West Ham ready to get fans ‘back onside’ with £350m London Stadium plan
West Ham United are planning to splash up to £350million on redevelopment work at their London Stadium home.
That is according to former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that the Hammers’ ownership will be prepared to splash the cash in order to “get the fans back onside.”
He suggested that the club hierarchy have plans behind the scenes to sanction work to bring the stands closer to the pitch and improve the atmosphere inside the ground.
The London Stadium has long since been a source of frustration for the fanbase, with the supporters yet to truly take to their new home after the move back in 2016.
West Ham’s financial situation has been dealt a significant blow by their relegation from the Premier League, but they are still planning a way to address some of the fans’ concerns.
Keith Wyness backs West Ham to take ‘big step’ with London Stadium
Everton’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes that a move to adapt the London Stadium would go a long way to re-establishing harmony at West Ham.
However, he also acknowledged that it would be a “big step” for the club to put those plans into action, especially now that they are operating in the Championship once again.
Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness made it clear that the fans would “welcome” any sort of move to boost the atmosphere inside the ground.
“I believe there are plans that could cost as much as £300-350m to actually create the stadium and bring those walls in a bit closer to the pitch and create something more of an atmosphere,” he said.
“The fans would welcome that. I know it's a big step, but there's got to be ways to be looked at. I think that would be helpful to bring the fans back onside.”
Hammers ownership have made ‘too big’ a cut to season ticket prices
Wyness also told Football Insider that West Ham’s 30 per cent season ticket cuts are “too big” after their relegation from the Premier League.
He made it clear that he does not feel that the Irons’ faithful are a “price-sensitive” fanbase, and added that their issues are more with the ground than the cost of going to a game.
The cheapest adult season ticket at the London Stadium will be just £310 for next season, with all areas of the ground receiving at least a 10 per cent drop on last year’s prices.
Wyness feels that would have been a more sensible reduction from the owners, as he noted that had he been in charge, he wouldn’t have stretched higher than 15 per cent as a “maximum” reduction.