Whichever way you dress it up, mixing athletics and football in one stadium doesn't work says Andy Gray.
Athletics and football don't mix in one stadium, says Andy
During the 2008 Champions League final in Moscow I remember thinking 'this atmosphere is good, but not special'.
That's no reflection on the Manchester United or Chelsea fans, who were great, but the running track that separated the supporters from the game.
I've always felt that a gap between the players and the fans doesn't help to generate a special atmosphere unless you also have a crowd close to 100,000.
Otherwise, there's always something missing, there's that sense of detachment.
I can recall playing at Stamford Bridge in the old days when everybody was miles away from the pitch and it was never the same as having the crowd right on top of you.
It's one of the reasons why I'll always look forward to going to somewhere like the Allianz Arena over the Luzhniki Stadium, even if its capacity is smaller.
Ridiculous
If Spurs get their way and move to Stratford, the first thing they'll do is demolish the Olympic Stadium and replace it - and the athletics track inside - with a purpose-built football ground.
From a spectators' point of view, I wouldn't blame them, but I don't think the powers-that-be can allow that to happen.
It would be ridiculous to spend millions of pounds of tax-payers money on a stadium for 2012 only to knock it down almost straight away.
I don't get that, I really don't. I think the whole country, not to mention British Athletics and everyone connected with the Olympics, would be up in arms.
When it comes to Spurs moving, they are not the only ones.
Last Sunday I saw how upset some fans are about the proposal when we covered their game against Manchester United.
A large section of the crowd beneath our studio at White Hart Lane made their opposition clear in no uncertain terms, hoping they would be heard on air.
I understand their concern.
Taking a club with its roots very firmly in north London and transplanting it in east London is a very different proposition from moving a club like Manchester City from Maine Road to Eastlands.
Both involve uprooting history and tradition, but for Spurs there would be a fundamental change of identity too.
Compete
The money men argue that moving to Stratford will help to put Spurs on a sounder financial footing to compete with the likes of Arsenal and United.
But they can do that in north London by building a new stadium, like Arsenal have done, or by improving what they've already got - just as United have done at Old Trafford - rather than by transplanting the club to another part of the city altogether.
Spurs already have permission to increase their capacity to 56,000, which would make White Hart Lane considerably bigger then Eastlands or Stamford Bridge; they should concentrate their efforts there.
It's different for West Ham - they are an east London club; in terms of geography, at least, it makes perfect sense for them to move.
Upton Park is a ground that can't really be redeveloped or modernised in the way the club would like because of where it is situated, so why shouldn't they move to a ready-made facility that otherwise is only going to be used something like 10 times a year?
Favourites
I'm sure a lot of fans would be sorry to leave Upton Park with all its history but they would only be moving three miles or so.
Many other clubs have moved from their spiritual homes and started a new chapter in their history, such as Arsenal when they swapped Highbury for the Emirates.
Fans will always have their memories of Highbury and no-one can take them away and the same goes for West Ham fans.
Yes, there are concerns about filling a 60,000-seater stadium but there are also many like Tony Cottee who see it - if the running track can be moved to Crystal Palace or elsewhere - as the perfect home.
I don't know what the powers that be think the best decision is; if it comes down to geography, then West Ham are favourites. If it's a matter of filling a ground week-in, week-out then Spurs have a much stronger case.
The one thing I don't want to see is the Olympic Stadium demolished, which as things stand seems to leave only one option on the table.
For more, watch this Monday's Special Report, called 'Olympic Stadium: Decision Time', at 7.30pm on Sky Sports News HD (channel 455).
