Brooking: Stewards were just kids
and allow the players to get the points to stay up.”
The Metropolitan Police confirmed there were four separate crowd invasions, including one supporter who was wrestled to the ground by Hammers skipper Mark Noble during the 3-0 defeat by Burnley.
The club immediately launched an internal investigation and the FA will also be involved, not least because stewarding issues have been a frequent problem for the Hammers since their move into the London Stadium. An FA inquiry could lead to a fine, partial or total ground closure or even the deduction of points.
West Ham, who are tenants at the stadium, are incensed at the poor stewarding that potentially put one of their star players in peril and the Daily Express understands they will demand the site’s managers E20 bring on board one of the country’s most senior policing advisers so all parties can work together to prevent a repeat.
Brooking, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, added: “There weren’t sufficient stewards and they couldn’t really cope with what was sometimes going back to the bad old days of 25 years ago.
“The club are obviously going to have to look at things with the local police and make sure that trained stewards and police are in place – you’re almost looking at it and saying, ‘This is out of control’.
“A lot of the stewards who are on duty on matchdays are not West Ham people – they’re actually stadium people and sometimes until they get a job there they haven’t had any experience dealing with football crowds.
“They were quite young and couldn’t deal with the aggression they were faced with. I didn’t see a coin hit David Sullivan, hit his glasses, myself but I did have that confirmed, which was part of the reason why the people in the directors’ box had to go inside to save any more problems like that.”
The coin was thrown from someone among a mob of about 200 fans who gathered in front of the directors’ box, forcing most of the dignitaries to leave their seats, including children.
West Ham are fifth from bottom in the table, three points off the relegation zone, and face a difficult run-in against the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea.