Relegation for West Ham United or Tottenham Hotspur would affect staff at every level of the club as well as impacting their local communities, a former Premier League chief executive has said.

In terms of crowd size – with both averaging attendances of around 60,000 – either club would be the biggest ever to be relegated from the Premier League.

Football finance experts have forecast West Ham could lose around £100m and Spurs as much as £261m, with the repercussions being felt far and wide.

"It's really the off-pitch side that gets hurt the most," former Aston Villa chief executive Keith Wyness told BBC London.

'Brutal cuts'

Wyness arrived at Villa just after their relegation in 2016 with one of his first tasks being to decide where cuts should be made.

He said: "In the Villa case, nearly 250 people in the end had to be reduced from the payroll.

"It was brutal. A lot of the cuts came in the sponsorship and commercial revenue side, where there was less need to service some very complex deals, but you have to look at streamlining every part of the club."

Another area of concern is the charitable foundations through which Tottenham and West Ham deliver valuable work in their neighbourhoods.

Those foundations provide mentoring, education and employment opportunities, as well as engaging young people and reaching some of the most vulnerable across London.

"We made sure the foundation itself stayed as strong as possible," said Wyness. "But it had to be scaled back, there's no doubt.

"It's certain that a lot of the plans we had to grow or develop those areas had to be put on hold."

On the Tottenham High Road there are fears among some bar and café owners about a possible drop in footfall on match days.

"It is a bit of a nervous time," said Asllan Islami, general manager of the Blue Coats pub.

"We won't have those key London derbies against Arsenal and Chelsea, or those regular big matches against Manchester United, Manchester City or Liverpool."

Islami – who himself supports Spurs – is remaining optimistic, nevertheless.

"On the flip side there would be four extra home games in the Championship and if Tottenham were having a good season, I'm confident the crowds would still come."

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Indeed, when Newcastle United last suffered the drop in 2015-16, their attendances rose slightly during a successful year in the Championship as they secured an immediate return to the Premier League as title-winners.

For Villa too the average crowd across their three years in the Championship fell by only around 5% on the previous three years in the Premier League.

However, neither Villa nor Newcastle were trying to fill stadiums as big as Tottenham's or West Ham's during a cost-of-living crisis.

Nor were they operating against a backdrop quite as competitive as London in terms of other sport and entertainment offerings.

"Crowds stayed pretty strong," said Wyness. "Though of course, there was absolutely no room for increasing ticket prices.

"And when it came to the top end hospitality we had to be really creative. It's much harder to try and sell those areas when you don't have the attractive Premier League fixtures every week."

He believes this is "where West Ham and Spurs have got to be careful - they can't focus on revenue streams they had built on the Premier League model.

"They've got to be realistic about it – no rose-tinted glasses. They've got to realise who they are right now. Some of those fixtures will not be so attractive."

Tottenham v Lincoln or West Ham v Stockport are potential Championship fixtures next season and would clearly be a much harder sell than Spurs v Arsenal or West Ham v Chelsea.

Currently Spurs charge fans an average of £76 for each home match, with only five clubs in Europe costing more. It's forecast that their matchday revenue of £131m across the season would plummet to around £79m in the Championship.

In an economic impact report published by Tottenham in December 2023 they claimed to generate £344m for the local economy and stated an aim to increase that to £585m by 2026-27.

They also said they supported 3,700 full-time jobs in the local area, with a target to raise that to 4,300 across the same period. Relegation would almost certainly hinder their chances of achieving those targets.

'Very worrying time'

Over in Stratford, a West Ham relegation would hit every London council taxpayer in the pocket. The Hammers are tenants at London Stadium.

Under the terms of the agreement they signed with then Mayor Boris Johnson ahead of their move to the former Olympic Stadium in 2016, their annual rent will be cut in half should they go down. That would leave them paying just £2.2m a year.

Furthermore, the running costs of the additional four home games would also have to be met by the Greater London Authority, leaving the cost to Londoners at around £2.5m a year.

Asked how off-field staff at each club will be feeling right now, Wyness said: "It's just a very worrying time.

"There will be people, especially in the present financial climate, who will be very concerned, and that will translate into their job performance.

"It's so important for the leaders off the pitch in the club to be able to handle this with great humanity."

BBC London asked both clubs what plans are being drawn up to prepare for the possibility of relegation but they declined to comment.

Wyness said: "I hope they are planning properly, and not just paying lip service to it.

"You've got to be getting all your consultations ready in terms of layoffs and all that sort of thing, and I'm afraid it's just not pretty but this is the time to focus and be professional."

With so much at stake beyond the confines of the pitch, the stars of Tottenham and West Ham will be playing for far more than professional pride over the next few weeks as they bid to keep their clubs in the Premier League.

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Thousands of runners are expected to hit the streets of Wolverhampton for the city's annual 10k.

Starting at 09:00 BST on Sunday 29 March, the event will be in support of the city's Compton Care hospice.

The route will start and finish pitch-side in the Molineux Stadium, the home of Wolverhampton Wanderers, with the remainder of the course on flat, closed roads around the city.

Organisers RunThrough Events said it was open to all abilities and offered an opportunity to run a chip timed 10k. Participants must be a minimum of 15 years of age.

There is a 90-minute cut-off time due to the road closures in place.

All runners will receive a medal, free official race photos, chip time results and post-race snacks.

To accommodate the event, there will be several road closures across the city, starting at 08:45.

The roads that will be closed are:

• Stafford Road Northbound - reopens at 09:45
• Oxley Moor Road - reopens at 10:00
• Aldersley Road - reopens at 10:10
• Hordern Road - reopens at 10:25
• New Hampton Road - reopens at 10:50
• Park Road - reopens at 10:50

As a result of these closures, the 3, 4, 5, 6, 32, 33, 62 and 62A bus services will be diverted.

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Ryder Cup venues can attract 250,000 fans through their gates, while millions more around the world tune in to watch the pinnacle of team golf.

There are hopes the biennial event may return to the north-west of England for the first time since Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club hosted the final edition of the competition between the United States and the combined Great Britain and Ireland team.

From 1979, and after decades of domination, the Americans have faced the best players from around Europe every two years.

The Ryder Cup is staged alternately between the two continents, meaning Europe only hosts it once every four years.

And the competition to become a Ryder Cup venue is as intense off the course as it is on the fairways and greens.

You have to dream big. And that is exactly what those behind the proposed Hulton Park resort in Bolton are doing - they want to stage the 2035 Ryder Cup.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham this week announced a funding package, with a focus on infrastructure around a new golf course, to support the bid. This includes a new £70m M61-M6 link road.

But how much of a big deal would it be for Bolton and the wider north-west of England?

'It's phenomenal'

"It's one of the top three sporting events in the world - probably only behind the Super Bowl and the World Cup," said Sean Owen, professional at the Bolton Old Links Golf Club, who runs the club shop and provides lessons.

"We would see a huge increase in our green fee revenues; we would get the benefit of people on holiday who have more disposable income and who would buy merchandise locally.

"We would also see the benefit for local hotels.

"It would grow the game, it always does. The Ryder Cup is like the FA Cup final - it is phenomenal."

Owen has spent much of his life in Gibraltar, which is only 25km (16 miles) away from Valderrama Golf Club in Spain.

It staged the Ryder Cup in 1997 - the first time a venue in continental Europe had ever hosted the competition.

"I saw the boost it brought to Costa Del Sol," explained Owen.

"The interest in golf went through the roof.

"I wouldn't say it put them on the map, but it really set the ball rolling there."

Fellow professional golfer Rick Shiels, from Westhoughton, has more than three million subscribers on YouTube.

He also runs his own podcast and provides coaching to other golfers.

"I know the Hulton Park area very well - I think it would make for a fantastic venue," Shiels told BBC Radio Manchester.

"And I think that Greater Manchester is looking to invest £70m into the [local] infrastructure can only be a good thing for the bid and also for the local area.

"The benefit of having a Ryder Cup golf course on our doorstep, the tourism it will bring in, the continued use of that golf course is also really important.

"I am very much behind the Ryder Cup coming to Greater Manchester."

Stuart Leech, chief executive of Lancashire Golf, used to be based at St Pierre Marriott golf club in Chepstow, Monmouthshire.

It is only a 20-minute drive from Celtic Manor, which hosted the Ryder Cup in 2010.

"We had a hotel on the site and that was filled up significantly in advance. There were lots of activities before and we had pre-events where sponsors played," said Leech.

"There was a significant boost to the club and hotel and I would anticipate similar boosts in Bolton.

"It could be extremely positive for the area and could bring significant long-term value."

Lancashire Golf provides coaching to the next generation of golfers, as well as helping to grow the game locally.

Leech believes the Ryder Cup would boost the game across north-western England.

"It would be a huge opportunity to showcase what golf can do for so many different kinds of people, it would be really positive for bringing through young people locally," he said.

"Golf can do great things, whether that be the social aspect of playing but also for people with disabilities and how it can make their life better."

'Interest filtering down'

Viewing figures for golf's major events continue to rise.

In the UK, Sky Sports recorded its most-watched Open ever last year, with 21.2 million viewer hours, representing a 36% year-on-year increase.

The broadcaster also boasted of record numbers tuning into September's Ryder Cup, with five million reportedly watching Europe edge out the United States in a thrilling contest in New York.

With interest continuing to grow, Leech says that is beginning to filter down to grassroots golf.

"We are seeing an increase in the number of members at our 146 clubs," he said.

"We have got 50,000 members across the county. As well as Lancashire, we cover parts of Merseyside, Greater Manchester, the Fylde coast and right up to Cumbria.

"The number of members is growing slightly but we are seeing bigger increases in non-golf club venues such as driving ranges and simulator venues. That provides a pathway into sport.

"Simulator venues can be great for people who are partially sighted for example. It allows them to see the ball flight and the ball landing on the green for the first time.

"Once people attend these venues, we want to get them into golf clubs."

Two other golf courses in England are vying for the 2035 event: the London Golf Club in Sevenoaks, Kent, and Luton Hoo in Bedfordshire.

No other European courses have yet thrown their hat into the ring.

"It's something we've heard about for a long time (the plans for Hulton Park) but we've not had any progress," said Owen.

"So I remain sceptical (about whether the project will happen).

"But we have three major venues in the North West - Royal Birkdale, Royal Lytham & St Annes and Royal Liverpool.

"So if we can host an event on the Fylde coastline, why can't we host an event inland?"

About 250,000 fans from 96 different countries attended the Ryder Cup in Gleneagles in 2014, the last time it was held in the UK.

Around the world, more than 500 million homes tuned in to broadcast coverage.

Edinburgh Airport saw a 2.9% increase in passenger numbers and Glasgow Airport a 2.4% rise in the month of the event.

It brought an estimated £24m boost to the Scottish economy and £46m to the UK.

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