West Ham: Karren Brady insists Olympic Stadium deal 'cause for congratulations'
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Your support makes all the difference.Karren Brady, the vice-chairwoman of West Ham United, has spoken out after the terms of the club's Olympic Stadium contract were made public, insisting it is “a cause for congratulations”.
The full details of the 99-year leasehold were released last week by the London Legacy Development Corporation and outlines how the club will pay £2.5m-a-year – as well as £15m towards the conversion cost - for the right to use the venue when they leave the Boleyn Ground this summer.
The move will see their capacity grow from 35,016 seats, at Upton Park, to 60,000. With maintenance costs set to be funded by the LLDC, West Ham are likely to pay an approximate total of £247.5m between 2016 and 2115, inflation permitting.
But critics have taken umbrage to the fact that West Ham will not have to finance matters including under-soil heating, floodlighting, changing room maintenance and pest control.
Arsène Wenger, the Arsene manager, has since likened the contract to “winning the lottery” while former Leyton Orient chairman Barry Hearn, who wanted to ground-share with West Ham, added: “My dog could have negotiated a better deal for the taxpayer.”
Writing for The Sun newspaper, Brady insisted: “The fact we have struck a good deal for West Ham, the taxpayer and the community should be a cause for congratulations.
“Our presence will also create more than 700 jobs and, through our contribution of an annual usage fee, a share of naming and catering rights and performance-related payments, over £1billion in revenue in the next 99 years. Not bad for a 25-day-a-year deal.
“I also saw this week that Barry Hearn claimed his dog could have secured a better deal with West Ham. Well, seeing as he was unable to negotiate any deal at all for Leyton Orient, maybe he should have let his dog do the negotiations for him!
“When I read comments from some of the critics I do often find myself asking — what on earth do people want? A derelict site like the Athens Olympic Stadium? Or the Bird Cage stadium in Beijing — now a Segway track? Or would Tottenham’s plan of tearing it down have sat better?”
Slaven Bilić, the West Ham manager, was quizzed on the subject but the club’s press and media manager blocked any questions to the Croatian last week.
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