Watching a remarkable comeback and shootout defeat with fans stuck outside - because they left early

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Your team are 2-0 down and heading out of a home FA Cup quarter-final without a whimper, and though the fourth official has just signalled that there will be 11 minutes of second-half stoppage time, you face the decision thousands of other West Ham supporters were confronted with on Sunday evening. Do you join the flurry of people leaving before the end of the match, or do you sit tight in desperate hope that your team can pull off a memorable comeback? This was the situation West Ham United supporters faced at the London Stadium yesterday. Although the east London club’s fans have had a pretty torrid season and find themselves in the relegation zone, the FA Cup has provided solace. And the dream of a trip to Wembley for a semi-final at the end of the month is something to get excited about. But when you watch Leeds United go 2-0 up on 75 minutes, and look incredibly comfortable with that lead, it is understandable if you can only take so much. After all, why would you want to continue to torture yourself? So, as the match ticked towards the final minute of the 90, and with West Ham clearly on their way out of the competition for another season, thousands of home supporters headed for the exits, to the backing track of Leeds’ 9,000 travelling fans making themselves heard in the away end. The problem was, of course, that West Ham managed an incredible comeback in those many added minutes — with Mateus Fernandes and then Axel Disasi scoring to send the tie into a further 30 minutes of extra time. It would eventually take a penalty shootout to separate the two sides. On the walkways surrounding the stadium, with a game still taking place, it was a sea of mobile phones and facial expressions that spelt out regret; they could hear every roar and groan of the crowd, but could not see the action. Their decision to leave had cost them — having exited the arena, they were not allowed back inside by security staff and stewards as those late goals rolled in. This is what it was like when you are stuck outside when your team is playing what could be 30 of the most important minutes of their season… Mark Beetwell-Dellow, standing alone and looking at his phone outside the London Stadium, was one of the thousands of West Ham fans to call it a day before full time on Sunday. He was also one of the many to come scurrying back after those two added-time goals to level the tie. “I was walking to the station and then rushed back when I heard the crowd after Fernandes scored, but I still thought it would be too late,” Beetwell-Dellow tells The Athletic. “And by the time I got here, the doors were shut, and protocol means they wouldn’t let us back in. “I don’t normally leave early, but I’ve got a train to catch, so, as we were 2-0 down, I decided to go.” Beetwell-Dellow was able to follow extra time on his phone, but conceded “it’s not the same”. “I’m just trying to absorb the atmosphere the best I can,” he added. With West Ham on the cusp of a memorable win, having already taken the tie to extra time, desperation reached fever pitch. One supporter had climbed up and was rattling a metal fence in frustration that he, along with a sizable group, was not being let back in. One steward outside the stadium noted how thousands had decided to leave, estimating that around 1,000 people in his section managed to push their way back in when the doors were opened for others to also exit. A man named Scott, perched on a bench and drinking a pint, attended the game with three of his friends. They all left early, too. But after hearing the reaction to the first West Ham goal, they rushed back to try to get inside again. His friends were successful; he wasn’t. “I tried to get back in, but they (the stewards) said no,” Scott, who didn’t want to share his surname, tells The Athletic. “I didn’t see the point in trying to push back in because the police were coming over, and it isn’t worth getting nicked (arrested) over.” Scott complains that watching the game through his phone — via UK broadcaster TNT Sports — was equally dire due to an intermittent stream. “Not good at all,” he responds when asked what it is like missing West Ham’s biggest moment of the 2025-26 campaign to date. “I was at the last FA Cup game, and I stayed, and now I’m wishing I’d done that here. “I’m more frustrated with myself for leaving than anything else, because I shouldn’t have left.” Standing about 50 yards away are Malcolm and Harley Olley, a father and son who also left early and are now consigned to listening to those who’d stayed in the ground react to the game. What makes their predicament all the more remarkable is that Malcolm’s other son decided to stick it out and is somewhere inside, watching the action unfold. “The ball went out of play with about five minutes of regular time to go, and I needed the toilet, so I decided to leave,” Malcolm tells The Athletic. “My son’s still in there, which is why we are standing here.” Malcolm explains that his son still in the stadium had travelled over from Spain for this match and had messaged him asking where he was. “I guess I’m old and cynical, he’s young and stupid,” Malcom quips. With the game going to penalties and the stewards still not letting anyone back in, no matter how many times the fans plead with them, supporters resort to desperate measures. One fan video-called someone still inside and watched the shootout that way. This supporter was quickly surrounded by a decent-sized crowd of people in the same boat. But about 50 yards away from them sat Carolyn Mixture and a friend. This was the first West Ham match Carolyn had attended in over two decades, and with her side 2-0 down late on, you can forgive her for thinking it was anything but worth the wait. “I left in the 85th minute,” Carolyn says, “because the game wasn’t very good. I hadn’t been to West Ham for over 20 years. “We’ve been sat here, and people have been running back and forth, but they had shut all the doors, and it was obvious they weren’t going to let anyone back in. I actually think we were the jinxes because we left and they scored.” If there is a positive for those fans gathering outside, it is that they didn’t miss one of the greatest comebacks of all time. Leeds win the penalty shootout, 4-2. For those gathered around, watching on a tiny phone screen via FaceTime, there is initial confusion as those at the front think the decisive Leeds penalty has been missed, and cheer, leading to further celebration across the crowd. They soon realise the ball has found the net and the game is over. The stewards open the doors, to a sarcastic cheer from those who have spent the past 30 minutes begging for them to do that very thing. Only this time, the thousands of West Ham supporters who stream out at pace have no intention of turning around — and after sticking it out inside, probably wish they had kept to their initial plan of trying to beat the rush for their train home. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Dan Sheldon is a football news correspondent for The Athletic. He has previously covered Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Southampton FC. Follow Dan on Twitter @Dan_Sheldon_