Gold: Promotion has saved Hammers £50m

Co-owner David Gold admits West Ham would have been in big financial trouble had they failed to make an immediate return to the Barclays Premier League.

Gold reckons that Ricardo Vaz Te's goal three minutes from time to seal a 2-1 victory over Blackpool in the npower Championship play-off final at Wembley on Saturday has saved the debt-ridden club around £50million.

"Had we not won, it would have meant the owners would have had to find more money. It is painful. If you own 150 oil wells then it is no problem, but if you own 150 Ann Summers shops..." said Gold. "It is hard to put it into financial terms because the first thing we would have done on Monday if we didn't win was say we need to cut our cloth accordingly."

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