Chelsea Supporters’ Trust note with disappointment the events surrounding the West Ham United v Chelsea EFL Cup tie on the evening of Wednesday 26th October 2016.
Clearly we would not wish to condone the behaviour of a minority of fans involved in unsavoury incidents.
Many Chelsea supporters, including young children, were subjected to coins and other missiles being thrown at them during the game and an intimidating and confusing walk back to various public transport hubs after the game.
In addition, procedures for the stewarding and segregation of opposing fans within the stadium appeared to be less than adequate, particularly given the nature and history of this fixture.
Issues of this nature were reasonably foreseeable given the number of well documented problems with stewarding, policing and the segregation of opposing supporters at the ‘London Stadium’ since West Ham took residency and it is clear that in failing to address this, those responsible for crowd management and safety continue to fail in providing a safe environment for football supporters.
We are currently collating an evidence based report from supporters caught up in any pre and post-match and segregation related incidents. We will be meeting with representatives from Chelsea FC together with the Chelsea Supporters Group, and we will also meet with the Football Supporters Federation and the Metropolitan Police to determine how these issues might be resolved going forward.
In the meantime if you were at the game and wish to share your experiences with us, good or bad, then please email: [email protected] and we will include them in our report.
A PDF copy of the above statement can be downloaded here.
