West Ham ushered in a new dawn, 86 days since the last bubbles burst over Upton Park, as they set-up home at the heart of the Olympic Park.
The newly-anointed London Stadium welcomed its long-term tenants exactly four years to the day since London 2012’s Super Saturday — when Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis-Hill and Greg Rutherford all took gold in front of their home fans.
This was a less glamorous occasion, albeit still significant for the Hammers, as they welcomed Slovenian minnows NK Domzale to what has been turned into an impressive new home for football.
Italian giants Juventus will officially open the stadium on Sunday in a high-profile friendly against the new hosts and all of the fanfare is being saved for then.
This was a big night for fans who have only ever known Upton Park as their footballing home and, although there will be fewer easier tests of whether the players can adapt to their new workplace, Cheikhou Kouyate’s brace and a late Sofiane Feghouli strike secured a 3-0 win which sees West Ham into the play-off rounds of the Europa League qualifiers.
Twenty-four hours earlier as manager Slaven Bilic held his press conference in the bowels of the stadium, building work was still going on around the site, with journalists told they should be wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets to walk around the ground.
It appeared the ‘slightly unfinished’ look, now being made famous at the Rio Olympics, was what was being hoped for — but everything seemed in place when the fans finally arrived on Thursday evening.
Bilic had called on his players to ease the difficult transition by giving the fans something to shout about, and they produced against a poor standard of opposition.
But there were still off-field teething problems; a fan was left unsure where the seat for his season ticket was after a steward appeared to suggest it did not exist, while most supporters outside of the stadium were concerned the atmosphere would suffer inside the bowl.
The strange sight of empty seats, blocked by the view of the temporary structure brought in to boost the attendance, is one those coming on a regular basis will struggle to adapt to.
Likewise, even the seating closer to the pitch does not bring the supporters close enough to the action, with Kouyate almost out of breath as he ran to celebrate near the fans after becoming the first man to score here.
The dugouts are almost a Usain Bolt 100-metre dash from the touchline, too, and referee Fredy Fautrel was left trudging across it as he limped out of the contest early in the second half with a calf injury.
Feghouli’s first West Ham goal added gloss to the win with 10 minutes remaining and the fans began to stream out, either worried by the travel logistics or simply hoping to make it to Stratford for a last-minute nosy around the shops.
Either way, the London Stadium passed its first test, as did West Ham, but there are still some questions that are likely to linger for some time.
