Source: Daily_Mail
West Ham 14 Tottenham 0! Olympic chiefs hand over keys to 2012 stadium
A sip of water, and Baroness Ford began in a calm Scottish burr barely audible above the chatter of flash bulbs to announce the changing landscape of our sporting scene. West Ham will move to the Olympic Stadium.She had been due to reveal the decision of the Olympic Park Legacy Company she chairs as Big Ben, little more than a hefty javelin throw away from the press conference venue, chimed 11. It was 12.20pm when she started to speak. Delight: David Gold (left) Sir Robin Wales, David Sullivan, Kim Bromley-Derry and Karren Brady HAVE YOUR SAY. Should West Ham celebrate Olympic Stadium victory? The Hammers have snatched the keys to the Olympic Stadium over rivals Tottenham as new tenants of the Stratford site after the 2012 Games. But with fans voicing several concerns, chiefly over the running track and attendances, should the club celebrate victory just yet? TELL US WHAT YOU THINK Cynics wondered whether it was a cosmetic device to convince us all of the rigorous process she and 13 board members were engaged in: no one-bang rubberstamping here, whatever West Ham's rival bidders Tottenham might think.It was a clipped performance. She could not add to the statement because the process is ongoing. Technically, the Government and London Mayor Boris Johnson must approve the recommendation, probably in the next fortnight.Downstairs was Hugh Robertson, the Sports Minister, who immediately gave a hint about what his boss, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, might do. 'We must check that the OPLC process was robust and I am confident that it was,' he said. 'This is a very big step forward.' Contest over. West Ham bigwigs - co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan and vice-chairman Karren Brady - were watching on television in an East End hotel as the action unfolded, or rather did not for a long time.They grew fearful. Sir Robin Wales, mayor of the club's partners Newham Council and a veteran committee man, reassured them that because the media had declared on Wednesday that the board were simply being convened to nod through Baroness Ford's recommendation they would insist on having their say.West Ham had two press releases prepared, depending on whether they won or lost. They need not have worried. The decision was unanimous: West Ham 14 Spurs 0. Minutes later they were hosting a press conference of their own in the shadow of the stadium they will call home from the start of the 2014 season, two years after the Olympics have come and gone. There was some joy.There was also protocol to be observed. They must still finalise the terms of their proposed move nearly twoand- a-half miles from their Upton Park ground. Questions turned to what guarantees there were about keeping the athletics track. What if in five or 10 years West Ham, maybe under new owners, decide it does not work for them? Brady explained that they and UK Athletics share a 250-year lease. The track remaining is a binding commitment. Still, one wonders, who can enforce that in the decades ahead?Yesterday, and rightly, the track and field community were taking the promise at face value. Lord Coe, who more than anyone won the Olympics for the city of his birth with the promise to maintain a legacy for his sport when the Games have departed, declared himself 'delighted'.He had talked of the country's sporting reputation being at stake. Keep our promises, he had urged the OPLC, rather than allow Tottenham to pull the stadium down.One of Britain's golden hopefuls, triple jumper Phillips Idowu joined in the party. 'It's great the West Ham bid has been backed as it was the right one for the future of the stadium and athletics,' he said.'As an east London boy my heart is there, so this is a win for not only our sport and West Ham but also for the people in the area. They can have something to be proud of. I hope that my kids one day get a chance to compete in that stadium.'Great for athletics, as opposed to staying at Crystal Palace, even one revamped as Spurs had promised.But for West Ham? For those fans watching their heroes through opera glasses over the running track? They were given hope when Brady ruminated on the idea of fitting retractable seating.'It is possible to do,' she said. 'We will work with the designers. It's not as much money as you would think. It's around 10 per cent of the overall cost (?9.5m of the ?95m) to give you a ballpark figure.'Aware that she was perhaps rushing into a pledge the club might not deliver upon, Brady quickly changed direction. A retractable argument, you might say. Up in lights: How the stadium will look once West Ham move in after the 2012 Games 'The most important thing that will happen is that we will spend ?95m to improve the facility and we are looking at different ways to configure the stadium inside and as and when we have something to say we will,' she added. 'The most important thing is that it is multipurpose, for athletics, football, cricket and concerts. It configures really well through from 25,000 seats for athletics to 107,000 for major pop concerts, 60,000 for football and 73,000 for cricket.'Brady was also keen to point out that they can manage the finances whatever league they are in. The ?100m they would generate from being in the new stadium and remaining in the Premier League would help them no end.The sums were looking less propi-tious for Tottenham yesterday. At White Hart Lane they generate ?1.5m per game in their 36,000 home. North London rivals Arsenal make ?3.5m per game at the 60,000- seat Emirates.Spurs must now find a profitable solution fast, perhaps by moving to a new site adjacent to their current base if they can strike a deal that improves on the projected cost of ?450m. They might also choose to seek a judicial review to overturn the OPLC decision. Robertson warned against such an act as 'a big step for a club to resort to' against the Government.Spurs did not declare their hand, saying: 'We shall continue to monitor the bid process until its final determination, while reviewing our position and holding discussions with our advisers.'Bottom-of-the table West Ham, meanwhile, play at West Bromwich today. That might prove harder than the victory they were toasting yesterday on the banks of the Lea. The right direction? A sign points to West Ham outside the Olympic Stadium in Stratford VIDEO: West Ham unveiled as winners. It's all yours! Olympic chiefs hand West Ham the keys to 2012 stadium after fight with arch rivals TottenhamSugar demands U-turn as West Ham target ?150m naming rights deal Explore more:People: Karren Brady, David Gold, Boris Johnson, Jeremy Hunt, Hugh Robertson, David Sullivan Places: London, Olympic Stadium Organisations: Newham Council