West Ham chair resigns after safeguarding probe into historic allegations

David Sullivan has stepped down as West Ham chairman and resigned as a director of WH Holding Limited and West Ham United Football Club after being told of serious historic allegations. The case has thrown a harsh light on how a safeguarding restriction involving the club’s women’s and youth pathways remained in force for years before it became public.

A safeguarding group made up of West Ham, the Football Association and the local authority imposed welfare measures in 2023 that barred Sullivan from contact with West Ham’s women’s and youth teams and from attending their matches. The FA opened its safeguarding investigation that year, and the restrictions stayed in place for the next three years, placing the club’s most sensitive development pathways beyond Sullivan’s reach.

West Ham said none of the allegations relate to West Ham United or any of its operations. Sullivan denied any illegal conduct and threatened legal action, saying the allegations are false. He had been made aware of impending serious historic allegations before deciding to step down on Saturday, June 7, 2026.

The allegations have widened beyond internal club governance. The BBC and The Times reported claims from seven women, while other reporting said eight women had made disclosures to the Metropolitan Police or Essex Police. The Metropolitan Police said it is investigating a report relating to the alleged taking of indecent images and sexual exploitation in London and Essex in the 1980s, and said enquiries remain ongoing.

The Independent Football Regulator said it is in contact with West Ham to seek information about Sullivan’s suitability as a co-owner. That scrutiny adds a separate layer of oversight pressure at a moment when the club must explain how a safeguarding decision involving a senior owner, the women’s team and the academy system stayed in force without wider public disclosure.

Sullivan had been West Ham’s joint chairman since 2010, when he and the late David Gold took control of the club. Gold died in January 2023. The Football Association said it operates a robust safeguarding programme across English football and investigates referrals under its safeguarding policies, but the length and secrecy of the restrictions will now raise hard questions about who knew what, how the ban was enforced, and whether the system protected vulnerable players or simply insulated powerful figures from scrutiny.

The fact that the measures covered women’s football and youth development makes the issue bigger than one individual. Those are precisely the parts of a club where safeguarding is meant to be strongest, not least visible.