West Ham Supporter Advisory Board Update

I attended last Monday's West Ham Supporter Advisory Board along with over 100 other members on the 124 strong advisory board.

The full power-point presentation from the evening can be found on the link below 

http://www.whufc.com/staticFiles/8b/b9/0,,12562~178571,00.pdf

Special Guest

Surprise guest of the night was Sam Allardyce who spent around one hour doing a private Q&A with SAB members. My question to Big Sam started with a statement. I said ' I am sure you are aware you weren't everyone's cup of tea when you were appointed but hopefully I speak for the majority of West Ham fans when I say you did a bloody good job last season and your start to this season is none too shabby either' The statement was received with a round applause for Sam's achievements. My following question was 'It is rumoured you entered into a two year contract, if this is true have you started re-negotiating with the board to extend your time as West ham manager'

Sam smiled and said 'It is a 2 year contract which expires at the end of this season but negotiations had not started yet' he then hinted that West ham needed to be sure they had secured premiership survival before a proper deal could be done.

SAB Myths

I know many think the SAB is full of hand picked supporters who agree with the club, or that it is some kind of secret society with funny hand shakes. Others think it is a marketing gimmick that gives lip service to fans views only and is a waste of time.

The club are very clear, it is not and was never intended to be a Supporters Trust. The club is not a democracy and not trying to be like AFC Wimbledon.

However the two Davids understand it is a very stupid business that doesn't listen to it's customers and the advisory board is there to do just that, feed back views of customers who will vote with their custom on match days, season tickets and purchases in the club shop.  

If you attended any of the SAB meetings you would instantly know the hand picked accusation is a complete myth as well. There are plenty of SAB members who don't see eye to eye with the club on a numbers of issues. The idea of the SAB as puppets with the two Davids pulling the strings is frankly laughable. Membership of the SAB includes two committee members of WHUSVIEW who are opposed to the move to the Olympic Stadium.

The Olympic Stadium was not discussed on Monday as the discussions are still at a delicate stage and the club are under strict confidentiality restrictions. However we were promised an emergency SAB meeting when the decision is made (which ever way it goes!)

As for the SAB having no teeth and just a marketing ploy to pay lip service to the fans here are twenty of the things SAB involvement helped changed last season.

1) The 20% discount  for STH promised by previous owners was bought to the attention of the West Ham board by the SAB. The SAB asked us the board to honour the promise.

2) The SAB were consulted on membership and benefits and the (0-6) year membership was launched earlier this season as a result

3) Request for a token gift for ST holders like members. West Ham Pin badges being sent out this season.

4) Viagogo deal came as a result of the SAB to allow STH to sell back tickets.

5) 2 for £20 T Shirt range extended after SAB feedback

6) By the Fans for the Fans extended from SAB feeback

7) Season Ticket holders ability to upgrade to Corporate without re-purchase 

8) Junior ST holders mascots and Christmas party. There will be another one this year.

9) SMS for poor behaviour to be on big screen and in programme

10) More Bubble machines

11) Season Ticket holders Bar (trialed  but unsuccessful) Looking at it again.

12) New Mascot Hammerhead (SAB ‘less scary’ comments effected final look)

13) Brand – ‘Forever United’ was too generic and didn't focus on heritage so it was dropped due to SAB feedback

14) Moore than a Football Club was chosen as new brand from SAB feedback

15) More focus on the crossed Hammers/Irons from SAB feedback

16) Armed Forces offer – this scheme is now up and running

17) More links with Bobby Moore Fund and family

18) Looking into West Ham Loyalty scheme 

19) Move from pints to bottles in bars to speed up serving times

20) Ability for STH to bring along friends at discounted rates and site next to them

New SAB Format in the coming year

Going forwards the SAB will concentrate on four areas with sub groups outside any OS decision which will would involve the whole SAB membership. 


Media Group (New website, fan blog writer, twitter, facebook and research)

Community/Charity (benchmarking, what more could be done, Bobby Moore Fund)

Season Ticket/Membership benefits (research other products, what would we like to add e.g. extra priority day, pack content)

Match day Experience


Names of The 2012/13 Supporter Advisory Board

Keith Alder-Barber
Stuart Allen
Graeme Archer
Satvir Atkar
Steven Barlow
Tony Barritt
Catherine Bayford
Rachel Beagles
Daniel Bloom
Jack Boteler
Tim Boughen
Peter Bruce
Steve Burton
Peter Caton
Will Cheeld
Neil Clack
Daniel Clement
Marcus Clement
David Clements
Andy Connacher
Tina Cowen
Lesley Craig
Colin Crowe
Michael Crowhurst
Stuart Dean
Jill Dower
Tom Dowsett
Neil Duggan
Kevin Dunckley
Gavin Dunstan
Dee England
Saul Ettridge
Michael Evans
Tricia Evans
John Farren
Rob Ford
Paul Fox
Richard Francis
Michelle Gabriel
Jonathan Gaffney
Paul Gibson
Sherrie Goldsmith
David Hall
David Halston
Tony Harries
Graham Hatt
Benjamin Hawkes
Ian Henderson
Jack Hess
Graham Howlett
Craig Hughes
Peter Hunt
Anthony Hyams
Deniz Jaffer
Steve Joyce
Nigel Kahn
Diane Keleghar
John Kemp
Warren Kober
Adrian Leahy
Victor Lindsell
John Llewellyn
Phil Llewellyn
Kevin Markham
Ryan Marsh
Steve Marsh
Neil Martin
Dan Mason
Suzanne Mason
Gerry McCarthy
Norman McGuire
Steve Medhurst
Antoni Miziolek
Darren Morgan
Colin Morris
John Norman
Michael Nuciford
Leigh O'Connor
Cecilia O'Herlihy
Wallace Onnie
John Parry
Jonathan Penfold
Eamon Quinn
Kevin Radley
Paul Reynolds
Paul Richardson
Pete Richardson
Jason Rose
James Rutherford
Steve Ryder
Nigel Salvage
Nick Scott
Barry Shelton
Stuart Slaney
Mark Steele
Terry Stokes
Ben Surdeau
John Sussex
Dave Tate
Mark Taylor
Kishan Teli
Simon Thomson
Eleanor Tilley
Mark Tilley
Stephen Todd
Stephen Trowers
Kathryn Upton
John Walker
Ian Wearne
Sean Whetstone
Anne-Marie White
Peter Whitelock
Nick Wood
Richard Wood
Ali Worth
Ian Wicks
Trevor Wisdom
Daniel Yallop
John Yewman
Jason Zammit

The story so far with the West Ham Olympic Stadium Bid

With yesterday's announcement of yet another delay with the Olympic Stadium Decision I thought I would summarise some information & sources I have gathered on the Olympic Stadium bid which is publicly available about the process but may have been lost in the length of time this thing has been running.

All sources have been provided as links with this article.

West Ham Statement today via Associated Press


 “It is now 20 months since West Ham United were initially named as the preferred bidder to occupy the Olympic Stadium post-Games. We are obviously disappointed, that three bids later, a decision has yet to be reached."

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/west-ham-remain-committed-to-moving-1373084

SAB 

Although I sit on the Supporters Advisory Board and the Olympic Stadium Committee in particular I have no privileged information about West Ham's bid.

The Olympic Committee within the SAB have only met once on the 23rd February 2012. The presentation and minutes from that meeting are publicly available here on WHUFC.com. 

http://www.whufc.com/page/SupporterAdvisoryBoard/0,,12562~2657489,00.html

There is no scheduled date for the next SAB meeting at present while the bid is in limbo. 

Although I was nominated as the SAB member tasked with collating supporter feedback the report I submitted to the board was no different from 'for and against' feedback you would find on any West Ham forum or discussed in any pub on match days.

There is no secrecy as some would suggest beyond signing a NDA with the club and the OPLC.

The club is still looking for new SAB members

http://www.whufc.com/page/SupporterAdvisoryBoard/0,,12562~2870475,00.html

The question of Retractable Seating

The ongoing debate about Retractable Seating among fans seems strange at times since both Brady and Gold have publicly confirmed retractable seating would be part of our bid. 

Karen Brady confirmed retractable seating in her Sun Column in November 2011

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/3930735/Karren-Bradys-football-diary.html

"And if they had taken the time to look they would have seen that the design engineers have 

a solution by placing fans in retractable seats right up to the touchlines, if required, to 

provide a fantastic football solution whilst maintaining the track perfectly for athletics.

That wasn’t possible in stadiums like the old Wembley but technology and the world moves on"

David Gold confirmed retractable seating in this Independent article in January 2012

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/west-ham-move-in-jeopardy-6286691.html

"We are not prepared to have fans sitting 60 yards from the pitch," he said. "We still want 

to move into the stadium but will not do so if the track remains uncovered. There has to be 

some form of retractable seating."

The question about the cost of Re-Development of the Olympic Stadium 

A report in the journal Building Design last month said the cost of turning the stadium into a Premier League ground has risen to £160 million — a huge jump on previous estimates of £75 million.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/turning-olympic-stadium-into-football-ground-will-cost-160m-8152633.html

The cost of building the Olympic Stadium in the first place has been widely reported as £486M. Newham agreed to invest £40M in the redevelopment of the Stadium.

http://www.newham.gov.uk/News/2012/July/NewpartnershiptocreatelocalopportunitiesfromtheOlympicStadium.htm

The London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDP) formally called the OPLC are thought to 
have initially budgeted just £35M to redevelop the stadium. However it is believed that over £400M of the Olympic contingency budget remains and could possibly be used to fill the short fall if approved by the LLDC & the London Mayor. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17126515

The question of who owns the new Stadium

In July this year The London Legacy Development Corporation and Newham Council announced they have set up a company called E20 Stadium LLP (Limited Liability Partnership) to take long term responsibility for managing the Stadium. 

A 99-year lease will be granted by the London Legacy Development Corporation to E20 Stadium LLP (Limited Liability Partnership).

http://www.londonlegacy.co.uk/new-partnership-to-create-local-opportunities-from-the-olympic-stadium/

The question of how much West Ham may have bid

Last month the Daily Mail reported that West Ham had bid nearly £10M per year to lease the Olympic Stadium.  If true this would be committing West Ham to nearly one billion pounds (£990M) of rental over the next 99 years.

In my personal view the Joint Chairman and Vice Chairman are shrewd business people who 
didn't get where they are in business by over paying for something where there is a limited market and serious competition. I am sure the government don't want a white elephant and I personally hope West Ham would have bid under the market price but I have no privileged information to back that up.

I think most fans have trouble believing Daily Mail stories at the best of times!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-2200756/Olympic-Stadium-bid-West-Ham-high--CHARLES-SALE.html

Man City Model of rental

Manchester City FC originally agreed to pay rent for their new stadium to Manchester council derived from match day income, specifically ticket sales. Under their agreement no money was due if the attendance did not top the 32,000 capacity of Maine Road, while half the price of tickets sold above that level would be paid over, after associated costs had been factored in. 

Now Man City have new found wealth they have renegotiated the terms of their 250 year lease. 

An agreement is in place now to switch from the match day revenue model to a flat £3m yearly charge.

This is still an increase on the £2M per year generated on average from the ticket sales model.

They also bought the naming rights last year in a separate agreement worth £2M per year which they sold to sponsor Etihad for a reported £10M per year!

The rental deal certainly appears to work for them by making a £5M per year profit of a stadium they don't own!  Not bad business for the richest club in the world.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-city/8257210/How-Manchester-City-won-the-stadium-lottery.html

To me this makes the £10M per year West Ham bid claim from the Daily Mail even more bizarre and unbelievable. 

Latest Delay on the decision

The latest delay of a month or two on the Olympic Stadium decision is frustrating to everyone whether they be in the for, against or sitting on the fence camp. It's leaves us all in limbo and the debate rages on with the danger of dividing fans further on this issue.

West Ham Fan of the Week

On our West Ham podcast  called Moore Than Just A podcast http://www.moorethanjustapodcast.co.uk  we are looking for West Ham fans to become fan of the week over Skype for 15 minutes. One of the things we like to ask them is their view on the Olympic Stadium among other West ham related topics.

If you want to share your Olympic Stadium thoughts.

Add us on Skype with username MooreTJAPodcast

You need to be available on a Monday evening around 8pm UK time

Hope to be speaking to some of you soon on the podcast.

Tweet us at @MooreTJAPodcast or Email at MooreThanJustApdocast@live.co.uk if you require more details

written by Sean  @WestHamFootball on Twitter