By Paul Nicholson
April 13 – With the spotlight back on the detail of the deal made by West Ham with the London Legacy Development Corporation for their move to tenancy at the Olympic Stadium, more evidence was provided that the need for the club to get a bigger home was provided last weekend with another sell out at the Boleyn ground with just 39 seats left unfilled.
West Ham will move to London’s Olympic Stadium for the start of next season. The stadium is completing the final phase of a reconfiguration for football use that is costing about £250 million (the original stadium build cost £700 million for the 2012 games). West Ham are contributing £15 million to the revamp and will hold a 99-year lease at the 60,000 capacity stadium.
Originally West Ham argued that they would be taking significant risk with a move to the Olympic Stadium, saying they might not fill it. But with the team almost certain to be playing European football next season, and possibly in the Champions League, plus current high demand for tickets and the fact the Olympic Stadium and Olympic Park are a draw in their own right, it is hard to see the club struggling in the new venue.
Swansea are another club that are not struggling in their stadium with the Swans again reporting an attendance larger than their official capacity for the Liberty Stadium.
Attendance for round 33 of Premier League fixtures nine out the 10 home teams were over 94% in terms of capacity filled. This included Sunderland who have struggled at times this season to get over 90% capacity as they have battled against relegation.
Aston Villa again filled the bottom place in the stadium capacity ranking for the week with 72% of their capacity filled. Of the 21,017 seats unfilled across the league, 11,731 were at an increasingly miserable Villa Park.
Round 33 Premier League attendances
Season to date Premier League attendances
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