“The London Stadium made West Ham worse defensively. It’s an optical illusion and doesn’t have the ‘smell’ of football” Tony Gale on why his old side struggles on home soil

West Ham’s move from the Boleyn Ground to the London Stadium remains one of the most contentious stadium relocations in recent football history. “Slaven Bilic took us out of Upton Park and I enjoyed that period,” Gale tells FourFourTwo. You should feel like you’re coming up to a football ground, because it really doesn’t feel like that at present. It’s 20 to 25 minutes’ walk from Stratford station and it’s all wide open, not like the old cramped streets near Upton Park. The London Stadium doesn’t ‘smell’ of football.”