The return of football’s shame

The return of football’s shame: CCTV hunt for hooligans who went on rampage at West Ham v Millwall match.

Police are scouring CCTV footage this morning in a bid to identify the hooligans responsible for serious football violence at a game between West Ham and Millwall last night.

One man was stabbed in the chest and at least 10 people were arrested after bitter rivalry between the two clubs sparked clashes before, during and after the Carling Cup match.

The game, at West Ham’s Upton Park stadium in east London, had to be suspended when scores of supporters invaded the pitch and bricks and bottles were thrown at officials and police.

Questions were being asked about the numbers of police at the fixture, which fans had predicted would attract hooligans from both sets of supporters.

Much of the violence appeared to have been organised beforehand on hooligan internet sites. One message said: ‘Make sure you bring your bats and don’t bring your kids.’

The 44-year-old was stabbed in the chest just yards from the West Ham ground and is today in a stable condition in hospital.

Two other fans had to be taken to hospital for treatment to less serious injuries after what police called ‘large-scale’ violence.

Onlookers described how bricks and bottles were lobbed as hundreds of supporters rioted.

And inside the ground, fans fought with police and stewards and play was suspended when scores of supporters invaded the pitch.

Millwall and West Ham have one of the longest-standing rivalries in English football but have rarely been in the same division and have not played each other since 2005.

One West Ham fan said the violent scenes ‘seemed to belong to another era’. Scotland Yard described the clashes as ‘pre-planned and organised’.

It is feared the ugly fighting could harm the Football Association’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup which will be decided next year.

Rivals for the job of hosting the event America, Russia and Spain are likely to seize on the violence as they try to outbid England.

The fighting began shortly after 6pm as thousands of fans made their way to the ground and descended into running battles with up to 1,000 riot police.

Violent scenes were still being played out six hours later, well after the match had been won by West Ham 3-1.

John Whittingham, 35, a caretaker who lives near the ground, said: ‘There were lots of scuffles and fights before the game. I saw a couple of people with bloody faces.

‘People were throwing bricks but I haven’t got a clue where they were finding them. Some people were trying to rip bollards off the pavement. There were also some fires lit.’

Tensions then completely boiled over as West Ham took the lead in extra time and around 60 fans ran on to the pitch.

One Millwall fan said: ‘It was like a war zone outside the stadium. I brought my kids with me and they’ve seen some violence that is indescribable.

Among the spectators in the ground was actress Jaime Winstone, engaged to Lily Allen’s brother Alfie.

Miss Allen begged on social-networking website Twitter: ‘Millwall-WestHam, stop fighting, my Jaime is there. If anything happens to her… I don’t know, just stop it!’

Police and stewards had battled to keep the two sets of fans apart during the game as they taunted one another as news of the fighting outside filtered through.

But when the game ended, hundreds of fans invaded the pitch again and had to be forcibly removed.

A 56-year-old man said: ‘There were a lot of lunatics around. The thing is, between these two sets of fans, it’s hatred. The teams haven’t played each other for so long so I suppose it was always going to kick off.’

The manager of a nearby kebab shop said: ‘All hell broke loose, it was very frightening. It’s not every day you see stuff like that. There were West Ham fans on one side and Millwall on the other. They were being kept apart by the police.

‘There were West Ham fans for as far as you could see along the street. Bottles and bricks were being thrown from the back and some were hitting West Ham fans at the front. There were loads of people with blooded faces.’

Another man, aged 19, who did not want to be named, said: ‘People were chipping bricks off buildings and throwing them at police. I saw one officer getting kicked as he was on the ground.’

One West Ham fan who went to last night’s match said the District Line underground train from Barking stopped just before Upton Park at 7.20pm and did not move for around 15 minutes.

‘Tempers flared on board as kick-off approached, people tried breaking open the doors,’ he said.

He said the train then went straight to Plaistow without stopping, leaving fans with a 15 minutes walk back to the ground.

‘The atmosphere was tense in surrounding streets, the police helicopter was up and riot police were everywhere.

‘It was only a matter of time before it all kicked off.’

The fan said he saw about 30 police with shields and batons ‘storm’ towards the nearby Boleyn pub.

Chairman of the Football Supporters Federation Malcolm Clarke is meeting with the FA boss Ian Watmore today to discuss the riots.

‘It’s not a good start to the season and it’s important a full investigation is done, and the FA are going to do this with all parties to see exactly what caused this. But I think at this stage we must keep it in perspective.

‘Certainly over the last 20 years the amount of football violence has radically reduced. It’s too early I think to start drawing too many long-term conclusions, but obviously this was a very serious incident,’ he said. 

A Football Association spokesman said: ‘We absolutely condemn all of the disorder that has occurred at Upton Park this evening both inside and outside of the ground.

‘We will be working with all parties, including the police and clubs, to establish the facts surrounding tonight’s events. We strongly expect all culprits to be banned from football for life. They have no place in our game.’

West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola also spoke of his shock, saying: ‘It’s certainly not good for football. I was completely shocked. Totally. I knew it was a game that meant a lot for the two sets of supporters, but I didn’t imagine it like this.

‘What can I say? I’m a sport man. I love the game. I love to go on the pitch and try and make it exciting for the supporters and enjoyable for everybody to watch. This was beyond my powers.’

Millwall boss Kenny Jackett added: ‘There were no Millwall fans on the pitch. They stayed where they were supposed to. There were a lot of people on the pitch. The lads gathered together and came to the sides, as they should have.

‘I wasn’t aware of the stabbing outside the ground. I’m very sad to hear that. We’ve got a passionate game in this country, but when it oversteps the mark then things have to be done.’

The clashes are the worst violence between the clubs for decades. Formed by rival dockers in London’s East End in the late 19th century, the two have long been known for their rivalry.

Millwall were formed in 1885 on the Isel of Dogs, and drew a lot of their support from the island and surrounding areas such as Poplar, Bow, Stepney, Wapping and also south of the river in Southwark.

Meanwhile, East End shipbuilders and ironworkers got a factory team together which became Thames Ironworks FC.

Millwall and Thames Ironworks often met in heated league and cup games, and a rivarly developed.
Thames Ironworks eventually became West Ham and the rivalry was set.

In the 1960s, it even crept into London’s two most notorious gangs: The Krays, who hailed from the East End and supported West Ham; and the Richardsons, from south of the river and followed Millwall.

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