West Ham United are confident that appropriate measures will be in place to ensure that no Eintracht Frankfurt supporters make it into the home sections for next week’s Europa League semi-final first leg at London Stadium.
Discussions are continuing between both clubs, the stadium’s operators and police ahead of the most eagerly anticipated fixture since the ground opened to football in 2016. But there are already plans for additional stewards to be drafted in and the Metropolitan police will provide a more visible presence with an expectation that thousands of ticketless Eintracht fans will make the trip to East London.
A senior London Stadium source confirmed to MirrorFootball that they will have “enhanced steward and security resources and this will be integrated with significant police planning.”
The Bundesliga club brought an estimated 30,000 to Barcelona for last week’s quarter-final win and more than 15,000 of those were able to purchase available seats in home areas, leading to Barca president Joan Laporta describing the situation as a “disgrace” that made him “feel embarrassed.”
Eintracht won 3-2 to progress 4-3 on aggregate. “The players did not feel like they were playing at home,” Barca head coach Xavi said. “It's not an excuse, but the atmosphere conditioned us. We were not comfortable. “I had a bad feeling from the first moment when we got on the bus at the hotel and we did not feel at home.”
While West Ham initially said that any remaining tickets will go on general sale at 1pm this Thursday, there is an expectation that season ticket holders and members will have purchased all available seats by then and a senior club source said that they envisage no issues.
London Stadium installed a new electronic turnstile system at the beginning of the campaign that offers robust and stringent protection. A club statement said: "West Ham supporters who re-sell their Eintracht Frankfurt tickets on any unauthorised platform will have their season ticket terminated and be banned from London Stadium for the rest of the 2022/23 season, as well as losing any priority points and benefits accrued with their Season Ticket. No refunds will apply."
Security concerns are further heightened by a number of supporters from both clubs clashing in Seville last month, when Eintracht faced Real Betis 24 hours before David Moyes’s side took on Sevilla in the round of 16.
West Ham fans were banned from attending the group game away to Rapid Vienna in late November and the club have been fined twice for crowd disturbances earlier in the campaign. However the home game against Sevilla and both quarter-final legs versus Lyon passed by without significant issues.
