Derbies are never easy : for both the clubs and their fans. But in a city like London, which has the maximum football teams in the world, it definitely makes things worse. Gone are the days of football firms and street brawls but no one can stop the fans from singing and chanting their hearts out, but only as long as it doesn’t get personal.
Last weekend, though Spurs beat West Ham 3-1 and it was at their own home ground, they were the ones to got the hard treatment from the away fans.
What Happened : West Ham fans reportedly chanted “Viva Lazio” and sang the name of former Lazio and Hammers man Paolo Di Canio and also sang “Can we stab you every week?
WHY? : This was in relation to the attack in which a Tottenham fan was seriously injured when a group stormed a bar in Rome where Spurs supporters were drinking ahead of a Europa League match with Lazio last week.
What else did they do? : The Hammers fans were also heard hissing on at least three occasions during the game, which is interpreted to mimic the sound of gas released into the death chambers at concentration camps during World War II. Also a Nazi salute was spotted.
Why? The Spurs fans call themselves as “Yids” which is associated with Jews as they have a large Jew fans base. Therefore the anti Jew chants were chanted.
Consequences :
First and foremost, West Ham themselves have an Israeli Jew player in their ranks : Yossi Benayoun. This is his second spell for the club, previously as a permanent player and now on loan from Chelsea. This was his tweet :
“I have a great relationship with the West Ham United supporters, from my first spell at the club and again now I am back on loan here. This why I was very disappointed to hear some of the songs yesterday and it was embarrassing.
“But we need to remember that it was made by a minority group of fans and I’m sure the fa together with west ham United football club will do everything to find and punish them,”
Two West Ham fans arrested : Two West Ham fans were arrested and accepted a police caution for anti-Semitic gestures.One of the fans, a season ticket holder, has been given a lifetime banning order by West Ham.Five arrests, not directly linked to taunts at Spurs fans, were also made.
A statement read :
“we would take strongest possible action against any of their supporters, including enforcing life bans from the club, that are found guilty of behaviour which is categorically not condoned by West Ham”.
“Any other individuals identified can expect a similar swift and robust response.”
Also, QPR’s new boss Harry Redknapp, who was Spurs’ ex manager said :
“We don’t want to go back to what we had with all the violence in the seventies – we can’t have that again. When they get in a group it’s filth. It’s disgusting and people are supposed to stand there and take it.
“They chant at managers, at players and at each other and it has nothing to do with the football. They are cowards. It’s disgusting and I keep hearing it,”
The hammers face their fiercest premier league rivals Chelsea this weekend. Chelsea are West Ham’s second greatest rivals after Milwall. Both the clubs have made their own versions for the other team’s main songs. Chelsea have made a mockery of the bubbles song of West Ham and likewise, West Ham have done the same thing to Chelsea’s Blue Flag.The Chelsea fans themselves had a very bad reputation throughout the 70’s until the late 80’s. Though nothing racist can be expected, this game will see old rivalries re-ignited. But with Chelsea fans singing “we know what we are, Champions of Europe, we know what we are”, one will hope the West Ham fans will find it hard to find something abusive against that and after the FA investigation, be relatively quiet… or will they?