Hooliganism returns to English football? | inside World Soccer

Hooliganism returns to English football?

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Upton Park witnessed a Hammer horror as West Ham's Carling Cup win over local rivals Millwall was marred by scenes reminiscent of football's dark days.

Pitch invasions and ugly confrontations between rival supporters scarred the Hammers' 3-1 victory in the second round contest.


The trouble began outside the ground where hundreds clashed violently, two men were stabbed and rival fans hurled bricks, bottles and other missiles at each other.

While the mood inside Upton Park was ugly as two sets of fans who traditionally loathe each other vented their bile and hatred with a ceaseless torrent of taunts and expletives.

The tension heightened when Neil Harris gave the Lions a shock 26th-minute lead - but their bubble burst when Junior Stanislas banged home an 87th-minute equaliser, triggering the first pitch invasion.

As anarchy erupted on the pitch, with yobs taunting players and each other, the hopelessly outnumbered police and stewards tactically chose to let the invasion peter out.

But the mayhem returned when Stanislas scored his second from the spot on 98 minutes. Now the game had to be stopped for five minutes as the yobs flooded back on to the pitch.

After the game resumed, West Ham substitute Zavon Hines struck a third on 100 minutes and again idiots jumped on to the pitch.

Another massive invasion took place at the end of the match.

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