Post-London 2012 Olympic Stadium
During the Olympics, the stadium will have a capacity of 80,000, with the original plan to see it reduced to 25,000 after the Olympics to leave a sustainable legacy for London (ie no repeat of Beijing's white elephant). In recent weeks however, plans have been afoot to potentially see the stadium converted into a mixed-use stadium with the key tenants being either West Ham or Tottenham Hotspurs (two of London's major football sides).
Tottenham's plan would have seen the Olympic Stadium completely demolished for a purpose-built football stadium; athletics would be relocated to a modernised Crystal Palace stadium (located in south London) with a capacity of up to 45,000. West Ham's bid would involve the retention of the track and a 60,000 capacity; the later plan was viewed as keeping in-line with London's committments to the International Olympic Committee when London was awarded the games.
There was much debate about completely demolishing the Olympic Stadium, and various polls indicated that most Londoners (even non-football fans) were in favour of the West Ham bid and retention of the athletics track at Stratford. Fans from both teams were unsettled by making the move despite Spurs' current home of White Hart Lane being only 9km to the north and West Ham's current home at Upton Park 3km to the east of the Stratford site..
It was then announced last week by the company that has been tasked with the post-Olympics legacy that the West Ham bid be recommended to take over the stadium. The official decision should be announced by the government & London mayor in a few weeks, but it is highly doubtful that they will opt for the Spurs bid.
Come 2014, London will have another 60,000 capacity stadium, making it the joint-third largest stadium in London (Wembley: 90,000, Twickenham: 82,500, Emirates: 60,000).
