Investigation into West Ham U18 coach begins

West Ham’s investigation into the youth coach Mark Phillips who went on a march organised by the Democratic Football Lads Alliance, will focus on whether he has brought the club into disrepute claims the Guardian who first broke the story earlier this week.

Phillips, who was suspended on Tuesday, is facing the possibility of losing his job after he tweeted about attending the DFLA’s march through central London last Saturday and went on to defend the organisation in subsequent tweets which he has since deleted.

West Ham’s own human resources team are now leading the investigation and have accepted that the march was not illegal according to Guardian journalist Jacob Steinberg. He says they are adamant that Phillips has not been suspended simply for choosing to attend the march.

Friends of Phillips have defended him by saying that he went on the march because his sister, Natasha Aldridge, who was an eyewitness on the night of the London Bridge terror attacks. They have said he was showing support for her rather than the DFLA.

Kick it Out is prepared to offer Phillips a chance to attend one of their anti-discrimination courses. However, they told the Guardian they would not want to oversee a box-ticking exercise. Phillips would have to show a genuine willingness to learn.