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West Ham United v Manchester City

7.55pm  6 January 2017

FA Cup, Third Round
West Ham United 0 Manchester City 5 (att 56,975)

These days the occasional need to recomplete a full set of 92 Premier League and Football League grounds can be a bit of a chore, and having heard many complaints about the suitability of the former Olympic Stadium for football I wasn't especially looking forward to a visit to Stratford.

Perhaps my low expectations helped, or perhaps it was a few pre-match pints in central London with my West Ham-supporting sister, but overall I enjoyed this experience far more than expected ... and no doubt a lot more than all the home fans.

As a contest it wasn't much of one, at least once City scored the second goal, which was followed moments later by their third. Detailed match reports of a game like this are available all over the internet, so there's not much point in elaborating here.

The view from my £25 upper tier seat was good. It's a long way from the pitch, but I've felt more distant from the action at other venues. I wouldn't have fancied one of the upper tier seats behind the goal though.

The London Stadium - as it's now called at least until a sponsor stumps enough cash for the naming rights - is impressive. It's far from ideal for football, but it's no more soulless than most the new-build plastic bowls that have been built to stage football in the last couple of decades.








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