Ayman Koch reports on the West Ham fan protests
There was a sense of frustration in the air outside the London Stadium. The Olympic spirit has long since left the area. Groups of fans clung onto their banners such as “Sold a dream given a nightmare”, later displayed for millions around the world to see on Premier League highlight shows.
When West Ham went on to lose 3-0 to Burnley, as the cameras panned around the stadium nothing but frustration could be seen on the faces of supporters. Talking to West Ham fans it was evident they aren’t happy with how the club is being run and what they see as underachievement. As one supporter said: “It’s f***ing bullsh*t”. The main targets were the owners David Sullivan and David Gold who haven’t been spending on quality players. A Hammers’ fan told me: “they’ve done nothing but spend money on these unknown players who stay for a year and leave. They’re running the club into the ground.”
The fans thought with the London Stadium would come the players and a challenge for a top four finish with Champions’ League football. They live in a city where they have to watch Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs get the praise and the glory. The stadium change they were told, or at least thought they were told, would transform all that. This was seen as a promise, now an empty one. West Ham, in fourteenth position, are only three points above the relegation zone.
A protest march outside the ground had been planned before the game to question the board’s transfer policy and leadership. Early reports suggested 10,000 would come, but it seemed like every supporter at the ground that day had a banner. Each was unique in its own way highlighting or illustrating the club’s problems and the supporters’ voice.
With the protest march cancelled, the frustration, perhaps inevitably, would show in the stadium if things on the pitch went wrong. And so Burnley going in front, with an Ashley Barnes goal, set things off.
A wave of supporters stormed towards the pitch – to show they wanted to control what happened there. Later, iconically, one supporter picked up a corner flag and planted it in the centre-circle as players stood around him. Meanwhile supporters in the stands moved towards the directors’ box where West Ham owner David Sullivan was sitting. Sullivan was hit by coins and had to retreat. The coins carried with them the implicit criticism that the player spend had been small change.
West Ham have announced that the season tickets of fans who invaded the pitch will be confiscated for a year.
Stewarding at the stadium is also widely criticised. Many think the current setup is not good enough to deal with the demands of supervising Premier League matches. But the club don’t control the stewarding and so any improvement will come at taxpayer expense.
Worse, perhaps, for the Hammers, the FA have launched an investigation and are discussing punishments such as a points deduction or West Ham being forced to play the remaining home games behind closed doors.
Only recently West Ham fans might have seen brighter things on the way. In March 2013, they made the move from the notorious/infamous Upton Park, capacity 35,000, to the London Stadium, (formerly known as the Olympic Stadium), which can hold 66,000. With nearly double the numbers would come a lot more money for players.
And by some indicators things might have been improving. In 2016, for example, West Ham played in the Europa League: in Europe, albeit in Europe’s second division.
But the transfer policy does not seem to have stepped up – 2016 was a blip not a harbinger. West Ham have tended to buy veterans of the game such as Zabaleta, Arbeloa and Evra instead of going for young, promising (and very expensive) players. So now, for example, West Ham have the fourth oldest team in the Premier League. What seems to irk supporters the most, is that this transfer policy seems to be dictated by the owner’s son Jack Sullivan who has a huge influence on his father’s business.
With only eight games left, this season won’t be turned around. Indeed relegation is still a possibility. As for whether the dream they were sold becomes a nightmare, perhaps only time will tell. If the current owners sell up and move on, Hammers fans should be forewarned there are a lot of other bad owners out there!
