Sky Sports have issued an apology to West Ham co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan after a number of 'factual inaccuracies' were made on one of their shows last week.
The long running Sunday Supplement programme sees football journalists discuss what is going on in the sport, with the subject of West Ham's recent struggles coming up in last week's episode.
The financial commitment of the owners during their ten years in charge was brought into question, while it was argued that the club had consistently been on the brink of relegation. One guest on the show also made a 'hand in the till' remark that did not go down well with Gold and Sullivan.
It is believed that the pair threatened legal action against Sky Sports after the inaccurate claims were made live on-air.
That led to this morning's apology, where host Geoff Shreeves backtracked on the previous comments, even going as far as to break down the money that has been spent by West Ham in recent years:
On last week’s show there was a discussion about West Ham. Following conversations this week between the Sunday Supplement and the club, we apologise for any factual inaccuracies made on the programme.
Recently published accounts show that West Ham have invested heavily in the squad since their move to the new stadium, with a net spend of £240 million in the last four years, including club record Sebastien Haller.
They’ve spent over £1.5m on scouts in the past year and they’ve also invested £10m in the training grounds at Rush Green and Chadwell Heath. ‘In response to the claims that the appointment of Stuart Pearce was ‘vetoed’ by the board, the club say this isn’t true.
During the discussion it was remarked that the club had a culture of ‘everyone has got their hands in the till’ – this was a reference to the level of commitment of some players and managers, and was not a suggestion of any illegality in any way.
We apologise if this wasn’t made clear.
It was suggested that during their time in charge of Birmingham City, David Gold and David Sullivan presided over no significant investment at St Andrews. ‘During their time at the club they invested in the redevelopment of the ground, including three new stands and 22,000 new seats.
As a result, St Andrews has been awarded Asset of Community Value status. Sky Sports always strives for fairness and accuracy in our programming.
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