President Barack Obama’s favorite footie club, West Ham United, could undergo a radical identity change if the club’s new vice-chairman has her way.
Karren Brady, who was appointed vice-chairman of the Hammers by the new joint chairmen, David Sullivan and David Gold, just this month, fancies the idea of changing the club’s venerable, and 110-year-old, name from “West Ham United” to “West Ham Olympic.” Brady is an enthusiastic supporter of a proposed move to the under-construction Olympic Stadium in Stratford, about 4 miles west of the club’s current home. Discussing the move she said, “[t]he target I find most bracing is to move the club away from the Boleyn, which does no more than serve a purpose, and take it to – where else? – the 2012 Olympic Stadium only a couple of miles away…[the move makes sense] in so many positive ways that I think opponents of the move must be blind or a bit crazy.”
Brady, who boasts an outdated website that still lists her with Birmingham City, went on to make the comment that will drive supporters up the hamm-, er, up the wall, “I love the idea of calling the club West Ham Olympic.” Of course, UK law affords strong protection to the International Olympic Committee and their precious brand, so such a change is rather unlikely. But a move to the Olympic Stadium, once pondered by Tottenham Hotspur, does now seem more and more of a possibility.
