“The Olympic Stadium: How the Hammers Struck Gold” will run this Thursday, August 6th at 19.00 on BBC1 London, and available on iPlayer afterwards for 30 days.
It is never a good idea to assume how the media will treat a topic, but the programme makers have interviewed Steve Clarke and Richard Hunt on camera at the Valley, and had full access to all our research work on the issue.
So we urge everyone to watch it, record it and tell everyone about it!
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Comments
Have any other trusts had an input and Been interviewed
A few days ago @MuttleyCAFC wrote
I could be wrong, but I suspect that the trust are sitting by a massive bonfire with a box of matches in their hand.
If that's true, then Thursday 7.00 is the moment when we strike the match and light up...
And it's not because I am impatient just interested in how balanced the issues are going to be laid out
I believe it was even suggested that two of Britain's richest men may, a few years down the line, be about to become a whole lot richer, courtesy of a taxpayers' money and the malleability of certain politicians and government quangos. Perish the thought.
I'm sure that West Ham's directors will have every opportunity to comment but, in truth, no one is pointing the finger at them; on the contrary, they have a fiduciary duty to do the best they can for the club (although, in this case, there is an identity of interest, as the owners stand to make a packet).
The Trust are right - this is a very important issue and we need to make people aware of it.
Regarding West Ham and the programme; in fact when first commissioned (the producer is independent) it was expected to be a touchy-feely story of Olympic legacy and West Ham moving into a beautiful new stadium. But having got agreement in principal for their participation, the producer became puzzled when West Ham, the LLDC, and Newham all suddenly backed away from it. This was in April. By coincidence that was when we sent out our last press release and he came across us, and the series of articles in the Guardian. And he said to himself, hang on, there is a completely different story here...He told us all that when we met for filming, just before POTY in May.
The LLDC CEO appears. He claims that all the State Aid claims are dead and that all the details of the deal are public and transparent. Unfortunately for him, the film then cuts to some bloke with a strange gleam in his eyes, waving a load of papers where all you can see is the black ink of redaction :-)
West Ham continued to blank the producer until, apparently, the last couple of weeks when they started to get very twitchy and demand to know what's in the programme. "Of course" said the producer " just let us know when we can turn up with the film team, and then we can discuss everything..."
It's a classic case of how not to handle the media.
If you are on Twitter, everyone, please Tweet news of the programme.
#howthehammersstruckgold
#stadiumwindfall
Although as an institution the museum remains neutral on the Olympic Stadium issue.
Don't lets peak too early:-)
Edit. Henry has spotted his spelling error. You're welcome :-)
Or Prague has imagined the entire thing !
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcone/programmes/schedules/london/2015/08/06
Programme details:
The Olympic Stadium: How the Hammers Struck Gold
BBC1 London Thursday August 6th 2015 7pm
It’s costing taxpayers hundreds of millions to convert the Olympic Stadium into a home fit for West Ham Football Club. With the amount spiralling, BBC Sports Editor Dan Roan investigates a deal that was shrouded in secrecy and has left us footing the bill while making the club owners even richer.
And I really hope that the Valiant efforts of the Trust and others ultimately gain the momentum to achieve a fitting result.
Having sown the seeds of a seismic shift I would hate for them this to see this end in a whitewash or a feeble compromise.
Great stuff, PA, Steve Clarke & co !
And I think that's a show that is shown across all regions. Not sure they'd move it to be honest.
Looking forward to the programme - please help spread the word on social media everyone - should be of serious interest to all UK taxpayers and football fans everywhere!