West Ham owners see Olympic stadium crucial to future

West Ham United's new owners say moving to the London Olympic stadium is a crucial part of their future.

There has also been progress on their proposed new training ground, with planning permission granted. Already taking shape are plans to lay three pitches at the new 29-acre site at Rush Green near Romford, amid concerns that the surface at the old training ground in Chadwell Heath may be contributing to injury problems.

David Gold is also keen to press on with talks about moving the Hammers to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford after the Games in 2012.

"We need that stadium to be part of the programme," Gold told the Daily Mail. "We’ll try to persuade the Government and those involved that we are the best way forward. As an athletics stadium, you’ll get 5,000 people there on three weekends a year. It doesn’t make any economic sense. To claim you’re leaving that as a legacy is like saying we’ll leave it to rot."