The famous John Lyall Gates have now taken up residence, pride of place, in West Ham United’s new Stadium Store on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Three leaves of the iconic gates departed the Boleyn Ground on Monday and have since been installed in the Hammers’ megastore at the former Olympic Stadium.
When the new Stadium Store officially opens its doors to supporters in the summer, the gates will stand pride of place, as a poignant tribute to John Lyall’s outstanding contribution to the Football Club.
Three leaves of the iconic gates departed the Boleyn Ground on Monday and have since been installed in the Hammers’ megastore at the former Olympic Stadium.
When the new Stadium Store officially opens its doors to supporters in the summer, the gates will stand pride of place, as a poignant tribute to John Lyall’s outstanding contribution to the Football Club.
Son Murray said he and the Lyall family are happy that the gates named in his father’s honour will be in position for fans to pay their respects for years to come.
“We’re honoured that Karren Brady has delivered on her promise to take the John Lyall Gates with us to the new Stadium,” he said.
“That means so much to us as a family.
“Dad left a great legacy at Upton Park and the gates are testimony to that. I think he’d have been thrilled about the move.
“He’d have said the timing was right and obviously since the new owners have come in, they’ve taken the Club forward on many, many fronts. The culmination of it is the move to the new Stadium.”
Project Manager Pat Brennan explained that the intention was always to stay as true as possible to the gates’ original look and feel and is delighted with the finished article, even if the imposing gates presented a logistical challenge or two.
“There were a few quirks and conundrums but they’ve gone in really well and we’re really pleased,” he confirmed.
“They look really good. The challenge initially was to give them the look and the feel from the Boleyn.
“Then, bearing in mind the design work, we wanted to give them a gate-like look as opposed to a screen look which would have been simpler. We went for a more complicated structure solution with a cleaner design and I think we’ve done really well.”
Brennan went onto explain the necessity to remove the gates from the Boleyn Ground some weeks before the end of the season.
“The gates was a major piece of work for us,” he explained. “They had to be removed from the Boleyn fairly early on in the process hence their installation at this stage of the project. We’ve had to leave certain sections of the floor out and tile around that. It’s a big sequence of considerations and tasks.”
And with many a West Ham fan working on the project, Brennan is safe in the knowledge that Hammers fans will be suitably impressed with what they see.
He continued: “The fans will be really pleased. We have West Ham supporters working at the Stadium. The initial feedback from the guys who know what’s going on has been a real thumbs-up and has been really positive.”
One such fan, welder John Britnell, worked on the installation himself and expressed his pride in being involved in such a project.
“Perfect, in my opinion,” he said of the gates’ new home. “It’s brilliant. I’m well chuffed. As you know on this site, everything is really top shop.”
Brennan, meanwhile, took the opportunity to update supporters on the excellent progress being made in the new Stadium Store.
The Hammers’ huge new retail space is nearly three times bigger than the current Stadium Store and will means tens of thousands of supporters can enjoy a wider choice of products and much quicker service every matchday.
“It’s going well,” Brennan confirmed. “At this stage you want to get the polish on the job, the precision and detail. There is a visual side but there are obviously a lot of decisions to be made to make things work.
“The shop has to work as a retail outfit and the warehouse has to perform as a warehouse facility, so there’s that side of it. But across the board it’s so far, so good.”