An MP has today declared the Irons should be forced to play behind closed doors if there are repeats of the incidents which marred last night’s great victory over Chelsea.
“None of these problems were unforeseeable given the nature of the stadium,” said Mark Field MP.
He told the Evening Standard: “Within the next 14 days, the West Ham board should present a detailed plan to the Football Association and Premier League outlining what they are going to do about security,”
Field is the all-party parliamentary football group vice-chairman and he added: “There have been clear failings. If there is a repeat of the violence, the next two or three home games for West Ham should be played behind closed doors.”
Karren Brady said the club would ban all fans involved in the violence. The club say it is finalising the identification of 200 individuals.
She tweeted: “Football doesn’t want these people and, with over 55,000 supporters on our season ticket waiting list, we certainly don’t need them at West Ham.
A spokesperson for the Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA) – which advises the government on the matter – said it is “monitoring the situation very closely”.
The SGSA also issues licences to 92 football clubs in the Premier League and the English Football League, as well as to Wembley and the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
It says it is “aware and involved in issues relating to the London Stadium”, adding: “All partners must act together to prioritise safety.”
The Football Association and English Football League are also investigating. A league spokesman called the incidents “distasteful and unwelcome”.
Police commander BJ Harrington said: “There were a minority of people who attended the match who were clearly intent on being involved in confrontation and violence.
“Despite extensive work with both clubs and a large and robust policing operation, there were unacceptable incidents inside and outside the stadium, before, during and after the game.”
Mark Field MP, clearly a man for all people! Whilst both clubs and the Police took precautions regarding people fighting, there was a small element that decided they would fight. Now im not blaming or condoning who was or which side started trouble but if MP Field feels that strongly, then every time there is violence outside ANY football ground, then go ahead play behind closed doors, see how long it is before he gets a vote of no confidence. Please not all football fans are fighters or trouble makers, may i suggest he keeps his opinions to himself and see if his efforts would be better spent getting the laws changed so that violence is harshly dealt with in court and sentences reflect the crime! Banning fans from the ground will not stop fans from fighting. If he wants someone to blame then blame the overworked understaffed police force because they do not have super powers and cant be everywhere!
Agree with Aussie Dave. A German born MP representing Westminster, suddenly comes out of the woodwork to condone West Ham yet has sat quietly for 15 years during which far worse has gone on. I don’t condone violence of any description, and any incidents are totally unacceptable, but there has to be a sense of scale of reasonableness around the LS events. Educated folk such as Mr Field seem to have lost all sense of proportion and imflammatory statements such as his are unhelpful. Analyse the CCTV and other data, draw well researched conclusions around what happened, why and what can be done to improve the situation and get folk working together to ensure the risk of it happening again is mitigated. But stop sloppy over-reactions which offer nothing positive in addressing the issues. If the club had to play behind closed doors, how would that eventually improve segregation, unless Mr Field is proposing it to be a permanent arrangement? As I said, not helpful.
Totally agree with the above comments.Play behind closed doors?Ok but why punish 56,800 genuine supporters for the sake of 200 “identified” brain dead morons.These so called fans and I use the word loosely,know that if they cause trouble that they will as a minimum get a life ban from WHU.This obviously is no deterrent because they are NOT football fans and don’t go to a match to watch the game.Also,if 200 people have already been identified,why only 7 arrests?I suspect that 7 will get a slap on the wrist and go off and find another match to go to.At least not at WHU.