What’s it gonna take?

[Nutsin]

Common complaint is to get the current owners out.

My question is what will it take for fans to be happy?

what are you looking for from the new owners to make you get behind the club completely.

Moving back to the Boleyn is obviously not an option, so excluding that what will make you miserable cunts happy or even giddy?

[Mike Oxsaw]

It's ok where it is, I don't think you can get a better location, we just need to rip out the lower tier and start again with it up against the pitch. 

I seem to remember this is basically impossible as the rake is too shallow and the pitch cant be lowered due to radioactive and toxic waste 

Not sure I’m buying that because the site was already cleaned up prior to 2012 and cost 12 million which is a drop in the bucket of what we spend on transfers, so I doubt it’s impossible to drop the pitch another few feet, but then again what do I know?

I seem to recall that the radiation came from a small nuclear reactor owned by QMC.

It would have added a considerable expense to completely remove the contaminated soil, so it was decided to bury it to a depth where it wouldn't affect spectators or athletes using the stadium, post-Olympics for the odd, legacy-inspired athletic event.

Use for football was specifically excluded in the original design.

Not sure it was ever re-assessed for the safety 60,000 football fans and a squad of expensive players being there 19+ days a year though.

[Mad Ferret]

Plenty can be done. Requires money and ambition though.

The location is fine. Staying at Stratford is certainly more palatable than going anywhere east of the Roding.

[nychammer]

I know you're in Ireland, so you don't regularly go to the cunthole masquerading as a stadium.

It's not harking back for the old times, it's just not fit for football. It's diabolical over there.

It's ok where it is, I don't think you can get a better location, we just need to rip out the lower tier and start again with it up against the pitch. 

I seem to remember this is basically impossible as the rake is too shallow and the pitch cant be lowered due to radioactive and toxic waste 

Not sure I’m buying that because the site was already cleaned up prior to 2012 and cost 12 million which is a drop in the bucket of what we spend on transfers, so I doubt it’s impossible to drop the pitch another few feet, but then again what do I know?

[Lato]

Radio active and toxic waste! Will that be included on the Fixture and Fittings if we ever buy the Stadium? You couldnt make it up could you? only at West Ham, they should be giving out free bio hazrard suits!

[Mr Anon]

We've been moved nearly 10 years now. 
​​​​​​Is there no chance for the bowl, with dynamic new owners? I think the location is as good as it will get in London now?

I know we're all nostalgic for Upton Park, but what would it be like today if we had stayed? Would they have rebuilt the stands, and got planning permission to expand? Or would it all have fell apart and the pubs and pie and mash replaced with vape shops and other shit.

Unpopular opinion, the good old days were gone long before we moved. I had started to get irritated with the people sitting around me in the ground, and the core working class fanbase had long stopped living in the area many years ago. 

But no doubt the move was badly managed and where were are now is not suitable.







 

I know you're in Ireland, so you don't regularly go to the cunthole masquerading as a stadium.

It's not harking back for the old times, it's just not fit for football. It's diabolical over there.

It's ok where it is, I don't think you can get a better location, we just need to rip out the lower tier and start again with it up against the pitch. 

I seem to remember this is basically impossible as the rake is too shallow and the pitch cant be lowered due to radioactive and toxic waste 

[Mr Anon]

A proper long-term strategy in terms of recruitment, and investment in the academy and training facilities would be a start.

A new stadium built in the location of the current one would be the final piece of everything we want but the first two are much more important currently and we're not exactly asking the world here

[Nutsin]

Common complaint is to get the current owners out.

My question is what will it take for fans to be happy?

what are you looking for from the new owners to make you get behind the club completely.

Moving back to the Boleyn is obviously not an option, so excluding that what will make you miserable cunts happy or even giddy?

You fucking off would be a good start.

I’m having way too much much fun to do that!

Nice to know you’re upset!  

[One Sunny Day]

Common complaint is to get the current owners out.

My question is what will it take for fans to be happy?

what are you looking for from the new owners to make you get behind the club completely.

Moving back to the Boleyn is obviously not an option, so excluding that what will make you miserable cunts happy or even giddy?

You fucking off would be a good start.

[nychammer]

It's highly unlikely that anyone other than an American consortium or a Gulf state would buy the club and have the clout to make a big difference.  If they did, why would they invest serious money in the ground even if the deal included ownership of the stadium?  We'd all prefer a stadium like Everton's or Tottenham's but, with over 60,000 seats selling out for almost every game, what would be their incentive to invest vast sums to rebuild or replace the stadium?

right.....we the fans get it. Most rational investors, however are going to look at this and ask themselves why they would they want to spend money on essentially shrinking a ground that sells out every week. We have to hope that there is someone who understands what it really means to go to a game from the fans perspective and delivering the entertainment and match experience factor that means more than just getting as many bums on seats as possible.

[northbankfrank]

It's highly unlikely that anyone other than an American consortium or a Gulf state would buy the club and have the clout to make a big difference.  If they did, why would they invest serious money in the ground even if the deal included ownership of the stadium?  We'd all prefer a stadium like Everton's or Tottenham's but, with over 60,000 seats selling out for almost every game, what would be their incentive to invest vast sums to rebuild or replace the stadium?

[El Scorchio]

Gut the stadium keeping the shell, and build a smaller stadium inside it. 45,000 to 50,000 fans. Straight stands like Upton Park close to the pitch, one long lower tier all standing, like the old west side. 

That's going to take serious investment and as a club we don't do investment.

Interesting concept -  gut everything to the shell and build a 'square' stadium in the 'oval' hole. Is it cheaper than knocking down and rebuilding from ground up though and does the need to preserve the stadium for Athletics prevent us from doing any of this?

We'd need to buy it first and I assume the requirement for athletics no longer exists. However I suspect the obligation to hold athletics might be a poison pill in any 'great' deal the club lands to take the stadium off the taxpayers hands and stop the drain of public funds into it. TBH I wouldn't be surprised if they kept all that stuff anyway out of choice for extra income.

[nychammer]

Gut the stadium keeping the shell, and build a smaller stadium inside it. 45,000 to 50,000 fans. Straight stands like Upton Park close to the pitch, one long lower tier all standing, like the old west side. 

That's going to take serious investment and as a club we don't do investment.

Interesting concept -  gut everything to the shell and build a 'square' stadium in the 'oval' hole. Is it cheaper than knocking down and rebuilding from ground up though and does the need to preserve the stadium for Athletics prevent us from doing any of this?

[honky cat]

I think the cheaper and more practical option might be to cobble together some sort of transfer strategy, buy good players and win matches. Nobody complains about the stadium, when we've just beaten spurs. Maybe build some sort of ye olde cockney tavern in the park.
​​​​

[Dick Shaftsbury]

Gut the stadium keeping the shell, and build a smaller stadium inside it. 45,000 to 50,000 fans. Straight stands like Upton Park close to the pitch, one long lower tier all standing, like the old west side. 

[Come On You Irons]

We've been moved nearly 10 years now. 
​​​​​​Is there no chance for the bowl, with dynamic new owners? I think the location is as good as it will get in London now?

I know we're all nostalgic for Upton Park, but what would it be like today if we had stayed? Would they have rebuilt the stands, and got planning permission to expand? Or would it all have fell apart and the pubs and pie and mash replaced with vape shops and other shit.

Unpopular opinion, the good old days were gone long before we moved. I had started to get irritated with the people sitting around me in the ground, and the core working class fanbase had long stopped living in the area many years ago. 

But no doubt the move was badly managed and where were are now is not suitable.





 

This is pretty much my view. If we were regularly going deep on the domestic cups and competing for higher European spots (5th, 6th and 7th) and even top four year after year, then the stadium would be less of an issue.

It is all down to the cheapskate dwarf and his penny pinching approach to running a football club.

[Fifth Column]

It's all about the ground.  If we had a proper football ground, close to the pitch and were run competently then I'd be happy.

[Mike Oxsaw]

The best that can happen is an irreparable structural fault that renders the stadium unfit for use, with the only solution (paid for by the LDDC, of course) being to demolish the whole edifice and replace it with something fit for purpose.

[Rossal]

Is it not possible to push the pitch in either the direction of the main stand or the billy bonds and then bring in the remaining sides to accommodate it?

I know its a lot of work but could something like that be achieved from say May-September.  Request the final games of one season and the start of the next to be away. 

[Lato]

Ideally a purpose built stadium for Football that we can call home. Not as easy as it sounds as I cannot think of a plot of land to build a modest arena of around 42,000/45,000 on the Manor. Then there is the Transport issue. That's one good thing we have at Stratford. It maybe a cattle market post game but I would think it is an easy place for the vast majority of our fans to get to at least. 

Yes agree l with the other points mentioned, accountability, transparency, honesty ( ) etc

[El Scorchio]

As others have said:

• Accountability and admissions that mistakes have been made instead of blindly parroting meaningless buzzword propaganda like 'most successful stadium migration' which really means nothing.
• Genuinely taking fans feedback on board and genuinely working toward accommodating what can be done with the stadium in short/mid term (because we aren't getting a new one any time soon) with the REAL supporters in mind first and foremost.
• Working toward owning the stadium ourselves so it can be operated and altered without outside interference.
• Abolishing the silly security/bag search if possible and doing something to stop the ridiculous massive double queues to get into the ground every fucking game or make it quicker. 
• No more flat out lying to the fans or taking us for mugs with claims about PSR etc
• No unnecessary or selfish meddling in transfers or team affairs and doing things on the cheap in an antiquated way
• Honesty and transparency about loans and interest, financing and running the club 
• Genuinely trying to take the club to the highest level it can with long term plans and strategy and sustained smart investment rather than the cycle of a splurge every few years, a load of half measures while the squad decays, and then emergency sticking plasters to just finish in the division and then going round the whole cycle again

I genuinely don't think under the current lot most or all of that is unobtainable. Some of it is dead easy in fact. Some of it will take a genuine willingness to improve the club in a selfless fashion for the fans rather than getting things out of it themselves.

Ultimately though despite all that, the two shysters running the club into the ground to be gone and someone to come in who is acting in the best interest of the club, genuinely, with the means to do so and essentially working along the lines of those bullet points above. It's worth pointing out that success rather than stagnation on the pitch is good for the owners as well as us.
 

[Gary Strodders shank]

I can't see a new ground happening any time soon and could only see it being built outside London in Essex which would suit some but not others and possibly fragment the support even more as we move even further away from our eastend roots.

If the ground can be reconfigured to become a fit for purpose football stadium then this is the way to go for any future owners.

The Stratford transport hubs are excellent it's just getting to them from the ground that is the problem although I have learnt to navigate various ways around that problem over recent years.

 

[the coming of gary]

The best thing that could happen is to down size to a 42 K ground. Juventus did this.

Full of hard core support, no tourists or half interested people.

Can we let go the vanity of boasting the same attendance as Arsenal or Tottenham ?
.

[WHU(Exeter)]

To implement alterations to the ground, that would be conducive to helping create a much better atmosphere. Football grounds have been built for approx 150 years now, so there is more than enough examples of what to do and they are best summed up in the first Simon Inglis book as a blueprint.

All of those things were totally ignored by our current owners, and we ended up with the opposite, an example being the huge screens, when it's widely accepted that traditionally most of the atmosphere at grounds tends to be generated from behind the goals.

This is basic stuff, but in Sullivan, Gold and Brady we have people who are happy to ignore all this as they know best.

A complete stop to the owners interfering with transfer targets, aside from ruling out transfers if the price is too high.

Owners who are not crass, arrogant and an embarrassment every other time they open their mouths. 

 

[honky cat]

I know you're in Ireland, so you don't regularly go to the cunthole masquerading as a stadium.

Yes that's true, I've been here for years, but I was back living full time in London 2017-2019 and I didn't miss a home game from jan 17 until Jan 20 Mainly sat in 104/105.. I was going to the little driver and using pudding mill. I enjoyed going but it was a bit bland and i didnt like the security going in. Wouldn't call it a cսnt hole, but maybe things have gone downhill in the last few years.

[Mike Oxsaw]

Get Disney to build a replica Green Street between Stratford Station & the Stadium.

They can use it as a theme park on non-match days. We can walk the nostalgia walk when we're playing at home.