West Ham seek to control stewarding at the London Stadium as FA investigates pitch invasion

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Ken Dyer12 March 2018

West Ham want to control stewarding at the London Stadium in an effort to prevent a repeat of Saturday’s ugly scenes.

Stewards were painfully slow in dealing with fans who ran on the pitch during the game with Burnley and that was followed by several hundred supporters being able to collect in front of the directors’ box to hurl abuse at the club’s unpopular owners. The FA are investigating the chaos and potential punishments for the club range from a large fine to playing games behind closed doors.

The stewarding for home matches is handled by stadium operators LS185. West Ham representatives, including vice-chairman Karren Brady, another board member and the head of security, were due to attend an emergency meeting of stakeholders today, with the club considering offering to pay a significant amount in return for a much increased involvement in stewarding at the next home match, against Southampton on March 31.

There was crowd trouble at a number of home games last season, culminating with clashes between rivals fans for the League Cup tie against Chelsea in October 2016.

However, following input from West Ham, stewarding at the ground was changed and there were no problems for the rest of the campaign - even when there was a Friday night derby against Tottenham in May.

West Ham have five more home matches this season and the club would be expected to lose more than £1million in the event of a full stadium ban. Accounts published last week for West Ham’s first season at the London Stadium reveal the extent a total closure of the ground for one game could have on the club’s finances.

Ticket sales for 2016-17 brought in £28.6m, an average of £1.1m for 25 home games - 19 Premier League matches, five Cup games and the friendly against Juventus.

The Sports Ground Safety Authority (SGSA), the body responsible for stadium licensing and proposing safety measures, were also due to attend the emergency meeting and are reported to be in favour of a reduction in the stadium capacity for the Southampton match, particularly around the flashpoints of Saturday’s trouble.

Co-owner David Sullivan was hit by a coin while 82-year-old co-owner David Gold was visibly upset after being eventually forced to seek the sanctuary of the directors’ lounge with the match still in progress.

West Ham were also expected to request a visible police presence inside the stadium for the next home match and are prepared to meet the cost of such an operation.

The cost of policing inside the ground is met by the stadium owners and a Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “A proportionate policing plan was in place for the match. Additional resources were deployed due to information received about a protest by West Ham fans before the match. This protest passed without incident.

“We are investigating a number of pitch invasions by individual home fans, and two allegations of assault. Officers from the Central London football reserves were deployed to the stadium to assist. There have been no arrests at this time.”

Regarding reports of West Ham asking for police to be inside the ground for rest of the season, the spokesman added: “We have not been formally requested to have officers present inside the stadium. Officers are not routinely deployed inside stadiums unless specific intelligence requires.”

Centre of the storm | Irate West Ham fans turn their anger on club co-owner David Sullivan in the directors’ box at the London Stadium on Saturday Photo: Christopher Lee/West Ham United via Getty Images
Christopher Lee/West Ham United via Getty Images

West Ham lost 3-0 and the trouble started after they fell a goal behind. Captain Mark Noble angrily confronted one of the pitch invaders and said: “For the past two seasons it’s been bubbling with the fans not happy. Against Burnley it reached boiling point and it just exploded. This is our stadium now, there’s nothing we can do about it. It seems to me there is so much anger out there that I don’t think it’s going away.

“To be honest, especially if we go a goal down, it’s been really tough because the fans are not happy coming to the stadium in the first place and it’s a chance to show their emotions, not so much at the players but the board.

Flashpoint | Mark Noble confronts a pitch invader amid chaotic scenes at the London Stadium Photo: Action Images via Reuters
Action Images via Reuters

“I’m not even going to blame the fella that ran on. Obviously, his emotions were high, the same as mine. I wouldn’t say I felt threatened but if someone approaches me like that, I’m going to look after myself. When we lose then it’s pretty much the end of the world. It’s hard for me because I’m a West Ham fan myself and the results affect me more than anyone else. I’m not really angry though - just a bit upset.”

Team-mate James Collins said: “It seemed like it was a knife edge from the start. I never expected to go 1-0 down, look across and see the captain of this club and my good friend, being confronted by a fan.

“I’m a West Ham fan myself as well as a player and I’m just as unhappy as the fans. It’s not been anywhere near good enough.”

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