A pitch invader does a moony towards West Ham fans then gets caught by Southend stewards during a pre-season friendly at Roots Hall.
Videos of the moment has gone viral across social media, many fans laughing at the unexpected moment with around 30 minutes left of the second half to play out.
The was a break in play, both teams waiting to make some changes, and watched on as the pitch invader ended up going into the West Stand and was prevented from making his way out of the exit.
Justin Allen, who filmed one of the videos below, wrote: “First pitch invader of the season makes daring dart to avoid stewards & football banning order at Southend v West Ham.”
Simply Shrimpers, who posted another, said: “A seriously impressive performance from the lads today against West Ham but just doesn’t beat this highlight 🤣 Not sure if it was worth a ban though!”
Southend fan on the pitch mooning the travelling West Ham fans at the game today…
— Football Away Days (@FBAwayDays) July 18, 2026
The game itself played out to a 1-1 draw, National League side Southend taking the lead from the penalty spot on the 15th minute.
Walker-Peters deemed to have brought down Josh Popoola with Harry Cardwell putting the ball past Mads Hermansen to make it 1-0.
The recently relegated Hammers, who had chances to go level in the first half, eventually did so just before half time, Mavropanos getting on the end of a corner swung in by Jarrod Bowen.
@brexitbubbles Rapid 🤣 #southendunited #westham #fyp #football ♬ original sound – brexitbubbles
Team lineups, as per whufc.co.uk:
West Ham United: Hermansen (Herrick 65), Walker-Peters (Battrum 65), Mavropanos (Golambeckis 65), Kilman (Casey 65), Scarles (Mayers 65), Bowen © (Fearon 65), Kanté (Ward-Prowse 65), Earthy (Ajala 65), Lamadrid (Orford 65), Taty (Potts 65), Pablo (Marshall 65) Subs not used: Areola (GK), Murphy
Goal: Mavropanos 45+1
Booked: Kanté
Southend United: Duncan, Daley-Campbell (Trialist 65), Hartigan (Trialist 65), Oyebade, Boyes (Trialist 65), Goodliffe (Cox 65), Oldaker (Trialist 65), Cardwell (Twamley HT), Popoola (Stone 74), Coker © (Kendall HT), Trialist A (Austin 52) Subs not used: Parillon
Goal: Cardwell 15 (pen)
Referee: Ayrton Hussey
Attendance: 10,462 (2,753 from West Ham United)
It’s probably incorrect to laugh at this moment but have to admit I did! pic.twitter.com/IwWGi4PWd8
— Chris Phillips (@CJPhillips1982) July 18, 2026
West Ham first-team coach Gerard Prenderville said after the game, as per the club website: “We played 45 minutes [for each player] behind closed doors on Tuesday against Colchester, then played today with a crowd, 10,000 I think there was, so, as I said, it was a really good workout.
“It’s about getting through it with no injuries. The lads played 60 today and the other boys came on and played 30, so that’s exactly what it’s about.
“The boys have been good. They’ve attacked every session, worked really hard on and off the pitch, lots of gym work.
“So, it’s been a really, really good two weeks and then to go and get some of them to get over 100 minutes in their legs now has been really positive.”
On working with Nuno: “It’s been incredible and then today, to top it off, to get however many Academy lads out there playing, as you know I’ve been with the majority since I was 12, so to get them out in front of a crowd and to compete in a first team environment has been really good.
“They’ve been given lots of opportunities in training sessions, in an in-house game the other day and then again today and hopefully they’ll get some more minutes as the pre-season games come to an end.”
Here’s how fans reacted after a pitch invader does a moony toward West Ham fans then gets caught by Southend stewards…
@charlie28975873: Not sure the ban will be worth it for a 1-1 draw before the seasons started
@jamiehenry28: You honestly think his a regular at Roots Hall lol I’m sure he never had any intention of attending again 🤣
@merlinsbeard66: Stewards did nothing but laugh
Paul Howe: He might have been treated more leniently if he hadn’t slapped his bare backside in front of the West Ham fans.
Lee Price: Highlight of the game that haha! Sign him up ⚒️
dannyflasher: Great turn of pace. Prob worth a trial
luckymanliam: He was lively 🏃♂️
ryan.hodgy: Embarrassing behaviour wtf!
kayleighandtheboys23: Why’d it take the stewards so long to respond 😂
llno13: Trialist A
callum_with_2_ls: Is that fucking bovver????
dannycheyne: Best part of the game tbh
margaret_brock58: The funniest part was watching security trying to catch him !
daz_mawdsley: Sign him up he’s rapid! 🔥😂
Samuel Zalaiskalns: Imagine being that guy , getting a ban for a pre season friendly 😂
RHB: It was quite a Keystone Cops moment when two stewards chased the bloke through the West Stand. Did they catch hm? not a clue, but one was blowing out of his arse on the way back to his station. Didn’t look like our normal security, no stab jackets and big boots and all in black, have we binned those?
Supa Shrimpa: TBH he did hurdle the West Stand perimeter barrier pretty well
Supernaut: Yeah, they did – he made a dash for freedom up the West Stand stairs but 2 stewards were waiting for him at the top!! He was then forcibly marched straight of out the ground with a ban for life I expect.
West Ham forum (KUMB – Knees up Mother Brown): “Great crowd for a pre-season friendly with our support in fine voice. Stood there awkwardly singing “Southend’s a sh*thole” knowing equally I live just next door to it. 😀 And the fan sitting with the Southend fans who ran on and got his a*se out to our fans was funnier than it should’ve been”.
