West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady offered newly-promoted Sheffield United and Norwich City a piece of advice by warning them not to try and survive in the Premier League on the cheap.
The businesswoman highlighted that Bournemouth previously managed to stay in the Premier League upon getting promoted on a small budget but claimed both clubs needed to buy the best players they could afford to survive.
While handing out advice, Brady commented on the current situation at the Hammers and revealed the London club had done well in the Premier League for two reasons.
The Hammers vice-chairman put the Hammers’ top-flight success down to having rich West Ham-supporting owners, David Gold and David Sullivan, and down to the fact the club called the London Stadium their home.
“West Ham have done well because we have rich Hammers supporters as owners and a 60,000 capacity stadium,” said Brady in her column for The Sun.
“That is roughly twice what Carrow Road or Bramall Lane can hold.”
OPINION
While Brady’s answer is predictable considering her place on the Hammers’ board, you thought she would have mentioned the club’s fans. After all the Hammers supporters are the ones constantly flocking into the London Stadium in order to make having such a large ground worthwhile. Yet instead she just focuses on the ground itself as well as the club’s owners. The Hammers do benefit in someways from playing their football in the London Stadium, but you can’t ignore how it has been a thorn in their side in recent seasons, and they do benefit from having owners willing to spend the cash in the summer. However it takes more than money and a nice stadium to stay in the Premier League. If that was all that it took then every owner would be going crazy with investing in their teams as it would be a safe bet and the likes of Newcastle United probably wouldn’t be in the top-flight. The Magpies have a beautiful stadium in the form of St James Park, but they don’t exactly have a owner who supports the club and goes wild with how much he spends in the transfer market.