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Millwall shock after club are charged over fans' violence
David Yuill28 Sep 2009
Millwall said today they are "shocked and disappointed" to have been charged by the Football Association for the violence during last month's clash with West Ham.
The clubs are accused of failing to prevent racist behaviour among their fans and taking insufficient action to stop missile throwing and violent and threatening behaviour at Upton Park on 25 August.
Both will contest the charges and Millwall today insisted they did all they could to control their fans and blamed their hosts for the chaos, which saw West Ham fans twice invade the pitch during their side's 3-1 Carling Cup win.
Millwall chief executive Andy Ambler said: "We are shocked and disappointed that charges have been preferred against us.
"We maintain we did everything in our power with regard to our ticketing arrangements for this game.
"We expressed our concerns in advance about ticket allocations and arrangements in general. It was widely acknowledged that none of our supporters came onto the pitch.
"Our question for the FA is what can Millwall do to control individuals' actions once inside our opponents' stadium?"
Ambler says club safety chiefs were not invited to the planning meetings prior to the game and is still unhappy that on Metropolitan Police advice, Millwall's 3,000 ticket allocation was halved.
West Ham today maintained they followed the advice of the police and relevant authorities in the runup to the second-round tie and on the night.
A club spokesman added: "We acknowledge the appalling behaviour of a minority of fans and, in conjunction with the police, will continue to take strong and appropriate action against anyone found responsible."
Trouble started before kick-off with an innocent Millwall supporter stabbed as fans clashed outside the ground.
During the game, West Ham's Carlton Cole and Millwall's Jason Price allege they were racially abused by supporters while Hammers fans ran onto the pitch after each of their side's goals.
The FA have charged Millwall on three counts and West Ham on four - the extra one relating to the pitch invasion - and have given the clubs 14 days to respond to the charges.
Details of sanctions if the clubs are found guilty have not been revealed, although it appears heavy fines are an option, with West Ham facing the biggest punishment.
Reader views (6)
seemingly, millwall should not be charged unless it is clear that [a] they disobeyed police instructions or [b] they had any control over arrangements or [ that on the night they could do anything to control their "fans". the case as presented suggests they do not have done anything to offend. and , no , i am not a millwall fan or "fan".
rory
- Rory Conway, cork , ireland, 29/09/2009 16:34
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Blaming the Police and suggesting they had any part in the West Ham v Millwall troubles is crass ignorance.
- Tango Mike, Kensington, London, 28/09/2009 22:18
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Why is it that the police before the game ADVISE about the amount of tickets the away side should have because of the threat of violance, and then do not have enough manpower on the night? ie inside the ground!
- Bill Francis-Williams, Beaumont Pied de Beouf, 28/09/2009 18:45
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It is well known that some matches will develop into
fights and hooligan activity. The cost of Police is met by the clubs at a very heavy rate. Unless clubs put back wire mesh and introduce machine gun towers the main control MUST fall on the Police service, whatever you might think or wish.
- Macdangler, Wimbledon SW19, 28/09/2009 17:53
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It's hard to see how the clubs can be held responsible for the morons who support them.
- Paul, London, 28/09/2009 13:28
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With the history of severe violence between West Ham and Millwall and that the match was rated by police as a high risk game,surely some blame lies with the police for not making sure that the two sets of hooligans were able to fight freely outside the game,most of the fans on the pitch were not hooligans just high spirited fans who wrongly invaded the pitch.At the end of the day there was not enough police to control the situation and it got out of hand,you cannot blame the clubs alone because these sort of events whether it be West Ham v Millwall,Liverpool v Man Utd,Rangers v Celtic etc need to be policed correctly with adequate segregation, without this trouble is inevitable.
- Jim Ex Pat,Islington N1, thailand, 28/09/2009 13:25
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