West Ham were absolutely right to send a strong message “behave yourselves ” message to fans but sadly they are in a no win situation when it comes to stewarding such situations.
Fears of violence and flares being carried in by Frankfurt fans are obviously real which is why the official site put out the statement in the first place.
It’s why the club did all it could to ensure that German fans won’t be able to get into the home end via a ticketing operation.
But the reality is that unless the stewards, appointed and paid by the owners of the London Stadium, are brave and fearless in the search for flares the club could be in trouble.
And Claretandhugh Facebook follower Mike Salmon sums up the problem posting: “Let’s hope the stewards actually search the Frankfurt fans properly on entry as I’m sure it will be them that bring the flares in.
Lyon fans managed to get them in at the end of the day what should we expect from young kids on minimum wage though when confronted by mobs of people.
I wouldn’t want to risk getting my head kicked in for that if I was them. In a game like Thurs which mark my words will be a power keg, the club need proper Security.”
That can’t happen until the Irons get control and own the stadium and the sooner the better.
Are comments like “will be a powderkeg” really helpful ? I was at the games in Lyon and Seville and in both cities there were literally hundreds of West Ham fan without tickets around both cities before the games. In the vast majority of cases their behaviour was impeccable.
Because I don’t get my tickets for games through West Ham I was, at both games, sitting amongst fans of Sevilla and Lyon and I will add there were quite a few other Hammers fans doing the same. There was absolutely no problem with fans of either Sevilla or Lyon.
Why then do we assume that Germans coming to London are likely to behave any differently? Could it not be that many hundreds will travel to London to watch the game in pubs as many West Ham fans do when we play abroad. Obviously I wouldn’t want some nutcase of any nationality letting off a flare in my vicinity but I certainly wouldn’t have a problem if I found myself sitting next to a German fan who had just come across to watch his team play in a major European semi-final.