West Ham fined £100,000 for crowd disturbances during Burnley clash

West Ham United have been fined £100,000 by the Football Association for the on-pitch protests staged by their fans during the Premier League game against Burnley in March 2018.

The FA successfully proved a charge against West Ham for failing to ensure their fans “conducted themselves in an orderly fashion” and for encroaching onto the pitch. The game was disrupted by five separate incursions before some West Ham fans moved towards the director’s box at the end of the game, throwing missiles at board members.

But the report of the independent regulatory commission, published on Tuesday afternoon, does not simply point the finger of blame at West Ham. The report puts responsibility on LS185, who control security and safety at the London Stadium on behalf of its owners, E20.

The report shows that the FA’s case made clear that LS185 failed to ensure safety at the London Stadium. The FA argued that LS185 “should have seen the enhanced level of risk” for this match, given West Ham fans’ frustration with the board at that time. LS185 “had decided to trial reductions in the numbers of safety and security” for this game, in a way the FA deemed to be “inappropriate”.

The commission report also found that LS185 removed sections from their own report into the incident regarding the reduced stewarding numbers, “because they were considered to be damaging to LS185’s position”.

The FA’s criticisms of the stewarding continued to say that the stewards were not wearing appropriate footwear, and that this lack of preparation made it harder to stop pitch-invaders. “It is inevitable that if they had been properly shod the pitch stewards would have been able to perform with greater agility,” the FA argued. The report claims the FA criticised “lack of proper preparation” and insufficient training for the LS185 stewards.

Ultimately the commission report decided that West Ham are “in the unhappy position of having responsibility without power” for security at the London Stadium. Because the club is “responsible for the actions of E20 and LS185” but “it has no contractual right to control those actions”.

The report praised West Ham’s reaction to the incidents at the Burnley game, referring to what they called “very positive steps” taken by West Ham after the incident.

West Ham confirmed in a statement this afternoon that they are now working better with E20 and LS185 towards providing a better match-day experience at the London Stadium.

“Following the conclusion of the FA inquiry, we would like to reaffirm our sincere apologies for the scenes witnessed at our home game against Burnley almost a year ago,” the statement said. “The club has done everything within its power to address the issues that occurred that day, despite having no control over match-day security operations – a point which is accepted and reflected in the FA’s findings.

“The Club has made it clear for some time we would like to have greater control over our matchdays. We have the experience, know-how and a track record of success to oversee matchday operations. It is now a matter of public record that our relationship with E20 and LS185 has improved and we are committed to working closely with all necessary agencies and authorities to ensure that safety and security measures are implemented to the highest standards.”