Ahead of the West Ham United versus Watford FC Barclays Premier League fixture at The London Stadium there are genuine concerns about the level and standard of stewardship on match days, it is indeed fortunate that none of the first three fixtures were against teams that have fans who aren't generally 'in your face', this will of course change when certain other clubs visit. It could be argued that there will be so few opposition fans pro rata that there shouldn't really be an issue, but the problem is it only takes a few to effect many. Also, irrespective of the away fan factor there have been several well publicised and damaging reports of fans fighting each other.....apart from suggesting they should concentrate their energy on supporting the team and raising the noise level inside the stadium instead of fighting, what can be done and why has the situation been allowed to develop?
The background...In October 2014 Media sources began reporting that French company Vinci SA were favourites to be given a contract to run what was then The Olympic Stadium, now of course known as The London Stadium, for ten years. The company which already operated several other stadiums, including the Stade de France in Paris, had reportedly beaten off competition from other companies including Anschutz Entertainment Group who run The O2. In February 2015, Vinci Stadium, a subsidiary of Vinci Concessions, were appointed to manage West Ham United's new home starting in April 2015 for an eye watering 25 year period instead of the original ten! The company is also responsible for the London Marathon Charitable Trust Community Track and events on the south park lawn, The London Stadium is the first outside of France that Vinci have managed. Fewer than 20% of the stewards at the new stadium worked at the old Boleyn ground, many of the new stewards have absolutely no affinity with West Ham United and as such cannot fully understand and effectively evaluate situations before they get out of hand.
Where does this leave the fans?
Essentially up the creek without a paddle given the length of Vinci's contract, the only way forward would appear to be a massive 'fans feeback' assault on the founders feedback link, and then maybe some steps could be taken to improve the situation before something deeply unpleasant occurs.
The transitional move from the Boleyn has in many ways been an astounding success, it would ridiculous to throw it all away because of inferior stewarding, surely the club can try to influence the situation even if it means forking out extra funds to help 'augment' the existing stewards with people who know what they are doing and who know West ham United. - Ed
Comments
Yeah nev.they must get there
Yeah nev.they must get there act together asap mate,i've heard a few stories now,what with the lack of police segregation from away fans,stewards letting west ham fans in with Bournemouth fans at half time,maybe that's what led to the scuffle outside,not a copper in sight when that happened,all we need now is Elton john and his Watford boys giving it large singing "I'm still standing" ;)