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hammer205 10:46 Sun Nov 18
The Matchday Experience

So all I hear is people hate the matchday experience at the Olympic. I lived nearby for 45 years at Upton Park and didn't really have to travel or enjoy pre match rituals in the pub as I worked on a match day for a few years. What is it that needs replacing. Forget about the proximity of the stands to pitch, what's the underlying factor.

Do you miss the 2 Mile queue at Upton Park station and in reality has been replaced by the walk to the station. No change there anyway but is a pain for me as don't live locally compared to Upton Park

If the ground had been redeveloped the queue times at all the pubs eateries station and car parking would have been made much worse by the increase in capacity

If you drove the queuing must have been a nightmare up the barking road in both directions

Pub Bigot 11:13 Sun Nov 18
Re: The Matchday Experience

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.

Dan M 11:39 Sun Nov 18
Re: The Matchday Experience

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.

Northern Sold 11:53 Sun Nov 18
Re: The Matchday Experience

`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

Northern Sold 11:55 Sun Nov 18
Re: The Matchday Experience

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????

Helmut Shown 12:20 Mon Nov 19
Re: The Matchday Experience

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?

Westham67 12:21 Mon Nov 19
Re: The Matchday Experience

NS I used to walk to Barking sometimes to the Jolly fisherman in Harts Lane

Any Old Iron 12:57 Mon Nov 19
Re: The Matchday Experience

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.

Any Old Iron 1:22 Mon Nov 19
Re: The Matchday Experience

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.

Hammers1993 1:50 Mon Nov 19
Re: The Matchday Experience

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.

penners28 1:52 Mon Nov 19
Re: The Matchday Experience

Its like going to fucking winter wonderland. Pancake stalls etc...

J.Riddle 3:46 Mon Nov 19
Re: The Matchday Experience

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.

Iron Filings 11:34 Mon Nov 19
Re: The Matchday Experience

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

Northern Sold 12:02 Mon Nov 19
Re: The Matchday Experience

Top post that Iron Fillings...

Takashi Miike 12:05 Mon Nov 19
Re: The Matchday Experience

"Personally for me its been an absolute abortion of a move, but each to their own"


spot on

IsaacHock 12:28 Mon Nov 19
Re: The Matchday Experience

Hammer205, I recently read that ‘Karen’ is the Danish form of the name Katherine. Is there any Danish ancestory in your line, or is there another reason for this name being chosen?

, 12:54 Mon Nov 19
Re: The Matchday Experience

The matchday experience consists of a combination of things and being individuals we are naturally going to give these constituent parts different weighting factors.

For me more than 80% of the matchday experience is down to the way we play and the result. The other 20% is what it is and as for donkey’s years neither eating/drinking etc at or near the club the transition from Upton Park to Stratford has not changed much for me. The walk from the stadium to the trains is no worse than from the old ground to Plaistow/East Ham either.

Eggbert Nobacon 12:56 Mon Nov 19
Re: The Matchday Experience

the stop go things are very easily avoiding by not going over the main bridge when there are other options

a longer walk but quicker in the long run

Lee Trundle 1:45 Mon Nov 19
Re: The Matchday Experience

The walk to the stadium is definitely worse than it was at the Boleyn, and puts me in a shitty mood before I've even stepped foot inside the stadium. I could run to the stadium from Upton Park if I was running late. There's no chance of doing that from Stratford though, unless you're Mo Farah.

The walk from the stadium to Pudding Mill Lane to avoid the STOP/GO wankers is roughly on par with the walk I did to Plaistow to avoid the queues at Upton Park, so there's little difference there.

North Bank 1:59 Mon Nov 19
Re: The Matchday Experience

Filings I agree with a large percentage of that however we always sold out of STs at Upton Park however the limit was set at 24k Also I'm sceptical of this myth that thousands of tickets are sold to fans of other teams

FWIW I went to watch Torquay United on Saturday and thoroughly enjoyed it, I take my hat off to any supporter of non league football over 2k were there on a fucking cold afternoon and the game was excellent

AKA ERNIE 1:59 Mon Nov 19
Re: The Matchday Experience

walk from the queens to the ground is crap but the worst thing is the fucking pathetic slow security meaning having to leave pub at about 20 past 2 just to make no.

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