Friday, 7th February, 2014
West Ham are taking legal action after having their appeal against Andy Carroll's red card picked up versus Swansea turned down, with co-chairman David Gold saying their status means they must exhaust all avenues.
The England striker was shown red after tangling with Swansea defender Chico Flores, a decision that West Ham manager Sam Allardyce was quick to slam after the match.
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And appeal was lodged with the FA, but rejected, and Carroll is now serving a three-match ban.
But West Ham are not prepared to leave it at that and the club's co-chairman Gold has promised legal action.
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"There is nowhere to go other than to seek some kind of legal redress", Gold was quoted as saying by the BBC, going on to stress that the stance has been forced on the Hammers.
"We are hugely disappointed at the outcome of the process.
"The last thing I want to do is going to some kind of legal issue because I think it is a footballing issue.
"But we are fighting for our lives. If we were mid-table we would probably get on with it but we are fighting for our lives to retain our Premier League status and we owe it to our fans, we owe it to ourselves.
"We are upset, we feel we have been badly treated.
"Most judgements are not made by three people, they are made by 12 – that's why they are called juries.
"I believe if you had gone to the FA Council and asked the 100 members 75% would have said it was not a sending off, but if you just take three people it may not be representative."
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