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West Ham United block Tottenham hopes of renting Upton Park
Ahead of their move to the Olympic Park, West Ham have taken steps to prevent Spurs from using Upton Park ahead of their north London redevelopment
West Ham United have “Tottenham-proofed” their contract with the buyers of Upton Park to prevent it falling into the hands of their fierce rivals.
The property developer Galliard Group agreed to buy Upton Park once West Ham make the move to the Olympic Stadium in 2016.
It has now emerged that a clause in the contract states that West Ham do not have to leave Upton Park in a fit state for football and plan to gut the stadium ahead of their exit.
That rules out Tottenham Hotspur trying to rent Upton Park off Galliard while they wait for White Hart Lane to be redeveloped, having already failed in a bid to buy West Ham’s stadium to use for a season.
A senior West Ham source said: “It is correct that the Boleyn Ground will not be fit for football after West Ham’s final game in 2016.
This is because Hammers fans will be offered the opportunity to secure their own piece of history through a special auction of memorabilia, which will cover most, if not all, of the essential parts of the stadium.
“In addition, some of the most identifiable fixtures will be coming with us to Stratford and essential equipment relating to the pitch and other areas will be taken away and reused at the club’s training facilities.”
With Daniel Levy, the Tottenham chairman, still searching for a sponsor to pay £150 million for the naming rights for the club’s new stadium, its projected opening date has been pushed back to 2018-19.
That means Spurs need a temporary home for the 2017-18 season and have been looking at ground-sharing with MK Dons and playing big games at Wembley.
However, the possibility of Spurs ground-sharing with West Ham in the Olympic Stadium for the 2017-18 campaign, the season after West Ham move in, will be debated again, with Mayor of London Boris Johnson to be quizzed on the subject.
Andrew Boff, leader of the Greater London Authority Conservatives, will ask Johnson if West Ham have the power to veto Tottenham, if the club approached the London Legacy Development Corporation requesting a ground-share deal.
Boff is a critic of the LLDC’s decision to sign the Olympic Stadium over to West Ham on a 99-year lease, arguing that it represents a poor deal for the taxpayer.
Karren Brady, the West Ham vice-chairman, has claimed that the club would block any attempt by their London rivals to share the stadium and they are insistent they hold a permanent right of veto.
It was revealed this week that the firm working on the Olympic Stadium, Balfour Beatty, had lobbied for another £50 million of taxpayers’ cash to complete the work at the site.
Under the terms of the 99-year lease deal signed by West Ham with the LLDC, the club is not obliged to foot any of the extra cost.
West Ham appeared to consider the prospect of introducing a ‘singing section’ at the Olympic Stadium for all of four hours on Tuesday afternoon.
Jack Sullivan, son of the co-owner David, posted two messages on Twitter that said: “Possibility of a singing fans section at the OS anyone got any ideas what it should be called? Also, do you think a singing section is a good idea, an area where all the passionate fans can sit together and chant throughout the game.”
However, following a host of negative responses, Sullivan added another tweet that read: “Thanks for your help – bad idea so will not be doing that.”