BIG FISH EAT SMALL FISH.. AND WE’RE GOING TO TURN WEST HAM INTO ONE OF THE BIG FISH
AS he watches the thousands stream up to the revamped Olympic stadium that is West Ham United’s new home, David Gold feels a deep sense of reassurance.
“It was the chance of a lifetime to come here,” he said. “We had to take it.”
The Premier League comes to the arena – now called the London Stadium – this afternoon when Bournemouth visit East London.
And the sight of 57,000 fans converging on the new base vindicates the decision of Gold and co-owner David Sullivan to leave behind the Boleyn Ground that had been home to West Ham for more than a century.
“When the opportunity first arose, of course, I had doubts,” said Gold, who was born a few hundred yards from the Boleyn, had supported the club and played for the youth team.
“I just thought about how much that ground had meant to me over the years. The good times, the bad ones, the Chicken Run … I feared I would leave behind all those great memories.
“Then I realised – you don’t lose memories. They will always be with me. This was the chance to make West Ham a bigger club. One of the biggest, we hope.
“There was this reputation that West Ham were a selling club, one of the small fish. In business, I have a maxim: ‘Big fish eat small fish’. How do you stop that? You become a big fish. And that is the plan for West Ham. We want to be a big fish.”
A multi-million pound revamp means that West Ham have an iconic new base, but Gold, 80 next month, made it clear he has sympathy with traditionalists who wanted to stay at the Boleyn.
“Many thousands of fans wanted to know why we couldn’t stay at the Boleyn and improve it and increase the capacity,” he said.
“Quite simply, we couldn’t. Health and safety wouldn’t allow it, local residents would object, the transport system couldn’t handle it. It was difficult enough without any expansion.
“It was often quicker to walk from Barking or Forest Gate than take the car. I was driving to the ground one day and saw a friend and offered him a lift. He declined. ‘No thanks, David, I’m in a hurry!’ was his answer.
“No, the only way to take this club forward was to move.”
And West Ham start the season in a much healthier position than the one Gold, Sullivan and Karren Brady inherited in the January of 2010.
Gold and his team took over the club – with £100 million of debt. What did they find? “A badly run club and we had to get the shop in order,” Gold explained.
“Karren did a fantastic job. She is a Rottweiler when it comes to issues like that. There were so many things to sort out … and she did it. She goes in where angels fear to tread. Yes, some people went. Call it getting rid of dead wood, if you want. But she also has this ability to recognise the good people and she kept them, encouraged them.”
The first manager appointed by the new regime was Avram Grant.
“The interview he gave was tremendous,” said Gold.
“He had experience and he had enthusiasm. Yes, it turned out to be a mistake. It just didn’t gel. But if you make decisions, you make mistakes. The only people who don’t make mistakes are those who never make a decision.
“Looking back, we should have parted company in the Christmas of that season. But hindsight is a great thing.”
Then came the arrival of Sam Allardyce.
A vocal section of West Ham support never warmed to the man who is now the new England manager.
But Gold said: “He did exactly what we asked him to do – he got us promoted from the Championship and into the Premier League. And he kept us there.
“We also backed him financially. I mean, Kevin Nolan was essentially a Premier League player and we had to pay him Premier League wages. But Sam wanted him and we bought him.
“But, while he had a good relationship with the board, the relationship with some of the fans was not the best. But I want to make it clear – he did exactly what we asked him to do.” And now there is the era of Slaven Bilic.
And his first season was encouraging, to say the least, as Gold and the board brought in the players the new manager wanted. Including Dimitri Payet.
Payet shone during the last Premier League season and then with France in the Euros.
Come the close season and he was a wanted man … in Europe and in the new football empire of China.
“What do you do when that happens? First, you give him a new contract, which we did,” said Gold.
“And Dimitri works for a man whose man-management is superb. He loves the club and the fans love him.
“His family are settled and one of his boys is at the club academy. And, just as important, his wife loves the life here in England. It is the perfect storm.
“But look, if Barcelona come in and offer him £ 1million a week and us £100m as a fee, then he goes. Even the