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West Ham vow to hunt down thugs as Gianfranco Zola reveals his despair
Ken Dyer26 Aug 2009
West Ham this afternoon vowed to leave no stone unturned in their bid to root out the thugs responsible for last night's shameful scenes of violence at Upton Park.
The club have said they will do all they can to aid the investigations by the Football Association and police into the outrage during the Carling Cup tie with Millwall. The FA probe could result in the Hammers being hit with a huge fine, ordered to play their next Carling Cup match behind closed doors or even thrown out of the competition.
Millwall are also in danger of being fined but the fact the game was at the Hammers' ground means they will carry the can for scenes that dragged football back into the dark ages and this morning attracted total condemnation. Outside the ground, one man was stabbed in the chest as fans fought running battles despite the presence of riot police. Inside, fans clashed with stewards and police, invaded the pitch on two occasions and hurled coins, seats and cigarette lighters onto the pitch.
There were also allegations that West Ham's Carlton Cole was racially abused by Millwall fans during the match, won by the home side 3-1 after extra-time. Hammers chief executive Scott Duxbury said today: “This is a family club and the Boleyn Ground has always been a safe place for all supporters to enjoy football. We are determined to ensure this remains the case.
“Everyone at the club is shocked and appalled at what happened and we will leave no stone unturned in identifying the perpetrators, rooting them out and then taking the proper action from the police point of view and the club's.”
Hammers manager Gianfranco Zola said: “I've been involved in difficult games in Italy where something happened but here, I played seven years and nothing ever happened like this.
“It's not good for football but football doesn't have to be crucified because of that. There are some very good supporters and I don't feel like making the whole of football guilty because of this. I knew it was a game which meant a lot to the two sets of supporters but I didn't imagine it was this way.”
The FA have vowed to give those responsible life bans from football grounds. This morning Soho Square officials spoke to both clubs, the Football League — organisers of the Carling Cup — and the Metropolitan Police as they started to gather information about the events in east London.
That process will include studying CCTV footage of the clashes both in the streets and Upton Park and the reports filed by referee Paul Taylor, the FA's own crowd control officer, who was at the match, and both clubs' safety officers.
The FA will look to see first how West Ham dealt with the rampage as it unfolded. They will assess, among other things, whether stewarding was sufficient and whether everything was done to prevent the pitch invasions. One steward at the match claimed colleagues did not turn up for work because they were so apprehensive about the possibility of trouble.
FA director of communications Adrian Bevington said: “I'm not going to condemn West Ham or Millwall football clubs for any of their actions — certainly not at this stage, because we don't know exactly what's been put in place.
“However, we have to make sure that the individuals concerned can't go to football again.”
The Football League's chief operating officer Andy Williamson said: “We will work with the relevant authorities to ensure those behind it are held to account.”
Millwall, meanwhile, are believed to harbour reservations over the policing of the tie, and in particular the decision to limit their allocation of seats.
Under Carling Cup rules, the Lions were entitled to 15 per cent of Upton Park's capacity — around 5,000 seats — but were initially granted just 1,500. That was increased to 2,300 but club officials are questioning the policy of imposing such strict limitations, believing that increasing the allocation would have limited the trouble caused by ticket-less supporters outside the ground.
A club statement issued today read: “We trust that all aspects of planning and preparation for this match will be thoroughly investigated. We will assist fully the FA and other relevant authorities with their ongoing inquiries. Any Millwall supporter identified as being involved in criminal activity will receive an indefinite ban from the club.”
Lions manager Kenny Jackett said: “There were no Millwall fans on the pitch. They stayed where they were supposed to.
“We have a passionate game in this country and we don't want to lose that but if people have been hurt or worse, then that's not something I want to see at all.”
Football Supporters Federation chairman Malcolm Clarke recognised the “very serious” nature of the incidents but added: “I can assure you the vast majority of Millwall and West Ham fans will be horrified by events.”
Reader views (12)
Riiiight Joe.
So you can cast blanket aspersions on all West Ham fans, yet you lot are innocent, right?
I can't even be bothered to reply to that sort of moronic statement.
Rob - absolutely spot on with that comment.
- Stu, Beckton, 27/08/2009 09:15
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I have lived in East London, actually near West Ham Stadium, for over 6years and have never witnessed any such fracus whenever West Ham united play other teams. Therefore, Iam of view that Millwall Fans are the hooligans. They came to West Ham ready for trouble. Looking at history, West Ham Fans are not known to be hooligans. Therefore if there is to be penalties impossed on both Millwall and Westham United, it will be unfair on West Ham as the fans are not known trouble makers like Millwall fans. Punishment should be metted on Millwall other than West Ham United. This is my opinion. If you have your opinion, pen it down too.
Thanks.
Dave Mwila
- Dave Mwila, London, United Kingdom., 26/08/2009 23:17
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I regularly visit home and always take in a game or two. I have always had a soft spot for West Ham. However, about 3 years ago my son and I attended another game at Upton park and unfortunately we were seated in the wrong place.
We loved the build up, the atmosphere of a night game, always good at West ham. Then the game started.
We were behind a goal and the thugs started their monkey act. Totally ruined my one live game per year. Absolutely disgusting bunch of morons. I will NEVER repeat NEVER go there again. East London scum bags, all of the them.
I hope, wish they go down again. Down the toilet where they all belong.
Ray, expat in USA.
- Ray Jarvis, Marlborough USA, 26/08/2009 22:02
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errrr.....no Keith. The fans who came on the pitch, and I'm not justifying their actions at all, were West Ham fans after we'd equalised, and then after we'd taken the lead. They weren't trying to get the game stopped, they were celebrating. Big difference. Why try to stop a game that we were winning?
The riot at Luton was entirely different to what unfolded last night. To compare the two events is ridiculous.
- Rob, London, 26/08/2009 19:05
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Keith,
Trying to stop the match, are you for real? Have reade a lot of posts on this today but that has got to be the siliest.
Mike,
Don't want to go through all that old rubbish again, but check your facts out. They were never ineligible, as confirmed by the PREM/FA enquiry after the event. The settlement was made as West Ham could not risk another ludicrous decision, the Blades being awarded 45mm, when our owners business empire was collapsing.
I would say a more telling contribution would be the last England squad having around 10 players connected to the Hammers in it. Fulham still selling tickets through the newspapers?
- Rob, NYC, 26/08/2009 18:11
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West Ham fans should be ashamed of themselves and it's very easy to blame Millwall fans as the press always hated them in a biased manner !
- Joe, Swanley Kent, 26/08/2009 17:31
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Mark
Thank you for your comments and understanding.
I have been a West Ham supporter for over forty years and this is just disgraceful. As you say, we have had a very tough week but, in Zola and in our team, we have something really good to build on. The people who caused the trouble yesterday can't count themselves as being behind West Ham because, if they were, they wouldn't try to pull us down.
Thank you again.
Alison
- Alison Petrie, Cheshunt, Herts, 26/08/2009 16:58
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"Banning the people who came on to the pitch will make no difference at all. They were idiots celebrating goals, not thugs. "
No Rob - the pitch invaders are the ones trying to stop the game and its result, as happened at Luton andwhen the England fans sat on the pitch in Dublin when Ireland were beating them
- Keith Price, Luton England, 26/08/2009 16:33
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The Millwall fans involved were no angels,but the lion's
share of the blame must lie with West Ham.I am a little bemused by Chris Hawley's belief that leniency should be
shown towards West Ham because of their "contribution". to Football.That's a bit like saying the judges at Nuremburg should have shown leniency towards the assembled Nazi war criminals because of Germany's contribution to the Arts,besides the most notable contribution to Football of late by West Ham is to evade relegation by fielding ineligible players.
- Mike Saunders, Fulham, 26/08/2009 16:29
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Banning the people who came on to the pitch will make no difference at all. They were idiots celebrating goals, not thugs. They made no attempt to get to the Millwall fans (unlike the Millwall fan who broke through and attacked West Ham fans in the East Stand). The majority of West Ham fans were actually booing those on the pitch.
The police, while doing a great job to stop trouble in the biggest flashpoint on Green Street, seemed to have no plans for the surrounding areas. Splitting the Millwall group up so that they arrived from 3 or 4 different stations wasn't the smartest of ideas.
- Rob, London, 26/08/2009 15:17
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WHU have always contributed a lot to football, so they should be given a little leniency, but Millwall should just be closed down. What on earth do Millwall do for football? Can anyone give one example of this clubs merits? Both clubs have problems with pathetic childish cowards. In Brazil the violence is usually worse than this, but these guys are tough jobs from the slums, and they carry guns and knives. However, what a load of fat or skinny weaklings Millwall and WHU have. I couldn't stop laughing at the fat dwarf being easily tackled by an aging steward. When he ran on he forgot that he had no friends to back him up against the old guy! hahah Let's humiliate them all with jokes about them. Instead of fearing them, let's make them a laughing stock for the useless bunch of jelly and bones that they all are. They don't have the guts to fight in rings or competitions, so they just form a gang and terrorise old ladies and kids. What a sorry bunch of pathetic losers and clowns!
- Chris Hawley, Sao Paulo , Brazil, 26/08/2009 14:27
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I feel sorry for Zola, he's a great person and really doesn't need this rubbish on his door step.
Very tough week for West Ham.
- Mark, St Albans, 26/08/2009 13:20
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