Eintracht Frankfurt’s away win at West Ham United not only wrote positive headlines in Germany. Two ARD radio reporters were victims of fan violence during their work. Now they report on the precarious situation.
It was to be an unusual working day for Tim Brockmeier and Philipp Hofmeister. The two radio reporters from Hessischer Rundfunk commented live for the ARD broadcasters from the first leg of the Europa League semifinals between Eintracht Frankfurt and West Ham United. However, individual supporters of the hosts from London ensured that the two journalists had an unpleasant memory of the evening in the west of the British capital.
The mood in London’s Olympic Stadium was tense from the start – also because the United fans didn’t want to show themselves and their club the weakness that FC Barcelona had to accept in the quarter-finals against SGE. At that time, 30,000 Frankfurt supporters stood in the stands at the Camp Nou and also took over vocal dominance in the stadium. Only about 3,000 Frankfurters found themselves in West Ham’s home on Thursday – who immediately made a noise like those 30,000 after Ansgar Knauff made it 1-0. Some United fans were looking for a way to vent their frustration – and worked on Brockmeier and Hofmeister.
West Ham colleagues come to the aid of ARD reporters
“We were attacked relatively early after Eintracht Frankfurt’s 1-0 lead by West Ham fans with punches in the neck and against the back of the head and back,” the two reporters reported the following day in an article by “Hessenschau”. As a trigger for the violence, the duo accounts for “that we simply did our job. We commented emotionally on the game and also on Eintracht’s goal, which didn’t affect the West Ham fans who were sitting directly behind us to like.” The logistical problem was that they were sitting in the back row of the press box, directly in front of part of the West Ham Annex.
But that was not all: “But when West Ham equalized in the 21st minute, the blows started again.” Hofmeister continues: “Tim in particular got it. He lost his headset and his microphone.” The rapporteurs particularly criticize the passive behavior of the security staff. Only the informed press staff from Eintracht Frankfurt would have provided help and protection. Brockmeier and Hofmeister also found words of praise for the host’s press staff. “In a very hectic action, however, we were then transferred to the main press gallery by two very helpful West Ham employees so that we could safely finish commenting,” they continue.
The attack is likely to have legal consequences, the two journalists explain: “West Ham’s press officer came to us, apologized and assured us that the incident would be followed up.”