London club West Ham’s long wait on European fields ended on Thursday. The team advanced to the final of the Conference League by defeating the Dutch AZ Alkmaar.
In 1965 West Ham defeated 1860 Munich in the Cup Winners’ Cup final and in 1976 West Ham lost the final of the same tournament to Anderlecht.
The big party quickly turned into trouble. A group of black-clad ultra fans of the home team Alkmaar tried to attack the part of the stand reserved for West Ham supporters, especially the families and friends of the players and coaching staff, after the final whistle.
When the West Ham players noticed the situation, they tried to prevent the incident. Stewards and West Ham backroom staff tried to keep the players safe. The chaos lasted ten minutes.
The spectators who were there said that it was safe outside the stadium because there were enough policemen. There were no police around the West Ham stand in the stadium and it took a long time for them to arrive.
Spectator named Russell Raphael told about the fear of the spectators.
– More than 30 men in balaclava somehow broke out of the stands and ran towards us. Brave West Ham fans did their best to stop them. The orderlies also did their best. The players panicked when they saw their families threatened, so they understandably ran to the scene.
Also the head coach of West Ham David Moyes was worried about his family members. His 87-year-old father was in the stands.
Alkmaar’s head coach Pascal Jansen stated that he was ashamed that such a thing happened at the Alkmaar stadium. The players of the home team also spoke about their shock. Defender of AZ Pantelis Hatzidiakos said his family was there.
– My girlfriend said they were shaking. I don’t call such people supporters. Stay home if you have such intentions, Hatzidiakos demanded.
“An evening to be ashamed of”
The incident was resolved without serious injuries. No one was arrested recently.
– Our goal was to break up the crowd and restore order as quickly as possible, which we succeeded in doing. Together with AZ, the municipality and the prosecutor’s office, we are evaluating the incidents of the evening, for which we are sorry, the police statement was heard.
The Dutch head of the UEFA Security Committee Michael van Praag said Alkmaar will be penalized as the home team is responsible for stadium security. Van Praag stated that all perpetrators of violence should also be punished.
– It is a matter for the club, the Dutch Football Association and the judiciary, but the judiciary is very weak in our country, so I have no confidence in it, Van Praag uploaded.
Posted by AZ Alkmaar announcement (you will switch to another service)in which it was written that the hopes were for a historic European game night.
– It turned out to be a night to be ashamed of. Not because of the football match played, but because of the behavior of some spectators. Unfortunately, we cannot use the word “supporters” about them.
It has been widely reported in the media that it was a revenge attack. In a match played in London, family members of AZ players got into a showdown with West Ham fans. However, physical confrontations were avoided then.
In the Dutch newspapers, Thursday’s case was naturally huge news. Former star striker Robin van Persie called it “a huge shame”.
“When does someone lose their life?”
The greatest “golden age” of football hooliganism was experienced in the 1970s, when there was talk of the “England disease”. With hard work, it was brought under control. However, the problem of violence has never been completely tamed.
British expert, professor at the University of Manchester Geoff Pearson is concerned about developments in European football. In his opinion, it was yet another total failure of security systems and personnel in a UEFA match.
– The scenes that we regularly saw outside the stadiums on match days are becoming more common inside the stadiums. It’s only a matter of time before someone loses their life.
Across England and Wales, football-related curfews increased by 230 percent between 1 July 2022 and 31 December 2022 compared to the same period a year earlier.
Chief of Police Mark Roberts said the figures show that disorder in football matches at all levels has increased. He was particularly concerned about the increase in pyrotechnics, drug use and attacks on stadium staff.
We are in trouble in Holland
In particular, disorder has been the talk of the town this year. Now we can talk about the “black week” of Dutch football, because on Sunday the match between Groningen and Ajax was stopped at nine minutes.
First, in the sixth minute, smoke bombs flew, and a supporter of the home team Groningen ran onto the field. He had a poster with him demanding the sacking of the club’s management. Groningen is relegated from the Dutch league.
The teams were ordered to the locker rooms. When the game resumed, smoke bombs flew onto the field again. After this, the match was not continued. In Holland, due to problems, a policy has been introduced that when something flies onto the field, the match is stopped. If it happens again, the match will be stopped completely.
Earlier, the match between Groningen and Nijmegen was stopped when a spectator threw a pint at the assistant referee.
Dutch Minister of Justice Dilan Yesilgöz-Zegerius intervened in April when Ajax Davy Klaassen received a wound in the head from a firecracker thrown by a Feynoord spectator.
– Football violence is a many-headed monster that is not easy to destroy, the minister said.
The list of incidents in Holland during the current season could be continued for a long time.
Uefa security director Van Praag said that the president of Ajax had to work a lot with problem supporters.
– But they stayed away from the elderly, women and children, that was the golden rule. If you start attacking players’ relatives, then some limit has been reached.
Van Praag stated that he was ashamed as a Dutchman that in terms of violence, the Netherlands is doing even worse compared to the rest of Europe.
He would like lessons to be learned from England, where there has been separate legislation for a long time, football banning orders. It enables, for example, throwing objects or fighting in stadiums to be brought to justice quickly.
– If you behave badly, you will get a curfew and a criminal record. It’s scary.
In Holland, due to the lack of resources of the police, no hard measures have been taken. Curfews are possible, but the clubs are responsible.
– The criminal curfew is the missing link. All parties – the judiciary, the police, clubs, supporters and the Football Association – must work together. The system is only as strong as its weakest link.
Fuck Uefa
In addition to the clubs, Uefa also got a kick out of it. Football hooliganism expert, professor Clifford Stott The University of Keele stated about Thursday’s events that “it’s in those kinds of things that people die”.
Last spring’s Champions League final turned into chaos, and Liverpool fans became part of it. In the end, after an investigation, Uefa had to admit that it was primarily responsible for the disaster.
Stott is surprised that Uefa has not learned a lesson in organizing security arrangements. In addition, Stott could not understand how Uefa managed the security arrangements in Alkmaar so lazily, even though there were disturbances before the match.
On June 7, West Ham will face Fiorentina in the Conference League final in Prague. Sevilla and AS Roma will meet in the Europa League final on May 31 in Budapest. Manchester City and Inter will play in the Champions League final in Istanbul on June 10.
Stott is worried about the English going to the finals.
– My recommendation to everyone: be very careful.
Sources: BBC (switch to another service), BBC (switch to another service), Sky Sports (switch to another service), NOS (you switch to another service), Algemeen Dagblad (you switch to another service), The Guardian (you are switching to another service), The Guardian (you are switching to another service), NPO Radio 1 (you switch to another service).