SAM Allardyce believes a move to the Olympic Stadium in 2016 can be as good for West Ham as the switch to the Reebok was for his old club Wanderers.
Hammers boss Allardyce still regards the Whites home stadium as one of the best in the country.
And while he sympathises with reluctant Irons fans who are against a switch from Upton Park, he says the move is inevitable if the club is to move to the next level after seeing first-hand the impact of the Reebok during his eight-year tenure at the Bolton helm.
Allardyce told the London Evening Standard: “There will inevitably be some who will not want to leave Upton Park.
“It was the same at Bolton and what made things even more difficult was that the new stadium was at Horwich, seven miles out of town.
“Bolton fans were anxious but they came to realise that the club could never have progressed had they remained at Burnden Park.
“The club began to attract top players because it made progress on the field and the new stadium was integral to that.
“The Reebok was already up and running when I was appointed manager in 1999.
“I had a look around the place and realised this impressive new stadium had provided Bolton with an opportunity to go places it had only ever dreamed about before.”
The capacity of the Reebok may be just more than half the proposed 54,000 West Ham envisage will be accommodated at Stratford.
But Allardyce says facilities and not size is the main issue.
“I still believe the Reebok is one of the best venues in English football yet its capacity is less than 29,000.
“Not only was it a superb football stadium when it was built but it was also all-encompassing as far as the local community was concerned. It has function rooms of varying sizes, it has executive boxes, even a hotel.
“The Olympic Stadium will be almost twice as big and will also have great facilities.”
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