This week it’s anticipated that Companies House will rubber stamp the changes in the West Ham ownership structure following the sale of the Gold family shares, but where does the leave Amanda Staveley?
It is a lingering question as to what is expected to come next, with it being felt by many in east London that we haven’t seen the end of the saga just yet.
Staveley has made no secret of her desire to be a big part of West Ham, in fact she undoubtedly wants a huge piece and possibly all of the club in the long run – and this hasn’t just been a recent spark of interest.
The desire has been in the works for a long time, with the former Newcastle Director understood to have been given a tour of the clubs training ground by Tripp Smith many many months ago. She has been seen touring the stadium and grounds, and has even been to a game to cheer on our Hammers this season.
This was followed up by making a formal move to buy shares, which was accepted by Vanessa Gold – however Kretinsky moved and made sure he got himself into a strong position.
But what now? Is it over for Staveley? I do not believe so.
In fact, I think the structure of the setup now in place by Kretinksky has it primed and ready for Staveley to come in and buy-out both David Sullivan and Tripp Smith – which would see her take 51% of the club.
It is interesting to note that Kretinsky wanted them both to have that balance of shares. So it was ready for someone to come in.
But, the next hurdle is buying the shares.
Sullivan has already stressed that he won’t sell up until we are a Premier League club. Which is code for : I want Premier League money.
Well, yes she could offer that now – but will she? I can’t imagine right now. West Ham are a Championship club and there are no guarantees that we are going up this season. So, it would be a rather big risk to take if Staveley was going to cough up the dough to get hold of those shares right now.
The most likely situation is that she sits and waits, waits for West Ham to hopefully do the business this season – and should we be in line for Premier League football next season – Staveley will launch her next move to finally get a seat at the table in east London.
