The Hammers moved into the £700m Olympic Stadium during the summer after leaving Upton Park, despite the controversy around the deal. The match was overshadowed by crowd trouble.
Advertisement
“However, it has also been suggested that West Ham could have done more to plan segregated family and singing sections, rather than prioritising the sale of season tickets, with the mix of traditional supporters and thousands of new fans thought to have led to tension”.
This comes despite management assurances that that stadium owners E20 would guarantee a police presence at the next home match on September 21, a low-key affair against Accrington Stanley. It is understood LS185 believes it can cope.
“The stadium operators are responsible for the safety and comfort of their customers and staff”.
“During this time, the MPS had spoken to the stadium operators several times to highlight the consequences of not installing such a system”.
“This issue was highlighted to the stadium operators in October 2014 and the MPS has been in negotiation with stadium operators regarding the provision of Airwave radio inside the stadium”. The club are caught in the middle, as the stadium’s safety certificate is not issued in their name and they can not unilaterally implement security measures. This leads to confrontations with supporters’ who can’t see the pitch.
“A blame game is now developing over the violent scenes at West Ham’s new home”.
A spokesman for the operators (LS 185) said: “As part of our review process, we will be taking steps to strengthen the segregation measures between home and away supporters”.
“If we can go in 2-0 up at half-time it is a different game, but the mistakes have cost us in the end. It’s unsafe. We’ve got so many accounts of fans trading blows, people having to dive on their kids to protect them”, Howlett said.
The teething problems come from a number of sources.
“The club now appeals to all supporters to come together and support West Ham in the famous way we have historically been so proud of”.
A statement released by West Ham in the last 24 hours confirmed that “10 individuals were ejected from the stadium” and “the club received seven complaints in relation to standing, although 40 reports were received in relation to the antisocial behaviour in the stands”.
Advertisement
But Noble feels now is the time for unity and said: “That is the best we have played for a long while, in the first half. They, like all at West Ham United, do not want their reputation or the club’s to be tarnished by the minority”.
