Premier League

WEST HAM’S Boleyn Ground hosted its last-ever match in 2016. The Hammers said goodbye to what had been their home for 112 years after a thrilling 3-2 win over Manchester United.
West Ham played its last game at the Boleyn Ground in 2016Credit: Getty
Beating Manchester United 3-2Credit: Getty Images – Getty
The ground was demolished after being sold to property developersCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Part of the stadium was blown up for the 2018 film final scoreCredit: Twitter
And it is now the site of apartmentsCredit: Alamy
There are 842 flats in totalCredit: Alamy
All of which have been reserved – and totalling around £340million in saleCredit: Alamy
The historic stadium was the setting for West Ham’s European Cup Winners’ Cup semi-final victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in 1976, a nervy FA Cup quarter-final victory over Aston Villa in 1980 and Paolo Di Canio’s stunning scissor-kick goal against Wimbledon in 2000.
It was also the breeding ground for club and country heroes like World Cup winners Geoff Hurst, Bobby Moore and Martin Peters, as well as more recent internationals Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, Rio Ferdinand and Declan Rice.
The Boleyn Ground, also known as Upton Park, was also home to Charlton Athletic in the early 1990s while The Valley was redeveloped following the Bradford City Stadium fire.
But the Hammers opted to look to the future rather than at the past and moved on for pastures new as they switched the East End for Stratford and became the tenants of the 2012 Olympic venue, the London Stadium.
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After West Ham’s departure from the Boleyn Ground, it was sold off to property developers for a reported £38million.
The stadium was then demolished, partly by builders and partly as part of a film shoot as it was the set for the 2018 action flick Final Score, starring Pierce Brosnan and Dave Bautista.
It was also featured in the 2005 film Green Street based on West Ham’s hooligan fans and their rivalry with Millwall.
It has since been converted into 842 stunning flats called Upton Gardens.
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The properties vary in price with one-bed flats valued at £350,000 and two-bed maisonettes priced at least at £486,000 – with the total value of the flats in the region of £340million.
While there are no longer the towering castles and the old ‘Chicken Run’ stand there are a few nods to the area’s sporting past.
SunSport has been told that the legacy of the site and its importance to West Ham have been preserved with the theme for the entire public realm being “bubbles” – after the club’s iconic “Forever Blowing Bubbles” song.
This connection runs through the design of the lattice work on the balconies, the public artwork and wider landscaping – including Legacy Walk which forms a green throughway at the centre of the scheme, celebrating the history of the former football ground.
The other Hammers-inspired features at Upton Gardens include public seating based on its East Stand colonnade and statuettes around the development.
Some of the flats have stunning views of LondonCredit: https://www.barratthomes.co.uk/new-homes/london/
While others have some outside spaceCredit: https://www.barratthomes.co.uk/new-homes/london/
The apartments have a modern designCredit: https://www.barratthomes.co.uk/new-homes/london/
While there are some nods to the Hammers in the developmentCredit: https://www.barratthomes.co.uk/new-homes/london/
There is also an open space where the old centre circle would have been.
The development boasts a residents’ gym and a concierge service.
There were also plans to build a cafe and a library.
The old ground had taken its name from its former tenant football team Boleyn Castle, which is what the ground was known locally as.

This is because of its association with King Henry VIII’s second wife Anne Boleyn, who was thought to have owned the building during her life.
The ground was temporarily closed during World War Two after a V-1 flying bomb fell on the southwest corner of the pitch, forcing West Ham to play at other grounds while it was repaired.
West Ham is now based at the London StadiumCredit: Getty
Which hosted the 2012 London OlympicsCredit: Getty More

HOW could Brighton afford to turn down Arsenal’s £70million offer for Moises Caicedo in January?Because they had already raked in more than £200m from selling players – and staff – to the Gunners and other Premier League rivals in the preceding 18 months or so.
Moises Caicedo could be the next Brighton star to be sold for a huge sumCredit: Getty
To put that figure into context, the Seagulls’ total income for 2021/22 was £175m.
And yet this season they are threatening to finish in the highest position in the club’s history because their sophisticated production line of talent is showing no signs of slowing down.
Apart from Brighton themselves, it is Arsenal, their title-chasing opponents on Sunday at the Emirates, who have been the biggest beneficiaries of the Seagulls’ brilliant recruitment.
Centre back Ben White cost them £50m in summer 2021 and has been an integral part of their improvement. Leandro Trossard followed White to North London from the South Coast in January for an initial £21m.
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Even if the Gunners fail to win the title that seemed to be in their grasp, the cash boost of returning to the Champions League will more than cover the cost of their purchases from Brighton.
Newcastle will also feel they have got value for money for Dan Burn, signed last summer for £13m.
But as Caicedo and fellow central midfielder Alexis Mac Allister consider whether they should seek a big move this summer, they should pause for thought.
Because the grass isn’t always greener. And everyone is replaceable.
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Chelsea shelled out £55m, rising to a possible £62m, on left back Marc Cucurella, after the Spaniard had one good season for the Seagulls in the Premier League.
Then the Blues’ new owners spent £21.5m to poach head coach Graham Potter and his backroom staff, plus head of recruitment Paul Winstanley.
Potter and most of his entourage have already left Stamford Bridge and a lot of Chelsea fans would love to see Cucurella follow them. Both men, to an extent, are victims of the chaos at Stamford Bridge under the new regime.
Winstanley might yet prove his worth – but only if his skills prove more transferable from the Amex.
In the meantime, Cucurella’s replacement Pervis Estupinan (a £15m snip from Champions League semi-finalists Villarreal) and new boss Roberto De Zerbi have hit the ground running, and then some.
It’s worth remembering that Caicedo himself – who cost £3.6m two years ago – was a bit-part player for Brighton last season.
He stepped up to become a first-team regular because of the summer departure of Yves Bissouma to Tottenham for £25m, rising to £30m.
Leandro Trossard and Ben White were sold to Arsenal for £71m combinedCredit: Getty
Alexis Mac Allister is being linked with a big-money move to Man UtdCredit: Getty
Kaoru Mitoma has been a breakout star in the Premier LeagueCredit: Getty
The Seagulls have missed neither Bissouma nor Neal Maupay, who has done little to justify the £15m fee Everton paid for him.
In Maupay’s place, teenage sensation Evan Ferguson is increasing his value with almost every appearance.
Arguably the most brilliant signing of them all is £2.5m breakout star Kaoru Mitoma. The Japan international, had already displaced Trossard as first choice on the left wing of De Zerbi’s team before the Belgian departed for nearly 10 times the fee that the Seagulls paid for Mitoma in 2021.
Brighton may even have already found the next Mitoma. Winger Simon Adingra, signed from Danish club Nordsjaelland last summer for £6m, has been on loan this season at Union Saint-Gilloise, the Belgian club owned by Seagulls supremo Tony Bloom where Mitoma spent last year.
The Ivorian, 21, recorded 11 goals and nine assists in 30 games to send USG into the current play-offs – better stats than Mitoma managed.
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So no-one at the Amex will be panicking if so-called big clubs come up with the huge sums that will be necessary to sign Caicedo, Mac Allister or any of their other players.
Brighton will have already lined up their replacements. Or upgrades. More