By Noel Whelan

2nd Oct, 2021 | 8:00am

Pundit unhappy at West Ham 'bringing the club into disrepute' after BBC update on controversy

Noel Whelan has slammed the behaviour of supporters after violence marred the Europa League clash between West Ham and Rapid Vienna.

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former Leeds striker claimed those involved brought their clubs into “disrepute”.

As reported by BBC Sport (1st October), police made three arrests after fan trouble overshadowed West Ham’s 2-0 win at the London Stadium.

Two arrests were made for assault while another was for carrying an offensive weapon.

Objects were thrown between the two sets of supporters, while away fans leapt over barriers to encroach on the home support.

Whelan admitted the clubs would be the ones who end up suffering because of fan trouble.

However, he suggested there is little that can be done to “educate” the “minority” of troublemakers.

“It is the fans that end up bringing the club into disrepute,” Whelan told Football Insider’s Russell Edge.

“You’ve got to put your trust in the fans that, when they go away from home, they’re going to behave properly.

“Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. Sometimes, alcohol-related incidents, which I’m sure it was as well, don’t help the cause.

“You can’t control that as a football club. You’ve got to put your trust in fans that they go out there, behave the right way and represent the club they support in the right way.

“It’s a few, it’s a minority but it’s still there in football, unfortunately. You can’t really educate people about these certain things. It’s the club that gets punished.”

In other news, West Ham told they can sign international midfielder from Euro giants for £35million.