Co-chairmen David Gold and David Sullivan have issued a statement ahead of tonight's visit of Sheffield United calling upon supporters to act responsibly.
West Ham United face the Blades at the Boleyn Ground this evening for the first time since a bumbling Lord Griffiths declared that Carlos Tevez was responsible for the Yorkshire club failing to secure enough points to avoid relegation from the Premiership in 2006/07.Already billed as a major grudge match, a number of Hammers fans are set to wear Carlos Tevez masks in order to taunt travelling supporters of the League One side. That's in response to Blades fans who happily waved fake £50 notes featuring Tevez's face at West Ham fans during the last meeting between the teams at Bramall Lane (in 2007).
And as is often the case for potentially troublesome home encounters, the club today issued a statement asking fans to act appropriately.
"We would like to welcome the players, staff, fans and directors of Sheffield United to East London for a game that we know has generated a great deal of interest among supporters of both sides," it read.
"We are all too aware of the background to the fixture, with it being the first time these two great Clubs have played one another since the so called 'Tevez affair'.
"We know it is a game the two sets of fans will want to win and both managers will be picking teams they think are capable of seeing their team progress to the next round. So it is likely to be a fixture played with plenty of passion and commitment and hopefully we will have a great Cup tie on our hands.
"As Chairmen of the Club we would ask that those passions are channelled in the right way and we show our class as a Club. As far as we are concerned, the whole unsavoury episode is in the past as it involved different managers and different players and in our case, different Chairmen.
"So please make sure once again you demonstrate what being a West Ham fan is all about - by giving your all to support the team as we prepare for what will hopefully be another successful Cup run."
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