How the London Stadium could look if Daniel Kretinsky makes major change | OneFootball

West Ham's co-owner has already laid out plans to remove the running track to make the London Stadium more suited to football

Daniel Kretinsky has only been West Ham's new majority owner for just over a week, but he's already putting plans in place to ensure that the new era at the London Stadium is a very exciting one.

The Czech billionaire and owner of Royal Mail is set to increase his stake from 27% to 43% per reports earlier this month, after buying a portion of shares from Vanessa Gold.

This will lead to Kretinsky overtaking David Sullivan's stake of 38.8%, and multiple plans are already being drawn up to improve the club both on and off the field as a result.

One of which, according to Claret and Hugh, is to correct the London Stadium so it is better suited to hosting football, which would start with the removal of the running track around the stadium, leading to the seats being brought forward.

It's been a gripe of Hammers fans and a reason for mockery from away fans that the crowds are so far away from the action ever since the club moved into the 62,500-capacity stadium a decade ago from the Boleyn Ground, which was credited for being a traditional 'fortress,' especially in its latter years under Slavan Bilic.

How would the London Stadium look without the running track around the ground

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It's no secret that West Ham's ground was initially designed to host athletics, with the formerly known Olympic Stadium opening in time for London to host the famous games in 2012.

It's been 10 years since it was remodelled for football by reducing the capacity from the original 80,000, but with that update, the running track remained, much to the disgruntlement of West Ham fans.

But, new majority shareholder Daniel Kretinsky looks to be putting plans in place to remove it, which begs the question of what it may look like in the future once those much-needed improvements are put in place.

FLW turned to popular AI-based service ChatGPT to generate an image of what it thinks the London Stadium could look like without a running track and with seats closer to the action, and it came up with this.

ChatGPT

Already, the ground looks a lot more intimate, and one that you can imagine will be a bit more threatening to away teams who come to the London Stadium in the Championship next season.

West Ham won just six of their 19 home games in the Premier League last season and five in the 2024/25 campaign. Evidently, it's been quite an easy place for sides to come and take points, but hopefully, this advancement will change that.

How losing the running track would benefit West Ham in their Championship return

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West Ham haven't played in the Championship in 14 years. Since then, they've been a side who, at times, have finished in European places in the Premier League, and they won the UEFA Conference League back in 2023.

Their recent pedigree will make them a big target for second-tier sides next season, and the fact that they'll be welcoming those outfits to a 62,500-capacity ground will make West Ham feel like plenty of teams' cup finals.

The Hammers will be facing the best versions of each side they play at home, so they need to make it as intimidating and as threatening a place to come play as possible. Moving the running track would help increase that atmosphere.

Additionally, and putting it plainly, it would enhance the viewing experience for those in the crowd, who won't feel like they are miles away from the action, despite being in one of the front few rows.

West Ham need to find their identity again, and listening to fan feedback and finally removing the running track will go a long way to doing so.