SHOCKING BETRAYAL EXPOSED! West Ham CEO’s JAW-DROPPING Proof of Funds REJECTED – Gold & Sullivan’s DIRTY “Outbid” TRICK That STOLE the Club in BOMBSHELL Tell-All!
David Sullivan braced for a hostile reception as Nuno Espirito Santo’s West Ham face Brentford on Monday night.
The Hammers United supporters’ group are planning to stage a protest during West Ham United’s upcoming televised fixture by boycotting the opening minutes of the match.
Their aim is to make a statement of dissatisfaction in front of the widest possible audience.
The protest follows growing unrest among fans, which intensified after the club’s Fan Advisory Board passed a vote of no confidence in the ownership.
During their last home game against Crystal Palace, roughly 4,000 supporters lined the streets to “welcome” co-owner David Sullivan to the London Stadium in a fiery display of frustration.
That game, notably, turned out to be Graham Potter’s final match in charge.
It is no secret that discontent has become commonplace at West Ham, but tensions now seem to have reached a particularly toxic level.
With only four points so far this season, the mood around the London Stadium has been bleak.
Manager Nuno Espirito Santo even used his pre-match press conference to plead for patience and support from the fanbase, admitting that his players need every ounce of backing they can get to turn things around.
Speaking on James Richardson’s Totally Extra podcast, Picfair CEO and lifelong West Ham supporter Benji Lanyado revisited a fascinating chapter in the club’s history — the day David Sullivan and the late David Gold took control after the financially troubled reign of Icelandic duo Eggert Magnusson and Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson.
Lanyado recalls the moment vividly because, surprisingly, he was the only other bidder during the takeover process.
A passionate fan with a background in business, he couldn’t resist the chance to at least try to buy the club he loved.
“This is real! I was outbid by Gold and Sullivan by maybe £80 million,” he said, explaining that the takeover took place around 2008, a time when Magnusson and Gudmundsson were hit hard by the Icelandic financial crash.
“There were administrators overseeing the process because West Ham’s owners were in deep financial trouble.
I emailed in, showed proof of funds — £350 at a Nationwide branch in Crouch End — and said some very nice words about Iceland, thinking that might help,” he joked.
Though his playful bid was ignored, Lanyado later discovered that the “enterprising fan” mentioned in media reports as the only other interested party was, in fact, himself.
“I hadn’t really thought through what owning West Ham would mean,” he laughed, “but I like to think I would have brought passion.
£350 might not sound like much, but Ken Bates once bought Chelsea for a pound!”
Former Hammers manager Alan Pardew also reflected on that turbulent period in the club’s history this week, taking aim at ex-chairman Eggert Magnusson during an appearance on talkSPORT.
Pardew, who guided West Ham from the Championship to an FA Cup final and a top-half Premier League finish, revealed he felt undermined almost immediately after Magnusson’s arrival in 2006. He was dismissed only weeks later, replaced by Alan Curbishley.
“I remember when I was manager at West Ham, we had an owner — I used to call him ‘The Egg’. God, he was a pain.
Useless,” Pardew recalled. “I’ll never forget one game where he was sat there with his head in his hands on camera. What chance do you have when your owner’s doing that?”
Drawing a comparison to the pressure managers face today, Pardew concluded with sympathy for the recently dismissed Ange Postecoglou, remarking, “So, I feel for Ange.”
