View of the troubles from a Watford fan
Walking up to the ground it was nice to see so many families heading to the ground. West Ham have been given a fantastic opportunity to bring in many more fans than they could before and there is a great possibility of encouraging families and new generations to become West Ham fans.
During the first half from a Watford fan point of view, it was a horrible first 30 minutes and I personally was amazed it wasn’t 4-0 to West Ham as it quite easily could have been.
Strangely, about 15 minutes into the game, a fan in a West Ham away shirt walked straight through the middle of the Watford section completely unopposed by any of the stewards. Then when the second goal went in, a West Ham fan jumped the dividing barrier into the Watford section. He proceded to run across to the other side of the section just so he could celebrate with the West Ham fans there.
The West Ham fans then started goading the Watford fans with comments like “you’re going down” and the typical stuff you would expect opposing fans to say to each other.
Watfords turn around was unexpected and amazing at the same time. It was when the 4th goal went in that the trouble started. A couple of West Ham fans started to climb the bar that separates the sections. My brother pointed this out to a steward and was told to calm down and sit down.
Only a couple of fans came over initially and a few punches were thrown. When it was obvious that Watford fans weren’t going to back down, it encouraged more fans to jump over. My brother got knocked down and has injured his back due to this.
The stewards were slow to react and some even refused to go up to sort out the trouble.
From an outsiders perspective (and perhaps not the full facts) I think one of the biggest problems is that the new stewards aren’t West ham fans and don’t know the club. From what I understand, most of the old stewards have gone. Those are the stewards who know the fans and know how to handle them in times of trouble and to replace them with “event staff” is ludicrous in my opinion.
I think persuading some of the old stewards to come back would be a step in the right direction to try and resolve the issue. I also don’t think it helps that the stadium wasn’t built with football in mind and adequate security improvements have not been made to the ground.
I genuinely hope that the security and safety issues can be resolved and promptly. I think if the club stepped in then it definitely can be. I don’t think the current system could handle fans from Tottenham or Chelsea.
West Ham is a great club and from this Watford fan anyway, I hope the club can keep improving on the pitch and let the football do the talking rather than the fighting in the stands.