West Ham demand to take over stewarding after fans run riot
WEST HAM UNITED will demand to take over the stewarding of the London Stadium after co-owner David Sullivan was struck in the face with a coin during the violent and unprecedented protest that took place during Saturday’s 3-0 defeat by Burnley.
It is understood that the club’s owners have lost faith in the ability of the stadium operators to safely manage West Ham’s remaining home games after four supporters invaded the pitch and hundreds more hurled abuse towards the directors’ box.
Under the terms of West Ham’s deal to rent the stadium, the costs of policing and stewarding are covered by the operators, London Stadium 185, and paid for by the taxpayer.
But the club now wishes to take matters into its own hands after the owners were targeted in ugly scenes which West Ham manager David Moyes said were unlike anything he had ever seen in his football career.
During the protest, a coin struck Sullivan on his glasses while co-owner David Gold broke down in tears after he had left his seat.
Despite the abuse, both Sullivan and Gold will continue to attend home matches.
According to the rental agreement, which allows West Ham to use the stadium for £2.5m per year, any strengthening of the police and stewarding presence would be paid for by the public purse.
However, West Ham could offer to cover those costs themselves, and it is understood that senior figures at the club believe the money that is currently spent on stewarding and policing costs could be used more effectively.
Sullivan said he felt “very badly let down” by the stadium operators, and there is particular concern over the ease with which the pitch invaders were allowed to run onto the playing surface, where one was thrown to the floor by West Ham captain Mark Noble.
If West Ham were to take over the running of the safety operation for the ground, it would raise questions over who manages other major events, such as athletics, in the London Stadium. A change to the contract may also result in the club having to pay compensation costs.
Meanwhile, Noble said he cannot see a way in which the anger from the fans towards the club’s owners,
much of which centres around the move from Upton Park to the London Stadium, will dissipate.
“This is our stadium now,” Noble said. “There is nothing we can do about it. It seems to me that there is so much anger out there that it is not going to go away.
“It has been bubbling over for a long time and the only way that it has ever really gone quiet is if we won games. And West Ham are not going to win every game – I can tell you that. We are going to lose games. But when we lose games it is pretty much the end of the world.”
Noble said he feared at one point that there would be a mass pitch invasion and was thankful that his wife and children had not attended the game.
Asked how the side can now prepare for the next home game, against Southampton on March 31, Noble said: “I don’t know. If we go 1-0 down at home again, what will happen? I can’t imagine.”
West Ham defender James Collins, who was also involved in scuffles with invading fans, said the team was affected by the confrontation with Noble and the events in the stands as they fell to their third consecutive defeat.
“Seeing my friend, captain and a boy who loves this club as much as me, and who has been here since he was a kid, having to do that with a fan on the pitch is going to affect anyone, to be honest,” Collins said. “It’s something I have not seen in football before. It just seemed that it had that edge on it.” © Daily Telegraph, London.