A message from the Vice-Chairman

A message from the Vice-Chairman

I have been overwhelmed by your positive response to last week's announcement by Mayor Boris Johnson which awarded the Club the opportunity to move to the Olympic Stadium.

I would like to thank each and every one of you who has taken the time to send the many thousands of messages of support to the Club. I am pleased so many of you feel that your faith has been rewarded.

Knowing you are with us makes us a real force. There is a long journey ahead, but together we stand a real chance of realising our collective footballing ambitions for West Ham United.

This move to a world-class UEFA category 4 Stadium gives us the chance to compete with the top teams in the world, attract and keep the highest quality players and invest in the squad and training facilities.

We know that there are many of you who are frustrated and need to find out more before you feel able to lend your support, but now we have reached an agreement with the LLDC we can at last consult with you.

First of all we will be carrying out a poll which will help us to ascertain your feelings towards the move. We hope through making more information and educational resources available to you we will be able to address the majority of your concerns.

In response to your feedback, we have followed a robust process and I am pleased to confirm we have appointed an independent recognised organisation, YouGov, to take this forward on our behalf.

Cited as the most consistently accurate pollster, YouGov will now provide their expertise to ensure we conduct a fair and transparent consultation process. They have significant experience in this area, having conducted more than 25 major sports-venue projects in 15 countries across six continents, covering consultation over national stadia, UEFA Champions League clubs and Premier League teams including Wembley, the Maracana, Galatasaray, Inter Milan and QPR.

Their first job is to ensure that every single one of you who wishes to have your say gets the opportunity to do so. They will now begin to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the spectrum of opinion related to the stadium relocation across our fan base, covering every core group that will drive the club's attendances at the stadium.

I will be providing you with regular updates on our official club website and via email so you are aware of the progress we are making, every step of the way.

Each week I will aim to cover your questions and concerns as well as sharing any additional imagery, designs and information we receive.

We have included a number of designs and drawings which have already been seen by some fan groups and that demonstrate the more technical aspects of the multi-million pound conversion in the matchday programme and here on whufc.com. I am confident you will be as excited as we are when you see them.

Again, I thank you wholeheartedly for your patience and support and I am looking forward to continuing this historic journey with you.

Karren Brady
Vice-Chairman