Legend Sir Trev’s plea… IF YOU ARE THAT ANGRY, STAY AWAY – OR WEST HAM ARE DOWN
AMONG all the enduring images from Saturday afternoon, the sight of the revered Sir Trevor Brooking sitting alone and appearing sullen in the directors’ box of the London Stadium remains the most powerful.
After chairmen David Gold, David Sullivan and vice- chair Karren Brady scarpered on the advice of security — Sullivan had been hit by a coin with further damage only avoided by his spectacles — the cameras panned to Brooking.
‘Some of the aggression was so strong it went back to the bad old days of 25 years ago,’ said Brooking on Sunday morning. ‘I saw young families leaving. Youngsters were frightened. That is not your genuine West Ham fan.
‘We have five home games left. When you lose 3-0 and have people on the pitch, people venting frustration to the directors, it means the games look very bleak.
‘There is no way the team can play and get the points under that sort of atmosphere. It is impossible. Anyone who has got that level of aggression, just don’t come.’
From a man respected and admired by West Ham fans, it was an emotional and stirring riposte. If Brooking cannot cut through, nobody will, yet it already feels his intervention may be too late.
This was a day designed to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the passing of Bobby Moore.
His daughter Roberta was in attendance and heaven knows what she and her family made of it all. If West Ham supporters cannot rally for dear Bobby, will they heed the words of Brooking, spoken on Garry Richardson’s
Sportsweek on Radio Five Live? For 25 minutes, the scenes on Saturday were as worrying as anything witnessed in the Premier League era. Referee Lee Mason gave consideration to calling off the match but sensibly decided it was safer to slow the game down and see it through than send seething supporters heading as one for the exits.
Burnley won through three second-half goals — one super strike from Ashley Barnes, two by Chris Wood — and each score saw the stadium become more toxic. From the press box, we saw a female steward dragged to the floor. Families scuttled for the exits. Burnley’s substitutes offered up their seats in the dugout to young children whose parents feared for their safety. Burnley’s Sam Vokes said: ‘The mum was ushering them away so we got them over the barrier.’
These West Ham ‘fans’ appear relentless and stadium security, managed by the hapless London Stadium 185, is not fit for purpose. On four occasions inside the final 25 minutes, invaders stormed the field. It was left to Mark Noble to intervene and wrestle one to the floor with barely a steward on the scene.
‘He’s devastated,’ said West Ham’s James Collins. ‘He’s down about it. It was mad. The fans seemed to be on the pitch for an eternity and for him to have to resort to that, a lad who is a West Ham fan and who has been here for ages, to have to do that is
wrong. And I think it certainly affected us and the result has gone against us.’
As hundreds of supporters congregated around the directors’ box, hurling coins towards the owners, a small number of stewards — perhaps seven — were left to fend for themselves and stem the tide. Slit-throat gestures were made to the board.
The police, ludicrously, only seemed to arrive inside the stadium at around the 80th minute. They should have been on red alert. They should have known this match was a tinderbox waiting to go off as soon as Burnley opened the scoring.
Now it is time for the FA to act with purpose. West Ham and the London Stadium security agencies cannot tame this. The poison remains so it must be rooted out.
These supporters must know consequences exist. How about a club fine? The West Ham support would probably be glad to see the owners hit in their pockets, so such action would offer only vindication.
So, what is left? Play games behind closed doors or dock the team points. These, really, are the only sanctions that will urge a growing minority of West Ham supporters to think again before marring another fixture. They have to know their behaviour has the capacity to relegate the club.
Damian Collins, chairman of the Commons select committee for digital, culture, media and sport, told Sportsmail: ‘The safety of fans, staff and players is the most important responsibility of any sports team. It would seem West Ham have failed in this duty.
‘If West Ham continue to prove incapable of hosting safe football matches then we must consider whether the club’s games should be played behind closed doors.’
Speaking to reporters after the game, Noble struck upon a core issue. ‘The only way that it has ever really gone quiet is if we won games. And West Ham are a side who 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.’
Yet, here’s the thing. For West Ham to lose games, concede goals and sign poor players in the transfer market is not new. In the Premier League era, they have conceded three or more goals at Upton Park on 56 occasions. They once signed Savio Nsereko for £9million. But Saturday’s behaviour simply portrays the aggressors as spoiled brats who stay calm when West Ham win and explode when the team lose. Brooking’s message to them was to stay away. If the FA are to take safety seriously, these fans should have no choice in the matter.
WEST HAM (5-4-1): Hart 5; Collins 4.5, Ogbonna 4.5, Cresswell 5.5, Zabaleta 5.5, Noble 5.5; Kouyate 6, Antonio, 6, Mario 5 (Hernandez 71, 5), Lanzini 5; Arnautovic 6.5. Booked: Cresswell, Lanzini. Subs not used: Adrian, Hugill, Evra, Cullen, Rice, Browne. Manager: David Moyes 5. BURNLEY (4-4-1-1): Pope 7; Lowton 7, Tarkowski, 7.5, Mee 7.5, Ward 6.5; Lennon 7, Cork 7.5, Westwood 7, Gudmundsson 6.5; Hendrick 6 (Wood 61, 7.5); BARNES 8 (Vokes 89). Booked: Lennon, Westwood. Subs not used: Lindegaard, Bardsley, Long, Marney, Nkoudou. Manager: Sean Dyche 8. Referee: Lee Mason 7. Attendance: 56,904.