Every team that have come has had a real go, and the travelling fans have also felt confident enough to step over the line from boisterous to bang out of order.
Now don’t, for one second, think that I excuse our own behaviour in all of this. We have more than played our part. However, it’s not rocket science to figure out that if someone comes into your back yard and is seen to be trying to take liberties, there will be a reaction.
We will struggle to change the mindset or attitude of those that are intent on causing havoc, it’s been tried in the past, and it’s failed (which is why most incidents don’t get reported).
What we can and absolutely must do is tackle the logistical and operational issues. IMMEDIATELY.
Install the police communication system right away. Get police inside the ground, visible and strategically placed by away fans for EVERYONES protection.
Review the stewarding personnel immeadiately, so we don’t have teenage kids and women trying to prevent any incidents which they clearly won’t be able to diffuse or cope with.
And finally, put a plan in place to safely release away fans from the stadium via a separate route both out of the stand through the stadium, and also to transport links.
The fact that we are almost in November and I feel the need to write this, and you read it, speaks volumes for how botched this transition has been.
No more threats about banning anyone with a cockney accent, no more talk about our brand, legacy or world class facilities, no more bragging about having a 50,000 on the waiting list.
Just address the obvious issues and stop finger pointing. Overseeing a project that is falling at the same hurdle week in week out is simply not acceptable. Less patting each other on the back West Ham, and more rolling up of those sleeves.
If you are prevented from intervening, insist on health and safety grounds, threaten legal action over breach of contract for not providing adequate staffing etc. THere’s plenty of ways to get this done, as the board know their way around contracts and legislation better than anyone.
Enough passing the buck. Take ownership now. With three wins on the bounce, this is a perfect opportunity to lead us from the the top down. You could fix the lot of the previous negativity with some strong leadership NOW.
I would have thought it quite obvious what to do, board off the away fans area within the concourse where they would go to their seats leaving toilets and access to their own food and drink places.
Put up glass partitions between the seats of the away fans and the Home fans to stop the throwing of objects and to still allow sight of the game.
Keep the away fans back for a while after the game so that a cordon to their coaches or the nearest tube station has cleared and escort them all the way.
Not rocket science and not too costly either, what are the owners of the Stadium waiting for .
These measures all to be temporary and taken down when other sports are held in the stadium.
Absolutely right, although I would go further and insist on the installation of fully moveable, floor to ceiling partitions, that can be opened when the place is used for other things, and closed off when we are playing. That way you can have a properly segregated away section. And if the owners don’t want to do that, then the Davids need to say “fine, we’ll pay for it”.
Totally agree with all this but it’s all been said before…who is or isn’t listening…we West Ham fans that go to the LS all know that the board and Brady in particular are totally at fault for being either arrogant to the point of criminality or at best completely naive that football fans will not have a pop at each other if you give them the ability to do so….and the LS gives them the ability. Stoke’s own mindless morons are probably at this very moment planning their adventure…West Ham Board you should be sacked…or at very least she should be.
Why can’t fully grown adults go & watch a football match & sit near other supporters without wanting to fight each other? And why is it Brady’s fault they can’t?
What is the difference between the LS & any other modern stadium with the segregation of supporters? Stewards & rows of covered seating the same everywhere. A main difference is fans are normally kept behind at other stadiums after the game.
The LS & West Ham are being targeted & every single arrest will make headline news.
So who is to blame…. The idiots fighting or Brady?
The board can demand whatever they like but as they don’t own the stadium they can’t force anything.
Its the fully grown adults that are causing all the problems. It would happen at every ground every week but at all othet grounds the away support is properly segregated and policed specifically to stop this behavour. That is not the case at the london stadium. The article is spot on intil the board take is seriously it wont change. They will.only listen when it has financial.implications.
It needs sorting that’s for sure . Moving into a stadium ill prepared for football is going to take some serious hard work to get things how they should be , or need to be .
There is a lot to be said about visiting clubs and thier fans though ; they all seem to be arriving with more intent than could be considered normal . But these comments were made by myself and others before the season even began . Jealousy from visiting fans and determination by visiting teams is something we predicted a way back . Every home game is like a cup final because of the status the LS holds . I’m not condoning hooligan behaviour but when you have to defend your own ground problems will arise .
Things are starting to look up after some results and we must endeavour to maintain that up looking trend . Some football fans think we are right big headed cockneys because of our stadium move and it drives them to intense levels of moronity . Let’s let our season do the talking and forget the losers . We must forget the past and make it our new home now and for the next 99 yrs .
Not more of this Chelsea/away end stuff.Wake me up when sundays kick off comes round
I live in a massive West Ham fanbase area.Guess what,it aint even barely being discussed anymore,its old news,forgotten.
And the real shock,fans are talking about the Everton game.Thank god Lol
Agree with you Pete, all fans are fed up to the high teeth listening to our name being dragged through the mud. The fixes are blatantly obvious as they have been all season. One thing is that if they put safe standing in for home and away at the end of the season they could use a design in such a way to properly fence off the home and away support, including fencing off the concourse.
Brady and Co new all about this when they sold the club and dragged us to the new stadium gets blown out of all proportion you see a lot more trouble elsewhere that doesn’t get reported but I think her agenda all along was to get rid of certain supporters from our club and bringing the prawn sandwich brigade. There will always be fighting at any football game I personally think she is getting exactly what she wants
Great post mate, one thing I would like to add is, Brady in her own words sat in front of the camera and spoke about herself picking the fixtures and fitting, so delighted with herself. She absolutely makes me boil, how did we get a safety certificate? Did they not think of egress for the fans? No! stack em high and sell em cheap comes to mind.
It’s not the fans that have caused this most didn’t want the move blame G and S they forced it knowing we would be a very lucrative deal to some rich foreign owner, mark my words and then hide behind the abuse they got from negative fans forcing them out when in reality we where happy a UP, well I was any why. Still enjoy the stadium and I hope it’s all that you want it to be and stay safe
Denty you said most people didn’t want the move: WRONG. Check the on line vote. You say our owners only took the move so they can sell it on.; WRONG. They ha ve already stated that they re multi millionaires or in Sullivans case, a billionair, so why would they want to sell? They are old guys, they can’t possibley spend what they already have, so why would they need more? 3. The best way to stop them from getting abuse from the fans is for yourself and people like you to stop abusing them. remember what it was like for 25 years. no hope, no future, no decent players. We wouldn’t still exist if it wasn’t for our current owners putting their own dough in. It’s our club ffs let’s stop beating it to death. the media are already doing that.
Had a good drink up with a load of irons fans tonight in my local.Its funny but the away end was not really mentioned.
It seems to be becoming the preserve of blog users & the majority of other fans have forgotten about it for what it was,not Apocalypse Now.
Mind you most of the lads in the local didnt spend all night ripping Brady a new one either.
Sick and tired of all this “stadium” cr@p. Let’s get on with the game!