West Ham wins

West Ham United has won the battle to be declared preferred bidder to take over the Olympic stadium, in Stratford, East London, delivering defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

The Olympic Park Legacy Company confirmed at lunchtime on Friday that West Ham was deemed to have fulfilled more of the criteria set by the legacy body than its rival. Two government departments and the London Mayor’s office are expected to ratify the decision shortly.

It proved a hotly-contested battle but leaks earlier in the week made it an open secret that West Ham had won the day. A specific bone of contention had been Spurs’ plan to remove the athletics track inside the stadium. It wanted to redevelop the site into a football-only ground. The cost of both clubs’ schemes was also pivotal in the decision with West Ham’s development the cheaper of the two and requiring substantially less borrowings.