West Ham United

Slaven Bilic: 'Olympic Stadium alone will not guarantee our development'

By Christopher Dodd, Reporter | 02 October 2015

West Ham United boss Slaven Bilic suggests that moving into the Olympic Stadium will not guarantee that the Hammers will automatically transform into a "big club".

West Ham United coach Slaven Bilic has stated that the club's new stadium alone will not transform the Hammers into a "big club".

The East London side are due to move into the 54,000-capacity Olympic Stadium next season, and Bilic has insisted that the Premier League side will need to make progress in other areas to ensure that they are able to develop in line with their new home.

"If you go to a nightclub and have to pay hundreds of pounds to walk in, you can't go in with £100 or you're going to have to go to the toilet to drink water," said Bilic, according to Sky Sports News.

"We have a great stadium now but the stadium by itself will not make us a big club. Today you can't become big without one but it's not only the stadium, it is everything - the whole infrastructure.

"When you are building houses you need a school, a hospital, a cinema, a swimming pool - it's the same with a club. When you're building a club you need a team to match that. You can't expect the same team to play better just because you move into a stadium."

West Ham currently hold third place in the Premier League standings after seven games of the new season.