Reports that West Ham fans were fighting amongst themselves at the London Stadium are completely false.
Following yesterday’s 5-2 Premier League defeat to Arsenal, some sections of the tabloid media posted phone footage of what appeared to be scuffles in the home sections of the stadium.
The media were quick to jump on such stories and claim it was West Ham fans fighting amongst themselves as frustration grew during the Gunners’ blitz on Łukasz Fabiański’s goal.
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Unfortunately, the tabloids have got it wrong again. Their tendency to report unfavourably on Hammers fans has once again led them astray. Whilst there were scuffles inside the ground, they occurred because Arsenal fans had infiltrated the West Ham sections and seemed to make little effort to hide it.
One infamous tabloid newspaper—whom I won’t name or publicise—titled an article “Huge fight breaks out amongst West Ham fans”.
The truth of the matter is that I have received five separate reports of Arsenal fans sitting amongst West Ham supporters, two of whom were wearing Arsenal shirts, undisguised beneath their jackets.
Somebody I have been sitting alongside for years told me:
“We suspected he was an Arsenal fan when he remained seated for the Emerson goal and didn’t celebrate. Then he started laughing when we conceded a fifth, and it all kicked off.”
Reports of a huge brawl are false
Breakdown in London Stadium security
C&H’s Sean Whetstone, seated on the opposite side of the ground, said:
“There were so many Arsenal fans in the home end. I counted six just in my row and the rows in front and behind. They all denied being Arsenal fans, of course, but used their phones to video Arsenal players and the penalty. They also didn’t celebrate West Ham goals and recorded Arsenal fans celebrating in the away end. One guy, wearing an Arsenal shirt under his coat, got thrown out. Many others left after being challenged when the game went to 4-0.”
In another report, one Arsenal fan was said to have goaded Hammers supporters, leading to a scuffle when stewards failed to deal with the situation quickly enough.
Aside from West Ham fans being unfairly besmirched once again, there is surely a health and safety issue at the London Stadium. How opposition fans, proudly wearing their club’s colours, are allowed entry into the wrong part of the stadium speaks volumes about the lack of competent security at the ground.
It is undoubtedly a failure of ticketing, stewarding, and organisation, and it’s very convenient that Irons fans get blamed for it.