Guest Post by PC Hammer
This article is in response to THIS article by Blind Hammer.
Sections of our supporters are not doing such things that Blind Hammer has listed in his piece and are not insisting on their right to stand – far from it. They are just doing what they have done for years and years. To know what’s happening now is to know the past and I am sure a lot of you will recognise this path in one way or another…
I sat in the East Stand (Row P seat 108) from the age of 12 for 2 years when my dear old Dad bought me a season ticket in 1982. I was surrounded people the vast majority of whom were at least 60 years of age or more and boy did they moan about almost everything except when we scored – then they cheered and stood up. I remembered them saying they had stood on the terraces once but now that was a young man’s game as they were getting on.
My mates from school stood in the North Bank and implored me to join them as standing was great fun. Once I plucked up the courage to tell my Dad I started the 1984 season on the North Bank terraces. I can count on the fingers of one hand the times since then that I sat at the Boleyn Ground until we left this year.
My mates were bang on – standing on the terraces was exhilarating – singing songs, constantly cheering and making a noise to get behind out team no matter what was happening on the pitch and this could not have been further from my earlier experience in the East Stand. The 1985/86 season was outstanding and I stood on the South Bank as well as travelling away.
Of course being on the terraces was not always the safest place to be. Five years later I stood on the North Bank on that fateful day in April 1989 when having lost 2-1 to Southampton I found out when I got home that 96 of our fellow football fans had died at Hillsborough earlier that day. In the aftermath the fans themselves were blamed by the authorities and this led to the Taylor report proposing the ‘recommendation’ of all seater stadia to help avoid such a disaster happening again. We all now know it was not the fans’ fault that they died and God rest their souls but a line in the sand was drawn and legislation passed on the back of the flawed decision making processes of members of the now utterly disgraced South Yorkshire Police Force.
The South Bank was torn down in autumn 1993 and the Bobby Moore stand was opened initially with away fans (Newcastle were the first on March 19th 1994) in the lower tier and they and other teams fans who followed them stood during the matches. I last stood on the North Bank on 7th May 1994 watching us draw 3-3 against…Southampton. I became a season ticket holder for the 1994-95 season in the BML and held that seat until we left in 2016.
Varying attempts were made to get the fans in the BML to sit down and on the rare occasions this happened when threatened with banning letters / ejection / safety certificate bans the atmosphere was the worst I and others can ever remember. Standing for the 18 years I was in the BML was never dangerous and so I was able to bring my son to join me when he was 11. He always stood – never a problem. He may not have seen everything but that was just like the terraces. Don’t forget those older people I first encountered had made their choice to move to a seat in the East Stand when they had had enough of standing.
For those hankering after the terrace days and the people male & female who were going through their teenage years the BML was the place to be where the atmosphere was at its best and a ticket to that area became like gold dust. With only 4,400 admitted other areas of a now fast developing Boleyn ground were sought by those wanting to stand. As the away fans became settled in the lower tier of the Sir Trevor Brooking stand so people gradually moved into CR1 and ES1 & ES2 of the East Stand to stand near those opposition fans thus adding to the atmosphere. The new West Stand saw corner lower tier blocks 1, 2 and 3 and of course 12, 13 & 14 (Chav Corner) become standing areas generating an even stronger atmosphere. The key here is that there was a distinct separation between the upper and lower tiers and so no-one was inconvenienced in the upper tier by the domino effect of standing. The remaining lower tiers of East and West stands were all seated and I never once saw the scenes I witnessed in the new East Stand against Bournemouth on Sunday. In fact I cannot remember seeing stewards use such menace and force for ejections for standing at the old ground.
So that’s the history. West Ham United Football Club condoned standing in a number of areas of the Boleyn ground from 1994 until it’s sad demise and no-one got hurt. It was not dangerous. If you did not want to stand you went to a seat in the East and West stands. There is your evidence.
We now have a massive problem in the new East Stand of the conflict between seated & standing which is pitting fan against fan and causing untold grief amongst the clubs most loyal supporters. This problem however is NOT the fan’s fault but the club’s in the way that they have handled the migration process. They gave the impression at the marketing suite in Stratford to those who had been standing that they could in comparable places in the new stadium – i should know i was there ! This works for the BML as in fact there are less seats in the new stand by almost 1,000 (hence not being able to offer plus 2’s to us) so the vast majority of people in the new BML would have been those from the old BML since 1994 where standing was condoned. There is no direct connection to upper tier seating so no-one is inconvenienced by the domino effect of standing.
Unfortunately it does not work elsewhere. The problem arises when those who stood in the corners of the West Stand (inc Chav Corner) were sold comparable seats along with seasoned ‘seaters’. The mixture is because our larger ground means more people can be placed in these new (comparable) areas than in the Boleyn. It’s a recipe for trouble since there is not a complete break between most of the lower and upper tiers any more as we have a single kop-like stand. So people who had stood for years and who were given a nudge and a wink by the club during the migration process that they would be with fellow minded fans now find themselves standing (as they have done for years without recourse and had been led to believe) but with kids, young families, the elderly and in some cases infirm people around them. No wonder it’s all kicking off. To re-iterate there is no self-interested defiance as Blind Hammer suggests just people doing what they have always done working on a green light given by the club to carry on as before when they purchased their tickets for the new ground.
The board, having condoned standing for years, have now totally shamed themselves by hiding behind the landlords – the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) in suggesting that fans standing are to blame for the capacity level being capped at 57,000 thus stopping fellow Hammers fans from coming. They are now in an awful position (entirely of their own making) where they cannot be seen to turn a blind eye to standing (as they have done for years) as the LLDC will throw the book at them. At present they are letting us have our own civil war which is entirely their fault and standing by doing nothing for the lifeblood of our club as their hands are tied by the terms and conditions of the tenancy they signed with the LLDC. They knew full well this could happen and by allowing the LLDC send in the heavy mob last Sunday the Club seems to want to have their cake and eat it leaving the poor fans in the East Stand high and dry.
The solution to the problem will not come from the club as outlined above but from the fans themselves. From a fans point of view I see it that blocks 145-148 and 152-155 (the whole BML) will be an area where people will stand and there will be little dissent here as that is what everyone in the ground expects. There is also no connection to the upper tier so no domino effect on others further back. People in the East Stand in blocks 141 and 142 as well as 130 and 131 are in the direct comparable areas of the corners of the lower tier of the old West stand and as such these would have been earmarked / sold as to be standing areas. This works here as there does not seem to be a direct connection to the upper tier and so mirrors the old ground thus negating the domino effect. Those who have bought a seat in any of these areas and expect to sit have been sold down the river by the club and that is where we are seeing trouble. They should have the chance to swap their seat with a ‘stander’ who has also been sold a pup and been directed to any other area in the East Stand lower tier apart from blocks 130, 131, 141 and 142. There should be no standing in blocks 132-140 inclusive as standing here impacts on those behind in a domino effect as that part of the ground is continuous into the upper tier. Whilst the above block numbers may not be exact (I have only been in the ground 3 times) it is a start so if anyone can be more accurate lets us know because a fan has attempted to sort this out and here is the link – http://www.westham-seatexchange.co.uk/
In my opinion an all seater stadium where everyone does sit will be like a library and j have no doubt that the team will suffer from this. Football fans have always been like-minded but not exactly identical people supporting the same club and as individuals we all have our own ideals and expectations. Every match should be enjoyed by all and sundry in their own ways whether seated or standing but in a safe and exciting atmosphere. We all lived happily at the Boleyn Ground as the place developed and changed over the years and once settled in our place in the old ground we spent our energy getting behind the team which undoubtedly helped them to do so well last season. We have a massive problem, not of our own making, staring us square in the face. It is vital we sort the standing issue swiftly in an adult and camaraderie way so we can make our new home the best in the land for us the fans. I don’t expect the club to lift a finger so spread the word, follow the link above if you are affected by this situation and let’s not be the laughing stock of the football world and all accommodate and look after each other in the name of supporters of West Ham United.