From the Boardroom - David Gold

Joint-Chairman David Gold reflects on the Europa League draw

The excitement is now building from the board and the fans after the draw was made for the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round.


We will be facing Shakhtyor Soligorsk of Belarus or NK Domžale of Slovenia and we are now getting ever closer to our first ever game at the new Stadium.


We have a Club now that can win things and the Europa League is a competition that we can do very well in. We have won the right to dream now.


You want to avoid the bigger teams in the early stages and this is a great opportunity if we want to give our talented group of youngsters the experience of playing on the European stage.


We have learned from the experiences of last year and all the players are better off twelve months on.


We have a number of talented youngsters like Reece Oxford, Reece Burke, Martin Samuelsen, Josh Cullen, Sam Byram, Toni Martinez who are knocking on the first-team door.


I have no doubts that these youngsters could be playing in the first-team this year.


I was at the new Stadium this week to have a tour around our magnificent new home and I know our fans will be very pleased when they come to the first game. This is the culmination of a six-year project.


The magnificent new roof will create a fantastic atmosphere inside the Stadium and there is claret and blue throughout the stands and concourses which makes it feel like home.


We went for a coffee inside our state-of-the art Club Store and I bumped into our new signing Ashley Fletcher who was also at the new Stadium.


We had a good discussion and even though you see him as a young man, he is strong and athletic and is a very intelligent individual.


I will be very surprised if he doesn't make an impact at West Ham United.


I genuinely don't think we have ever had a crop of young players in my time here who are knocking on the door like the ones we have now. These are serious young talented players.


I can assure all our supporters that we are still working hard behind the scenes to bring new players into the squad and have many irons in the fire.


There is still a long way to go before the transfer window closes.


David Sullivan is working relentlessly to push these players over the line and nobody is better than him at getting the best possible deals.