Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
BUBBLE & STRIFE
Noble: This has been bubbling up with the fans for two seasons...it was approaching boiling point and on Saturday it EXPLODED
IT was the day West Ham’s bubbles burst and the Taxpayers’ stadium was consumed by mutiny.
As crestfallen Mark Noble sifted through the wreckage of mob rule – which included the Hammers’ captain grappling with an intruder on the pitch – he admitted the fans had reached “boiling point”.
For David Gold, David Sullivan and Karren Brady, the day of reckoning is nigh.
They should be ashamed that the deal for the athletics track they were desperate to move to contained little club control over security – resulting in a game being held up by four pitch invasions.
They should be ashamed that young children were evacuated to the away team’s dugout for their safety while the Stone Island tendency fought among themselves.
And they should be ashamed that, in the glaring absence of police and adequate stewarding, the club captain was left to tackle one of the intruders. Dismal corporate governance or not, it is diabolical that Sullivan could have been blinded by a coin that struck his glasses as hundreds of Hammers militants picketed the directors’ box, hurling missiles and insults, forcing the Two Daves and La Brady indoors for their own protection.
But while the FA decide whether a fine, ground closure or points deduction is the appropriate sanction, one thing is certain. Gold, Sullivan and Brady can no longer hide behind their landlords, the London Legacy Development Corporation, and squeal that their hands are tied by a tenants’ rental agreement.
This is their mess, their fan base in revolt – and their club is going down to the Championship unless the supporters’ insurrection turns to unity for the last eight games. Noble has been a loyal front man for West Ham in good times and bad, but he cut a desolate figure.
He said: “It is hard for me personally because I am a West Ham fan myself and results affect me more than anyone. I love the club, it has been my home since I was 10 years old.
“But this has been bubbling over with the fans for the past two seasons – today they reached boiling point and it just exploded. When the first guy ran on, obviously my emotions were running high as we had just conceded a goal. I know I am a professional footballer, I play for West Ham and I know we are under scrutiny from all the cameras, but first and foremost I am a human being.
“If someone approaches me, I will protect myself. I’m not even going to blame the fella who done it – his emotions were high, the same as mine – and although I wouldn’t say I felt threatened, if someone approaches me like that, I am going to look after myself.
“The only way it has ever really gone quiet is if we won games – and West Ham are not a side who are going to win every game. But when we lose, it is pretty much the end of the world.”
The assorted insults included “Sack the board”, “Where’s the money gone?”, “We’re not West Ham any more” and “Stratford’s a s**thole, we want to go home”.
But they can’t go home to Upton Park – because it has been demolished, and Noble shrugged: “This is our stadium now. There is nothing we can do about it. If we go a goal down at home, it has been really tough because the supporters are not happy coming here.
“It is not an excuse but a chance to show their emotions towards the board, not the players.
“At one point I thought there would be a (full-scale) pitch invasion. Thankfully there wasn’t and we could get off the pitch.”
Noble fears the unrest could get worse before it gets better, and the Hammers’ next match
– a relegation shoot-out with Southampton – has all the makings of an Easter uprising.
He added: “How do we prepare for our next home game? I don’t know – that is the brutal honesty. If we go 1-0 down at home again, what will happen? I can’t imagine.
“I just hope everyone has got their emotions out of the way, showed everyone how they feel and hopefully they will now get behind the team.
“If I never play for the club again, I am still going to feel the way I feel about it because I was born and bred here. I’m just sad about the way things are.”
Dismal governance or not, it is diabolical that Sullivan could have been blinded by a coin that struck his glasses...