By Mike Rowbottom
February 3 – The majority of Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United fans are opposed to their clubs taking over the Olympic Stadium site once the London 2012 Games are over, with Spurs fans almost 10-1 against, according to an extensive poll by the Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF).
And supporters of Leyton Orient are also strongly resistant to the idea of either Premier League side establishing itself in nearby Stratford.
Speaking from Chicago, the FSF chairman, Malcolm Clarke, told insideworldfootball: “Many hundreds of supporters from Tottenham, West Ham and Orient are affiliated to the Football Supporters’ Federation.
“We conducted a poll of fans from the three clubs, and the finding was that the majority of all three sets of fans were against either Spurs or West Ham going to the Olympic Stadium.
“The Tottenham fans we polled were strongly against a move – almost 10-1. Although the majority of West Ham fans were against the move as well, there was more of a balance.
“But we believe some of the supporters have taken up this position because they don’t want Spurs to move into Stratford, and that if there was no Spurs bid on the table there would be more West Ham fans opposed to any move.”
Affiliated supporters’ groups from Tottenham and West Ham have written to the Olympic Park Legacy Company, the Premier League, the Football Association and the Government to oppose their teams’ bids to take over the 2012 Olympic Stadium site in Stratford.
Leyton Orient fans have joined the protest because they fear their League One side will struggle if a bigger club relocates close to its Brisbane Road stadium.
“There should be no further moves on these plans until both Spurs and West Ham have fully consulted their fans,” said Clarke, adding that the FSF was totally opposed to either side re-locating.
“As far as we are concerned either Spurs or West Ham moving to Stratford would be against Premier League rules, which state that no club should move to a location which has an adverse effect on another club – in this case, Leyton Orient.
“And as far as the Spurs move is concerned, we would regard that as so far out of their area that it would just be a franchise.
“We believe that no club should ever move unless the majority of its supporters want to move.”
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