West Ham’s move from the Boleyn Ground to the London Stadium was supposed to be a step forward. However, the ambition showed previously is not reflected today, leaving the East London club under complete chaos.
The scenes at the London Stadium on Saturday were not beautiful. In fact, they just create an image of what football should not represent. Pitch invasion and protest against the owners should not happen in football, specially with a traditional club like West Ham.
The attitude shown by some West Ham fans were condemned by the manager David Moyes, as well as by the Premier League, who released the statement below:
"“There is no place at any level of the game for what happened. “It is essential that everybody who plays or attends a Premier League football match can do so safely.”"
Of course, the fans are absolutely right to protest against the owners. However, invading a pitch in the middle of the game won’t help a team already in a pretty difficult situation.
BREAKING NEWS: Mark Noble fists a West Ham fan on the pitch #WHUBUR pic.twitter.com/2e9iRB9OhK
— Josh James (@JoshJames1993) March 10, 2018
West Ham’s last season at the Boleyn Ground seem so long ago. The way they left their old home was beautiful, West Ham had an incredible season. Guided by Dimitri Payet and Slaven Bilic, West Ham managed to finish 7th in the Premier League, breaking their record points total.
Together with the good finish, West Ham gave plenty of memories on their farewell season at Upton Park: The last game of the stadium against Manchester United, when they came from behind to win the game 3-2. The FA Cup replay against Liverpool, when Angelo Ogbonna scored the winner in extra-time.
Chris Kamara on West Ham supporters: “They just want answers. There were protests yesterday but it wasn't threatening for me, and it was aimed solely at the directors." pic.twitter.com/TKcWjUwmSm
— West Ham News (@WHUFC_News) March 12, 2018
They gave a worthy farewell to Upton Park. But at the time, the club’s owners and fans only had to look forward to their move to Stratford. The London Stadium is bigger and modern, everything the owners were looking for. It was a move that showed ambition, as well as their speech about their new stadium being a catalyst to put the club together with England’s football powerhouses.
Dimitri Payet left the club, as well as Slaven Bilic. Times have changed for West Ham and unfortunately, not in a good way. The promises made by David Gold and David Sullivan when they left Upton Park have not been fulfilled. West Ham are in a worse place since they changed homes. That was not supposed to be the case.