January 23 – New West Ham United vice-chair Karren Brady (pictured) wants the club to eventually relocate to the London 2012 stadium – even suggesting the team could be renamed “West Ham Olympic”.
Brady, who was brought on board by David Sullivan and David Gold following their takeover this week, has already grabbed headlines by tackling the controversial subject of the Upton Park club’s long-term home.
And the former Birmingham City managing director wrote in The Sun: “The target I find most bracing is to move the club away from the Boleyn, which does no more than serve a purpose, and take it to – where else? – the 2012 Olympic Stadium only a couple of miles away.
Yes, I know all sorts of barriers have been erected against it but, as the old advert used to say, ‘You know it makes sense’.
“It does so in so many positive ways that I think opponents of the move must be blind or a bit crazy.”
Brady added: “To have the guaranteed future use of a 55,000-capacity stadium by occupants who will regularly fill it must be the ideal answer for those who, rightly, demand a sporting legacy from the 2012 Games.
“Maybe our way is a short-cut to a new West Ham headquarters but to disqualify the stadium’s only viable future that
I know of is to make a bonfire of the dreams of thousands and thousands of people in our under-privileged area.
“I love the idea of calling the club West Ham Olympic.”
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