WHZ View: On this day in 2018 – Looking back at West Ham 0-3 Burnley
Today marks three years since West Ham were defeated 3-0 at home to Burnley in the Premier League. It was one of the darkest days in the club’s history.
Fans of the home side invaded the pitch on numerous occasions as the Hammers were condemned to their third league defeat on the spin. It was the first time since March 2008 we’d lost three in a row by three or more goals.
Ashley Barnes gave the visitors the lead. This led to angry protestors entering the field and holding up play for several minutes. Chris Wood scored a brace shortly after to give the travelling Clarets all three points.
The match was overshadowed by the angry protest from home fans. It was almost as if a match wasn’t being played. After the first goal, hundreds of angry spectators gathered in the concourse under the director’s box. They expressed their displeasure towards the owners, David Gold and David Sullivan, with regards to poor signings and the stadium move.
A day to forget
They were upsetting sights for those who love the club, but it can’t be argued that it was coming. West Ham fans were sick of the constant lies and false promises that came with the stadium move, and demolition of Upton Park.
We’d reluctantly moved away from the Boleyn Ground under the impression it would bring European football and ‘the next level’ as quoted by Gold and Sully. In what was our second season there, it was proving everything but.
The board had wasted money for two consecutive transfer windows and failed to build on the excellent 2015/16 campaign. We’d lost Dimitri Payet 12 months earlier and hadn’t replaced him. To top it all off, Slaven Bilic had been given the axe three months prior to this, made a scapegoat for the board’s failures.
The club was in a real mess then and it was around the time Moyes arrived for his first reign. Although, yes, these were horrible scenes that we wouldn’t want to see again, they do highlight how far we’ve come. Moyes should take full credit for this. Despite this dark day, he steered us to safety when the club was clearly at boiling point.
Not only that, but after saving us he was deemed surplus to requirements. He even came back for a second stint when the owners returned to him, tails between legs. Moyes has saved this football club from catastrophe and we are all in debt to him. If you want to remember this day for any reason in particular, take comfort in how far we’ve come.
In other West Ham news, McAvennie agrees with Declan Rice and his view on the Leeds performance.