West Ham launch joint bid for Olympic Stadium

English Premiership football side West Ham have launched a joint bid to occupy the 2012 London Olympic Stadium once the Games are over.

Would-be tenants for the 537 million pounds (809 million dollars) venue, were invited formally to make expressions of interest by the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) here on Tuesday.

West Ham, whose existing Upton Park home ground in east London is close to the Olympic Park, which in the nearby borough of Stratford, have launched a joint bid with the local Newham Council to occupy the stadium so as to ensure “it provides a viable and lasting legacy”.

Under current plans, the 80,000 seater Olympic Stadium is due to be reduced in size to a 25,000 capacity venue complete with an athletics track.

But there are concerns an athletics stadium alone will not be economically viable, leaving taxpayers to pick up the bill for running costs years after the 2012 Olympics have ended.

David Gold and David Sullivan, the new co-owners of West Ham, have expressed an interest in relocating the club to the Olympic Stadium.

West Ham vice-chairman Karen Brady said on Tuesday: “We are very excited to be working with Newham and are already bursting with some fantastic and innovative ideas.

“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,” he added.

“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.”