Except it was family and friends including children of the West Ham players and staff that were attacked. David Moyes confirmed that his elderly father was there, though he was, thankfully, ok. They were all sat in a few rows behind the dugouts.
The 900 or so West Ham fans were on the other side of the stadium.
There were though, as said, a couple of West Ham fans in that area, and they did a great job standing their ground to protect the families and friends. There's video online of the two of them. And photos of one of them looking battered and bruised but the two of them prevented injuries to others.