HAMMERS ALERT
Stadium braced for Chelsea’s 5,200 fans
Chelsea are set to be allocated 5,200 tickets for their EFL Cup visit to the london stadium as West ham brace themselves for the biggest security challenge yet in their new home.
West ham’s transition from Upton Park has been fraught with crowd safety issues this season, with supporters coming to blows at fixtures against Bournemouth, Watford and Middlesbrough.
They are facing their first grudge match at the london stadium, having been drawn against Chelsea in the fourth round of the EFL Cup a week on Wednesday.
Under competition rules, away teams can claim up to 10 per cent of the stadium’s capacity to sell to their own supporters. Chelsea requested their full allocation — 5,700 tickets of the 57,000-capacity stadium — but West ham are restricted to hosting 5,200 opposition fans because of infrastructure issues.
The reduced allocation is subject to Football league approval, which is expected to be granted at a meeting today. Chelsea have become privately frustrated by the slow nature of the decision-making. Their fans have been unable to buy tickets and make plans for a match which is now less than a fortnight away, despite the two teams being drawn together three weeks ago.
It promises to be an anxious evening for all involved in the new stadium, with fears persisting over the safety of supporters. West ham have so far been hosting about 3,000 away supporters, yet issues have emerged against teams that are not ordinarily deemed as rivals.
The problem is compounded by the refusal of the Metropolitan Police to deploy officers inside the london stadium due to the absence of the airwave radio system that allows police to communicate safely within the ground.
The Met insist this stance will not change as it constitutes a health and safety hazard to their forces, and the system is not due to be operational until the beginning of December.
however, there will be an increased police presence outside the stadium and a spokesman for the Met said: ‘ When we are called to an incident inside a stadium we will always deploy officers to assist in an emergency or where crime and disorder occur.’
West ham have taken steps to reassure supporters of their safety and they will try to avoid Chelsea fans buying seats in the home end by only selling to people who have bought tickets from them in the last five years.
however, West ham face the continued difficulty of not having control over security. The stadium landlords — a partnership between the london legacy Development Corporation and Newham Council — employ operators london stadium 185 to manage matchday security.
The West ham board have made pleas for good behaviour in recent weeks, while also demanding improvements to the stewarding and security operation, both in terms of numbers and training.
In addition, they have relocated several hundred fans with young families to ensure they are sitting with like-minded supporters. They have rescinded season tickets and banned dozens of fans during the opening weeks of the campaign.
however, West ham co-chairman David sullivan yesterday insisted the vast majority of supporters were ‘ behaving impeccably and really getting behind the team’.
‘I am getting increasingly fed up with the negative campaigning against the stadium by some sections of the media.
‘To put it into perspective, at the Middlesbrough game there were five arrests — all outside the stadium in the public park. It has not yet been confirmed (how many) are West ham United fans. however, I fully accept that’s too many and we are in the process of identifying and banning these supporters in line with our zero-tolerance policy.’