- West Ham United are 18th in the Premier League
- If the Hammers are relegated, their yearly rent payment to the Greater London Authority will drop
- BBC Radio 5 Live’s Rory Smith states London Stadium would be “cavernous” in the Championship
As West Ham United’s relegation prospects become more likely, worries are growing not only about the club’s finances and team, but also about what life in the Championship will be like at the London Stadium.
According to the rules of West Ham’s 99-year lease, if the Hammers are relegated, their yearly stadium rent payment to the Greater London Authority will drop from nearly £4.4 million to roughly half that amount, potentially forcing London taxpayers to fund an additional £2.5 million loss.
Financial damage would be catastrophic. It is estimated that relegation would cost the club over £100 million in lost income, while West Ham’s current wage expenditure is thought to be roughly four times the Championship average.
BBC Radio 5 Live’s Monday Night Club pundits have say on the London Stadium’s impact in the Championship
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live’s Monday Night Club, former West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green gave a dire glimpse of the environment supporters may experience next season if the Hammers fail to avoid relegation.
“The club will get the odd game, maybe one or two fixtures, where they will be close to a sell-out,” Green explained. “But after that, I think we are talking 40,000 seats filled at best.”
For a stadium with a capacity of more than 62,000, those figures would leave a significant portion of the venue unoccupied, something critics have long claimed degrades the mood during home games.
Since the move from Upton Park to the London Stadium in 2016, many fans have claimed that the stadium lacks the energy and connection that previously made West Ham one of the fiercest home teams in English football.
Observer journalist Rory Smith feels that relegation will exacerbate these issues. “The prospect of playing at the London Stadium in the Championship, to me, means possibly a 30,000 to 35,000 turnout,” Smith said. “That’s if the club is doing well. The ground won’t be full, it will be this cavernous kind of thing.”
“They will also have to fill a £100m hole in their budget, which will mean selling Crysencio Summerville, Jarrod Bowen and Mateus Fernandes,” he explained. “Those three might just do it, but they also might have to lose some others.”
Club captain Jarrod Bowen is largely regarded as West Ham’s most prized asset and would almost surely receive attention from major Premier League teams if relegation became a reality. Meanwhile, Mateus Fernandes has emerged as one of the few bright spots in an otherwise tough season, with his performances reportedly earning admiration from teams around Europe.
Chris Sutton argues that London Stadium can’t be an excuse
However, former Premier League striker Chris Sutton claimed that supporters and players can no longer blame the stadium for the club’s problems.
“They have been blaming the lack of atmosphere for so long now,” Sutton said. “They all have to let that go. The old Upton Park was the old Upton Park – it was great, but they can’t move back.”
Sutton also mentioned fan displeasure during the last years of David Moyes’ second term in command, implying that demands for change may have backfired.
“There was also a large part of West Ham fans – I’m not saying all of them – that wanted David Moyes out. They wanted a new brand of football,” Sutton added. “Fans are able to influence owners into making changes, but look at what’s happened: they are going down.”
