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Takashi Miike
12:05 Mon Nov 19
Re: The Matchday Experience
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"Personally for me its been an absolute abortion of a move, but each to their own"
spot on
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Northern Sold
12:02 Mon Nov 19
Re: The Matchday Experience
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Top post that Iron Fillings...
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Iron Filings
11:34 Mon Nov 19
Re: The Matchday Experience
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Lets face it it's different for everyone, but for me it this:
I could drive to Upton Park, arrive an hour before kick off, park 5 minutes away, leave at the final whistle, cut through the back streets and be home in Brewntwood and hour after the game.
I could have a pint in a glass in the Supporters Club, leave there as the teams come out and be in my seat for kick off.
If I chose to stay around after the game I could wander off where I liked, albeit the crowds were more congested than getting out of the OS, for a pint without some minimum wage gestapo sticking a Stop/Go board in my face.
If I went by train I could take the 15 minute walk to East Ham and jump straight on the train there with no queues.
I could sit in my seat with a fantastic view without someone wanting to stand up in front of me, conversely those who wanted to stand could do so without some arthritic old git like me moaning.
I didn't have to queue for ages to have another minimum wage idiot pretend to search me like they are the only person saving the world from a terrorist meltdown.
I'm agnostic to the food and drink in the Stadium, though must admit my boy prefers to get his e-coli fix from the footlong sausages at the OS than he did the cardboard burgers at UP.
I don't really mind the fact that they sell popcorn in the ground. On the rare occasions my daughter comes along she likes to partake, sweet not salty though.
At UP it felt like you were in a stadium full of West Ham fans, you got the odd away fan who got seats in the home ends to be brave, stupid or whatever and if they didn't sit on their hands they got dealt with. Too many seats have been sold to neutral fans at the OS. Personally I know of fans of Arsenal, Spurs, AFC Wimbledon, Leicester and Rangers who have STs. Its not some conspiracy to do with the plus 2s keeping genuine West Ham fans out of the ground. We rarely sold out STs at Upton Park. My view is that we don't have the fanbase to sustain a 57k stadium as things stand. We may get there over time but currently our support is diluted by the casual supporters.
Stratford could be better if fans were given access to the bars and restaurants of Westfield after the game but the Westfield owners will do anything they possibly can to make that difficult.
Personally for me its been an absolute abortion of a move, but each to their own
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J.Riddle
3:46 Mon Nov 19
Re: The Matchday Experience
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The list of shit things wrong with it are too voluminous to list, so I won't be bothering. On the other hand I can't think of one redeeming feature, so much so that I avoid the cesspit at all costs and prefer to meet up with mates at London Bridge before and after. Yes I still drag myself there begrudgingly after 45 years, but I will be a monkey's uncle if I renew next year.
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penners28
1:52 Mon Nov 19
Re: The Matchday Experience
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Its like going to fucking winter wonderland. Pancake stalls etc...
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Hammers1993
1:50 Mon Nov 19
Re: The Matchday Experience
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If you've been too both grounds you would know that the queue at Upton Park Station, at it's worst, was still not as bad as it is now for queing back to the station.
Add to the fact now you have a 20 minute walk as apposed to 5 mins before. That mixed with walking down to Upton Park on matchday felt like West Ham, the programme sellers, the pubs, the OLAS seller, even the stalls had that West Ham feeling. Granted when it wasn't match days the area had changed, but we are talking match days and that was West Ham, now it is corporate feel.
That probably is the case for 90% of Football now though so may not just be us.
As I've said to my mates, it is the little things that they didn't choose to do from the start that makes me scratch my head.
I know we don't own the place but why on earth were the seats not painted Claret & Blue. We should of demanded this, not saying this one change would of made the matcday experience but my point being there are so many little things that add up, why were the blatant obvious choices gone against.
Truth is, the matchday experience will only improve once we are allowed to turn the place into an actual Football Stadium. It currently is an amazing Stadium, just not for football.
The entire seating structure needs to be knocked down and developed into a Football arangement with the seats closer to the pitch. But until we either get bought out or they at the minimum give us the Stadium for us, and us only, nothing will change.
Even then the owners wouldn't re build the seating structure, as 1 they are too tight, and 2 I don't think they could be bothered with the hassle.
But rebuilding the Stadium for Football use is the only way it improves, in my opinion, which isn't going to happen.
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Any Old Iron
1:22 Mon Nov 19
Re: The Matchday Experience
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Also, why do assume that anyone that drove to games always went down the Barking road. I drove to games from 71 onwards and always came through what is now the Olympic park (down Carpenters road) and on to the Black Lion. Never had a problem. Driving to, and parking near the Toilet bowl is a nightmare in comparison.
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Any Old Iron
12:57 Mon Nov 19
Re: The Matchday Experience
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Don’t be dopey, the proximty of the stands to the pitch IS the underlying factor.
All other matters are just additional reasons as to why the place is totally ill-suited for use as a football ground.
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Westham67
12:21 Mon Nov 19
Re: The Matchday Experience
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NS I used to walk to Barking sometimes to the Jolly fisherman in Harts Lane
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Helmut Shown
12:20 Mon Nov 19
Re: The Matchday Experience
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With the abortion that is Crossrail, the queue is now at West Ham station. Where trains dont open their doors until the queue to get out from the previous train has cleared. There is engineering works every match day on the Greater Anglia TFL lines into Stratford despite them telling us the delays in implementing the Elizabeth line are signalling problems in the central section. I would imagine most people would think this is a political turn of the screw by County Hall. As it is, the only rail route in from Essex is the C2C line with it's shorter trains and dire overcrowding. The journey home is even worse. Where are these world class transport links we were promised?
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Northern Sold
11:55 Sun Nov 18
Re: The Matchday Experience
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1If you drove the queuing must have been a nightmare up the barking road in both directions1
Nope... used to get parked (when we drove) 10 mins walk...
Did you really used to live near the Boleyn????
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Northern Sold
11:53 Sun Nov 18
Re: The Matchday Experience
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`Do you miss the 2 Mile queue at Upton Park station`
Well only if you was an absolute mug.... walk to East Ham and have NO QUEUE.... or then again just queue up at UP and moan like a bitch... and then compare it to the queues at the Cesspit
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Dan M
11:39 Sun Nov 18
Re: The Matchday Experience
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Depends which walk from the station you do. From the Builders it's fine. Through a housing estate, past an offie, under a bridge - all very inner city football. The last hundred yards through an urban park are alright.
It surprises me when regulars moan about the walk from and to Westfield. There are plenty of routes that avoid crowd management and the stop/go boards. Worked that out after the Astra game and haven't gone that way since.
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Pub Bigot
11:13 Sun Nov 18
Re: The Matchday Experience
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I've got used to my section, my mates are the same, we're at the very front with a good view and the atmosphere can be decent. But the walk the the ground, the distance from the pitch, the lack of soul and character kill the place.
Walking to the ground doesn't give you the familiar feeling of anticipation. When I first clap eyes on the stadium, I don't get excited, I think what a soulless round lump it is.
Upton Park had plenty of sterile moments, but it had everything the London hasn't.
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