Leyton Orient launch legal challenge against West Ham move to new stadium

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Leyton Orient have joined Tottenham Hotspur in launching legal action against West Ham United's proposed move to the Olympic Stadium.
Spurs applied for a judicial review against Newham Borough Council and Orient have now followed the same path.
Orient have also confirmed they will be making subsequent judicial review applications against the Government, Premier League, the Minister of Sport and the Mayor of London.
The club's owner and chairman, Barry Hearn,
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revealed that the point of law behind their action against Newham Borough Council is their £40million loan to the company which will be set-up to run the stadium after the Olympics and who will rent the venue to West Ham.
"The whole plan is that we do not want West Ham in the Olympic stadium, it is black and white, we think they are on our patch"
Hearn told Sky Sports News: "The whole plan is that we do not want West Ham in the Olympic Stadium,
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it is black and white, we think they are on our patch.
Big forces of evil

"We think various parties have acted unlawfully and illegally and they need to be called to task. We have started today with the official announcement we have submitted for judicial review an application request against Newham Borough Council.
"The £40million has been illegal and unlawful, it is not what a council should be doing, they do not have the powers and have acted beyond their powers to give this £40million loan.
"It represents a state subsidy, a subsidy of a Premier League football club which is against European and British competition laws, we are very solid in our case and we will pursue this to the bitter end.
"We follow this with judicial applications against the Government, the Minister of Sport, the Mayor of London, and we take action against the Premier League for breaching their own rules as well.
"This is an all-encompassing charge by Leyton Orient, a battle by the little man against the big forces of evil if you like, this represents a challenge to our future and we have no choice but to fight our corner, and we believe we have right on our side."
The Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) backed West Ham's bid to use the stadium after the games in February.

Source: Sky Sports News

Thoughts?
 
Cant these other clubs jsut face it that West Ham won the bid and move on.
 
cfc12345 said:
Cant these other clubs jsut face it that West Ham won the bid and move on.
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no, why should Leyton Orient just sit back and let West Ham United move in to their patch of London and put them under threat of going out of business?
 
I can sort of see their point of view. Bigger club like West Ham arriving at their doorstep, could potentially erode the ban base of Orient. Similar to building a Tescos next door to a smaller local shop-could potentially ruin the club. And if I'm not mistaken, th £40 million loan thing is in breach of EU comptetiveness laws or something too
 
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cfc12345 , i agree Tottenham should move on but Orient aren't appealing cos they didn't get it, they're appealing because they are the club that are closest to the stadium and they don't want west ham moving in next to them + it can cause financial difficulties for Orient and on top of that they don't think the council should be giving West Ham a £40M loan

EDIT: i was a bit late in the end but yeah
 
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The more I think about it, the less I want West Ham to have it. Nothing against West Ham, but it just bothers me that there's the chance of another traditional football club going out of business, and that the council which gave the loan for the move, could be responsible for this. Politically, it's not right either. Just don't want to see yet another club suffering as a result.
 
In all fairness to Leyton Orient, there not going to fill out the Olympic Stadium every week, or come close to filling it out- Like Spurs or West Ham probably would. They are in financial trouble however, I think its best for them to stay in their own ground, where surely the running costs, would be cheaper?
 
Giggles said:
In all fairness to Leyton Orient, there not going to fill out the Olympic Stadium every week, or come close to filling it out- Like Spurs or West Ham probably would. They are in financial trouble however, I think its best for them to stay in their own ground, where surely the running costs, would be cheaper?
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Not really a case of that. It's the fact there will be a much bigger club on their territory, and the fact that the council involved breached legislation (competitiveness rules set by the EU), by donating £40 million, which is a clear breach. It does have the potential to kill Orient.
 
Giggles said:
In all fairness to Leyton Orient, there not going to fill out the Olympic Stadium every week, or come close to filling it out- Like Spurs or West Ham probably would. They are in financial trouble however, I think its best for them to stay in their own ground, where surely the running costs, would be cheaper?
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They're not wanting to move into it, they just don't want West Ham taking away their business and potentially ruining the club.
 
Got to feel for Orient, if West Ham move to Olympic stadium, they will be able to charge cheaper tickets than most Premier League clubs and will be showing a better quality of football. Orient will undoubtedly suffer a drop in attendance and likely go out of business. Hope they win this but can't see it happening myself.
 
Joel` said:
They're not wanting to move into it, they just don't want West Ham taking away their business and potentially ruining the club.
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Oh right- I see now, that makes sense.

Hopefully Leyton Orient do win this case then, I'd hate to see any club go out of business.
 
If they fail first time, would they be able to try again, or is it a case of 1 strike and you're out?
 
ajt09 said:
If they fail first time, would they be able to try again, or is it a case of 1 strike and you're out?
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Pretty sure they'd be allowed to appeal. Their case sounds strong though under competition laws.
 
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