Cardiff supporters are up in arms over a decision by West Ham to ban fans from travelling independently to Upton Park.
West Ham United's Safety Advisory Group are insisting that only supporters travelling officially with Cardiff City will be allowed tickets for the game, which opens West Ham's Championship campaign early next month.That decision has caused a furore amongst supporters of the Welsh club - who have been given an allocation of 1,250 tickets for the game - who insist that the decision is unfair on those fans not living in Cardiff.
As a result, City have proposed that instead of an outright ban fans should be allowed to collect tickets from an agreed point - in this case, South Mimms service station.
But that offer is said to have been rejected by West Ham officials who are insisting on travelling fans taking official coaches directly from Cardiff to Upton Park.
West Ham's position is thought to have arien as a result of the skirmishes between fans of Cardiff and Chelsea following an FA Cup tie at Stamford Bridge in February. On that occasion violent clashes erupted around the ground, resulting in almost 100 arrests.
That match - which was categorised by the Met as C-plus, the highest category in terms of the probability of violence occuring - saw 6,000 Welsh fans descend on the capital and led prosecutor Howard Tobias to conclude: "The reputation of the fans and the two clubs alerted police to the high probability of spontaneous and pre-planned disorder. It was believed violence would occur."
As a result all City fans now look like paying the price for the actions of a few.
* West Ham are no strangers to controversy with regards to away fans; on the final day of last season the club was lambasted by Sunderland supporters who were forced to pay £46 per ticket - despite West Ham having already been relegated.
* Something to say about this story? Please visit the KUMB Forum to leave a comment.
