s a West Ham pub only and has a great atmosphere with many TV’s. This pub is also close to the stadium as it is based down Stratford High Street.
European Glory Justifies the Move
When it comes to the European nights I still believe we would not have had all the glory if we stayed at Upton Park, so with that in mind I’m very happy we made the move. We made the London Stadium a fortress in Europe and the game against Sevilla will always be my favourite. The reaction of the crowd when Soucek headed the ball into the back of the net will be remembered forever. A stadium this size needs these games and they really show just how much West Ham means to the fans when they are being played.
How Stadium Size Attracts Star Players
When it comes to the London Stadium, the two players I think of are Tomas Soucek and Jarrod Bowen, without these two we may not have had the extra glory that we have in the years we have been there. Neither of the players joined us directly for glory but both said when joining actually how massive West Ham are and I believe that is because they were coming into a stadium that hosted 60,000 season ticket holders. But one player I believe wouldn’t have joined us at Upton Park, even if we were in the same league position, is Lucas Paqueta. He wanted to come to the big stadium, he played in it for Lyon, he knew how big West Ham are, I couldn’t see him coming to a 30,000 seater stadium to a team that didn’t really get spoken about too much, and that is another reason I am happy about the move.
Memorable Crackers and a Fortress Awaits
We know Sevilla at home is my favourite at the London Stadium from Soucek giving us hope then Yarmelenko scoring in the last minute, but we have had a few more crackers. Beating Liverpool 3-2, beating Chelsea 2-1 when Masuaku cross shot hit the back of the net and the dominance against Spurs at home now, hopefully we will have many more big occasions there. The stadium has a chance to become a fortress, we just need a few changes which hopefully with Ironworks Alliance, we can get them. We just need the passion that was at Upton Park to come to the London Stadium and I think the few changes stated, especially the seats being closer, will give us this passion back and the stadium will have a lot more positivity around it.
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