Olas v Newcastle

A recent study claimed the Boleyn was the one of if not the quietest ground in the Premier league, now I do find that hard to believe, I realise it's not the wall of noise that we had back in the old days when terracing wrapped around the stadium but I can't believe we are quieter than Arsenal, and considering the study was done this season I still struggle to see how that outcome was reached. This season has been refreshing in the difference in the performances compared to last season, the crowd has been a buzz from before kick offs let alone during the games, and it has been a joy coming to games. Even in defeat this season 3 out of the 4 defeats have been by the odd goal in games where justifiably you could argue West Ham didn't deserve to lose. I'm often asked what I know think of BFS and the change he has brought about,infact it's such a change it's as if he's going through a male menopause. I normally just say I think Big Sam has been kidnapped by aliens and replaced with a carbon copy who looks the same, speaks the same, but Footballing wise is the complete opposite to what he used to be.
Back to us fans and what the future make up of us will be. It's no big surprise that the local supporter is a dying breed if not virtually extinct, I'm not sure how many in the ground today were born in West Ham or the surrounding environs but it will be a significant minority, with the move as well, opening up the ability of getting in to games much easier with the 20,000 extra seats available, the rise of football tourism will only continue. West Ham already has a healthy amount of foreign support attending here, but majority of them are supporters of the club, the reason I mention this is on Monday I met with a company that are looking to set up a business to enable fans from abroad, predominately Chinese at first, to experience football in the company of other fans, so they get the authentic football experience, basically the host fan will act as a tour guide for the day. I went mainly out of curiosity, I'm not a great lover of football tourists, especially after the Argentina v Croatia game held at this very ground recently were the majority around me seemed more interested in getting selfies with Messi in the background than they did watching the game, but perhaps I could be of use as a so called host. After the meeting I must admit I'm not convinced, my initial scepticism was not eased. West Ham are not a club the Chinese take great interest in and I got the feeling that the ones using this service wouldn't actually enjoy a pint in the Boleyn, pie mash in Nathan's before legging it into the ground just as the teams walk out. They'd want something different, which considering they would be paying for this service is no surprise, but as I pointed out, it wouldn't be the authentic experience if it was fine dinning and a chance to meet Tony Cottee. Perhaps I am a dinosaur clinging to a bygone day, being by passed by modern football, but nearly everyone my age I speak to agrees that football was better in the eighties than it ever has been since the premier league was Born, but yet we still come. The move will see the end of football as we all know it, but the thought of having thousands of Chinese with no affection for the club, grabbing selfies in front of the Statue of Bobby in its new position in champions place outside the OS, fills me with dread. A bit of me realises that's not the modern PC outlook to have these days, but that's just the way I feel, genuinely worried about what will become of us once the end has come.
Still I could bring my fears up at the next SAB meeting as despite the wholesale sacking of all previous 120 members, and with only 65 spaces up for grabs, the club still saw fit to allow 1 half of the 2 SAB members that voted no to the OS back in, so I suppose I must be doing something right.