West Ham co-owner David Sullivan ‘fed up with negative campaigning against London Stadium’

James Benge12 October 2016

Co-owner David Sullivan says that West Ham are the subject of “negative campaigning” against the London Stadium.

The club’s move from the Boleyn Ground, their home of 112 years, to Stratford during the summer has been defined by struggles on the pitch – Slaven Bilic’s side are 18th in the table and out of the Europa League – and discontent among fans in the stands.

Though the London Stadium provides the club with the financial muscle to compete with rivals in the capital and the rest of the Premier League supporters are yet to embrace the ground, with a section of supporters chanting “we should have stayed at the Boleyn” during the 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough before the international break.

Five fans were arrested in clashes outside the ground following the match. West Ham have said that any supporters found to have engaged in violence will receive lifetime bans.

“I have to say I am getting increasingly fed up with the negative campaigning against the stadium by some sections of the media,” Sullivan wrote on the club website. “I find it particularly galling when the journalists who are writing these skewed opinions have not even been to the stadium!

“Reading some write ups they give a very different impression of the Stadium to that which is being reported by people who have actually been there.

“To put it into perspective at the Middlesbrough game there were five arrests - ALL outside the stadium in the public park. It has not yet been confirmed which of these supporters are West Ham United fans.

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“However, I fully accept that’s too many and we are in the process of identifying and banning these supporters in line with our zero tolerance policy.

“I prefer to listen to the hundreds and hundreds of emails I am getting from supporters who love the new stadium, love that we have made football affordable, and I am very proud that we have 25,000 families inside the stadium, many new to football – this is the future of West Ham’s support and this is the reason we made the move in the first place.

“Things will calm down shortly and it will all be helped when we start to win a few games.”

West Ham host their first London derby at their new home on October 26, welcoming Chelsea in the EFL Cup four days after a Premier League game with Sunderland at the London Stadium.

Sullivan confirmed that tickets would only be available to those who had attended a match in the last five years. Chelsea have also been told they may not receive their full allocation, 5,700, for the match as there remain logistical issues in the London Stadium’s away end.

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