JAKE’S TORMENT
Livermore’s fury at taunt about baby son’s death
WEST Bromwich Albion have confirmed Jake Livermore was the target of abuse about the death of his newborn son from a West Ham supporter.
Livermore became embroiled in an altercation and stepped into the crowd near the tunnel area at the London Stadium during West Ham’s 2-1 win on Tuesday.
The midfielder and his partner Danielle lost their son Jake Junior shortly after he was born in May 2014. An inquest the following April found the baby’s death had been avoidable, causing Livermore, then at Hull City, to ‘self-destruct’.
In May 2015 he tested positive for cocaine and did not play for four months but was spared a ban because of the circumstances which had followed the death of his son.
Livermore told Sportsmail in 2016: ‘The way in which (his death) happened made it difficult to fight my own demons.
‘If you lose a child in God’s hands it is completely different. To find out why he had died, that was too much for my head and my heart to take. That pain and hurt, it makes you do desperate things.
‘I love my family more than life itself. You take that out of my life and you’re basically taking away me as a person. And that is what happened, I lost myself. I was broken. I could not deal with the loss and the circumstances of it, as well as the pressures of everyday life and trying to keep my team in the Premier League. If I was thinking with a cool head I would have asked for time off. But I didn’t want to let anyone down, I just saw it as another injury I could play through.’
West Ham identified and ejected the fan who hurled abuse at Livermore. The club have promised to continue their inquiry into the incident but Livermore has insisted he does not wish to make it a police matter.
The FA have asked both clubs to respond. West Brom said: ‘Following his substitution, Jake was subjected to general abuse from home supporters which he shrugged off. However, he acknowledges that he moved to confront one spectator who chose to make a comment about the death of his infant son.
‘The club would like to think that all right-minded football supporters could understand this reaction, which did not result in any physical exchanges before Jake was led away to our dressing room.
‘Jake is an outstanding young individual who has the total support of everyone at the club and he has made it clear he considers this statement to be an end to an unhappy incident.’