Old Trafford and the London Stadium strike a sombre mood for Manchester United and West Ham’s European matches as the players wear black armbands, a minute’s silence is held and advertising boards are turned off to mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II
- Queen Elizabeth II passed away at the age of 96 on Thursday afternoon
- Manchester United and West Ham’s European matches still went ahead
- Both clubs wore black armbands and turned off their advertising boards
- A minute’s silence was also held at both stadiums ahead of kick-off
- There was a sombre mood in both grounds after news of the Queen’s passing
- Full coverage: Click here to see all our coverage of the Queen’s passing
Manchester United and West Ham both paid their respects to the Queen before and during their European matches following her death at the age of 96 on Thursday afternoon.
Buckingham Palace announced the Queen’s passing at around 6:30pm on Thursday, just as the turnstiles were opening for the 8pm kick-offs in Manchester and London.
United, who were hosting Spanish side Real Sociedad in the Europa League, opted not to play any pre-match music and the advertising hoardings were switched off following the news.
Both sets of players wore black armbands for the match, and United boss Erik ten Hag also wore one over his suit.
There was a minute’s silence before kick-off in honour of the Queen.
Robbie Savage, who was co-commentating on the game for BT Sport, noted the minute’s silence was ‘impeccably’ served.
Meanwhile, lead commentator Ian Darke praised the Sociedad fans for holding their scarves up as they paid a touching tribute to the Queen.
The players and supporters served a minute’s silence at Old Trafford after the Queen’s death
All of the players including Harry Maguire (above) wore a black armband out of respect
The advertising boards were turned off throughout the match at Old Trafford
The travelling fans held their scarves up during the minute’s silence to pay tribute to the Queen
As the game got underway, there was a sombre atmosphere inside the stadium, with fans clearly still having the Queen in their thoughts rather than focusing purely on the football in front of them.
Meanwhile, West Ham kicked off their Europa Conference League campaign against Romanian outfit FCSB.
Like at Old Trafford, the advertising boards were turned off prior to kick-off.
The east London club decided not to make any stadium announcements and they played sombre classical music in the build-up to the game.
The scoreboards inside the stadium were changed to black, while the badges of both teams were altered to black silhouettes.
West Ham showed an image of the Queen in black and white during the minute’s silence
Just like at Old Trafford, the West Ham players wore black armbands for the match
The players, who all wore black armbands along with the officials, stood arm in arm around the centre circle during the minute’s silence as an image of the Queen appeared on the big screen.
As the referee blew his whistle to signal the end of the minute’s silence there was a ripple of applause followed by a spontaneous rendition of the national anthem God Save the Queen.
West Ham went all the way to the semi-finals of the Europa League last season, and were roared on by their fans through the competition, but it was a very different atmosphere this time around in the stadium following the news of the Queen’s death.
