Gary Jacob & , : {} West Ham United will confirm today their interest in moving to the Olympic Stadium after the Games in 2012.
The club are keen to rent the stadium in East London when it is redeveloped and have said that they are aware of the pledges made by the Government and Lord Coe, chairman of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, that the athletics track should remain.
The clubs move comes after the Olympic Park Legacy Company began accepting registrations of interest this week. West Ham"s bid is expected to be opposed by Leyton Orient, the Coca-Cola League One club, based close by. West Ham last week met UK Athletics officials, who also insist that the track should remain, although David Sullivan, the West Ham joint-chairman, has previously been against it.
There are other problems, such as the question of who pays for the redevelopment of the stadium. The cost of reducing the 80,000-seat capacity to about 50,000 seats after the Games could be 100 million, although about 38 million of that will come from the Olympic Park Legacy Company.
Related LinksWest Ham agree 2.2m Curbishley payoutBrady risks good name with West Ham OlympicWest Ham believe that their case is strengthened by the possibility that the stadium could become an embarrassing white elephant. They also cite the precedent of Manchester Citys move to the City of Manchester Stadium after the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
"We are very excited to be working with Newham and are already bursting with some fantastic and innovative ideas," Karren Brady, the West Ham vice-chairman, said. "West Ham United is a people"s club at the heart of its community and, like the Mayor of Newham, Sir Robin Wales and the council, we want to grab this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a real, life-changing legacy - not just for this part of London, but for the wider area as well.
"It"s about realising the full potential of the Olympic Park. As well-established local organisations, Newham Council and West Ham United are best placed to make it happen. If achievable it is the ideal answer for those who, rightly, demand a sustainable legacy from the 2012 Games and not a white elephant.
"We acknowledge the need for the stadium to host world-class athletics and so it should. But it can accommodate football, too - and a whole lot more. There has to be a way of achieving that."
Upton Park is likely to be sold for a mixture of retail and housing development and the club have received some support for their plans from Newham Council. Sir Robin Wales, the Newham Mayor, is a season ticket-holder.
"The last thing anyone wants is for the Olympic Stadium to become a ghost of Olympics past," Sir Robin said. "We were concerned about this when London successfully won the bid to host the 2012 Games and we continue to be concerned.
"The only realistic solution is to make the stadium work for a Premier League football team and that should be West Ham United. We have never understood why that wasn"t obvious. Look at what Manchester did after the Commonwealth Games. Why can"t we do that here? West Ham understands the community. It will mean there is a tenant that will look after the place, rather than let it go to ruin."
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