By Kris Gonzo | Senior West Ham Columnist (Follow on X)
To hear that Michail Antonio has once again received the strong arm of the law—this time following a Metropolitan Police investigation—is one of the least surprising West Ham stories imaginable.
Let me be clear: I love Michail Antonio. I’ve met him, interviewed him and found him to be a very friendly, very pleasant man. I have enormous affection for him and everything he did during ten years at West Ham.
I’m also delighted that his move to Watford will hopefully allow him to return to the London Stadium and receive a proper goodbye from West Ham supporters—something he was denied by the club.
But really, this man has no business behind the wheel of a motorcar, particularly not a high-powered one.
Antonio receives six-month driving ban
The Press Association report carried by ESPN confirms that Antonio was found guilty of failing to identify who was driving his Lamborghini when it was reportedly seen being driven without due care and attention in Pall Mall last November.
Antonio told the court that he was in Manchester at the time and had permitted his cousin to arrange the loan of the car. He maintained that the original police letter requesting the driver’s identity never arrived, but the magistrates rejected that defence.
The six additional penalty points took Antonio to 12, triggering an automatic six-month driving ban. He was also ordered to pay £2,050 in fines, costs and surcharge.
To be absolutely fair, Antonio was not convicted of driving the Lamborghini on this occasion. We cannot definitively say that he was behind the wheel, and the court did not find that he was.
The warning signs were already there
However, West Ham fans will remember Antonio crashing his Lamborghini through a family’s front garden and into their home on Christmas Day 2019 while dressed in a snowman costume. That in itself should have been enough to set a few alarm (and jingle) bells ringing.
Michail Antonio emerges from his crashed car wearing a snowman suit
His near-death experience in a Ferrari in Epping Forest five years later really should have been the end of the tale. Antonio careered off the road and hit a tree, suffering a badly broken leg and sustaining injuries which threatened both his career and his life.
At the time, Antonio understandably spoke about receiving a second chance. He was fortunate to survive and admitted that there were moments when he feared he would never see his children again.
Given that history, it is difficult to understand how another Lamborghini registered to Antonio has subsequently become the subject of two separate police investigations. The wider inference is not that he must have been driving on this occasion—we simply don’t know that—but that high-powered cars and Michail Antonio appear to be a dreadful combination.
A Fiat 500 may be more suitable
A six-month ban and a little over £2,000 in financial penalties feels like something of a let-off, particularly for somebody of Antonio’s wealth. I genuinely believe that both the man himself and other road users would be safer if he no longer had a driving licence—or, at the very least, if there were some restriction on the power of vehicle he could operate.
This does not change my affection for Antonio or diminish what he achieved at West Ham. He remains our record Premier League goalscorer, a European trophy winner and one of the great characters of the modern Hammers era.
But admiration should not prevent honesty. His history with powerful cars is becoming impossible to dismiss as a collection of unfortunate coincidences.
If he is interested, my daughter’s Fiat 500 is available for sale. It’s slow as hell, but it is a trusty runaround—and that is about as rapid as Michail Antonio should be allowed to go, in my opinion.
Unfortunately he is going to be one of those players who runs out of money in later life. His will be the only Lambo in the Watford car park.
Antonio if truth be told is a bit dim-witted. I still recall his reaction to the Zouma cat-kicking controversy where he idiotically played the race card. Antonio for me was an effective but vastly overrated player whose continuous presence in the team for all those tears showed how awful our recruitment under Sullivan was. Despite all that I wish him well in life and I’m sure he’s a nice fella
I cant disagree with any of that Gonzo, he smashed himself up but it could have been anybody, now a third episode. He needs grounding for longer than six months.