West Ham falls - and now even Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs' fans may have to pay the price

West Ham United won the battle, but lost the war, which could affect all the Londoners.

The Hammers signed off their Premier League campaign with a convincing 3-0 victory over Leeds United at the London Stadium, yet the celebrations never truly arrived. Elsewhere, Tottenham Hotspur did just enough to stay alive, condemning their London rivals to relegation and sending West Ham crashing into the Championship.

And the consequences may stretch far beyond football.

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West Ham's drop from the Premier League could now leave London taxpayers (including the fans of Arsenal, Chelsea, Fulham, Brentford, Tottenham and Crystal Palace) facing an additional £2.5 million annual burden because of the club's controversial London Stadium lease agreement.

Under the terms of the 99-year deal signed when the Hammers moved into the former Olympic Stadium, the club's annual rent would effectively be cut in half following relegation. Instead of paying the current £4.4 million fee to the Greater London Authority, West Ham's contribution would significantly decrease - leaving public funds to cover the shortfall.

That scenario has already prompted frustration from London mayor Sadiq Khan, who openly admitted the financial impact would hit taxpayers directly.

"If West Ham are relegated, we, the taxpayers, we City Hall, could lose up to £2.5 million a year," Khan explained.

In one of the stranger twists of the relegation battle, the London mayor even joked that supporters of clubs outside north London should have wanted Tottenham to survive.

"So what I say to Londoners who don't support Spurs is: you should probably be cheering on West Ham, because the taxpayer will lose out if West Ham go down."

Khan once again directed criticism toward the former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, blaming him for approving what he described as "the worst deal imaginable" back in 2012.

The financial concerns are easy to understand.

Relegation to the Championship is expected to slash commercial revenue generated at the London Stadium, while operational costs could actually increase due to the longer second-tier schedule. West Ham would play 23 home league matches instead of 19, meaning extra spending on stewarding, security and matchday operations - all while bringing in far less money.

For West Ham supporters, though, those financial arguments will matter little today.

A club that lifted a European trophy just two years ago now finds itself relegated despite winning on the final day, undone not by its own result against Leeds, but by Tottenham doing the bare minimum required to survive.