West Ham has to be be an inclusive club

West Ham have been right to suspend under-18s coach Mark Phillips for being on the Democratic Football Lads Alliance march and subsequently tweeting in defence of it. The DFLA's stated aims of protesting against "returning jihadists", "thousands of awol migrants" "veterans being treated like traitors" and "rape gangs and groomers" suggest the sort of whistles my border terrier would be able to hear. The Premier League has already condemned the Football Lads Alliance (the Democratic Football Lads Alliance is a splinter group) for its far right links and anti-Muslim agenda.

Many of West Ham's young players will be Muslim, black, Asian or the children of migrants (a less pejorative term for migrants is human beings). They need to know that West Ham is an inclusive club, particularly after Tony Henry's ill-judged comments about not signing African players last year. Yes, Phillips might have simply been naive, and some people on the march might be there out of a misguided sense of patriotism and not regard themselves as racists, but they are keeping some pretty unsavoury company. Let's Kick it Out at West Ham.