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Jacob Steinberg takes us throu...

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Jacob Steinberg takes us through West Ham's troubles

98FM
98FM

07:35 13 Mar 2018


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At the end of the 2015-16 season, things at West Ham looked rather rosy.

The club had just finished seventh in the Premier League and were about to move into the larger former Olympic Stadium.

Things don't look so rosy now for the former Boleyn Ground tenants and the ill-feeling erupted at the weekend as some West Ham fans poured onto the pitch during their home defeat to Burnley to demonstrate their displeasure as relegation fears deepened. 

They also turned their ire towards an unpopular board, venting their frustrations at the direction the club is going in.

Jacob Steinberg takes us through West Ham's troubles

00:00:00 / 00:00:00

Why has the situation turned so drastically over the last couple of years and who are the key figures involved?

Nathan was joined on the Football Show by The Guardian football writer Jacob Steinberg who was at the London Stadium on Saturday and witnessed the angry scenes.

One issue Steinberg highlighted was a divide among the fanbase. 

"There's a group called the Real West Ham Fans Action Group who have since dropped the 'Action' from their name and are now known as the Real West Ham Fans Group," he explained.

"Two of the founder members had links with the former Inter-City Firm.

"They were part of a broader fan group coalition which includes 15 fan groups who met with Karren Brady on two occasions last month.

"That fan coalition also included the West Ham United Independent Supporters Association who have also been quite anti-board and after the second meeting, the Real West Ham Fans Action Group suddenly decided that the march was off and they were satisfied with Karren Brady. They thought they'd achieved a dialogue with Brady and everything was going to get a bit better now.

"However, WISA, the other group, at the behest of its members, thought things hadn't actually got better. They wanted to lead a march and its members had told it to do so. It kind of erupted and relations between the two groups broke down."  


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