West Ham United will be "forced into an emergency relocation of some fans to try to prevent a repeat of the ugly scenes at the former Olympic Stadium on Saturday," according to Gary Jacob of the LONDON TIMES. Home supporters "fought with each other and children were left in tears after fans insisted on standing for a third consecutive game, while there were disturbances between rival supporters when the segregation area was breached in the upper tier" as Watford came from 2-0 down to win 4-2. Ten spectators "were ejected and three handed over to police." The club said that the operator has "not employed enough stewards at the London Stadium, with 730 at Saturday’s game, far fewer than the 1,000 at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium." West Ham also claims that a board member "was spat on by a fan and that stewards did nothing when it was reported to them." The club, which does not host any of its main rivals until December, is "braced for hundreds of requests from families and the elderly seeking to move from the lower tier behind the goal in the home end." Those who traditionally stood in those areas at Upton Park have "blamed the club for not creating a family section to include the 10,000 children who have season tickets and for mixing old and new fans together." The club hopes to "ensure a larger segregation area" but its flexibility is limited by selling 52,000 season tickets from a planned capacity of 60,000 (LONDON TIMES, 9/12).
