BT commentators shocked by police involvement on pitch after West Ham United loss
BT commentators Ian Darke and Lucy Ward could not believe that the Eintracht Frankfurt support were allowed to flood the pitch and “goad” West Ham fans.
As the final whistle blew on the 1-0 home win that saw the Hammers knocked out 3-1 on aggregate, Frankfurt fans poured onto the pitch to celebrate.
Some then went to antagonise the traveling support by celebrating in front of their section, leading to police to intervene, all to the bafflement of the pair in the commentary box.
Speaking after the final whistle on the BT coverage (5 May, 9.55pm) Ward said: “They need to stay away from the West Ham fans though. Celebrating with your team, I understand that, but you don’t need to go and goad the West Ham fans. It’s not good scenes.”
Darke responded: “Well that’s the problem if you are letting them through onto the pitch.
“The police are in there now. It’s not a sight you really want to see. You do wonder why they have allowed this to happen.”
Ward added: “The police are on now and they don’t take any rubbish whatsoever.”
Loose security
Even before the game kicked off there was footage of fans passing rows of seats out of the stands in order to stand once the match kicked off.
On a night of such importance it was surprising that the authorities at the stadium were so accommodating to the fans’ wishes.
The home support was admittedly fantastic, and lived up to its famous billing with the ceaseless noise during the game.
But after police had already made arrests in the city the night before, having been expecting confrontations between fans, it was a surprise to see the gates from the stands being opened before the final whistle to let fans down in preparation to come onto the pitch with the players still there.
The sending off of Aaron Cresswell in the first half was the pivotal moment of the game and made the comeback ultimately impossible.
Frustrations threatened to boil over in the second half as David Moyes was himself red carded for reacting to the home bench, and players began to clash.
Given that atmosphere the security and the police probably shouldn’t have given fans the opportunity to get near the away support.
A pitch-invasion from victorious fans tends to be an enjoyable situation, so if they were going to allow it the authorities should have ensured it would stay that way from the off.
In other West Ham news, Joe and Carlton Cole, along with Owen Hargreaves all reacted to the devastating Cresswell red card.
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