Crowd violence sours Birmingham's Carling Cup victory over Aston Villa

Nom Chompsky

Nom Chompsky

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Stupid chavs :mad:

Source: Daily Telegraph

Alex McLeish, the Birmingham manager, admitted it took football “back to the dark ages” and the Football Association condemned the violence in the strongest terms and confirmed that they will initiate an investigation.

Birmingham look certain to face a fine, as West Ham were fined £115,000 after the Upton Park pitch was invaded during their second-round Carling Cup tie with Millwall last season.

A FA spokesman said: “We wholly condemn the actions of any individual who have been involved in scenes of disorder at St Andrew’s. The FA abhors acts of violent behaviour and we urge the clubs and authorities to identify any individuals who have been involved in disorder, and impose the stiffest available sanctions, including banning orders.

"The FA will fully investigate the matter in conjunction with the appropriate authorities.”

McLeish added: “It is from the dark ages. We don’t condone it at all. We haven’t beaten Villa for a while, but when you see flares getting thrown it is not something that we want to be associated with at all.

"Fans shouldn't come onto the pitch at any time and that is the disappointing aspect for us tonight. It sours it.

“I don't think that will affect the World Cup bid, I’m sure it's already decided. Let’s hope England get it because they deserve it, [but] it doesn't look good when you see fans running onto the pitch like that, and the interaction between the terracing and the pitch, it takes us back to the dark ages. I didn't like that at all.”

There had been trouble before the match started, as two of the 12 official Villa supporters’ coaches were ambushed on their way to St Andrews.

Villa supporters retaliated by damaging the refreshment areas in the Gil Merrick stand, and while both sides were relatively well behaved during the match – the worst of it when Blues supporters sprayed foam onto the pitch when Gabby Agbonlahor equalised – the hostility bubbled over at the final whistle, pitch-side stewards overcome as Blues fans flooded the pitch.

Fortunately all of the players made it into their dressing rooms without any trouble, even if Birmingham captain Steven Carr was required to escort Luke Young, who had lingered too long, into the tunnel.

It escalated when riot police were required to form a barricade on the pitch to separate the two sets of supporters. It did not stop a flare from being launched by the Birmingham contingent into the away stand.

Villa supporters reacted by ripping up seats and launching them into the mass below. The violence continued outside the stadium.

Gary McAllister, the Villa assistant manager, said that both clubs had held meetings with the police in the lead up to the match and were made aware that any incendiary behaviour would not reflect well on the national game.

“Before the game there were a lot of meetings between the police and the management groups and we were told that the world would be watching,” he said.

As revealed by The Daily Telegraph, the West Midlands Police were so concerned about the possibility of violence, and the potential implications it might have for England’s World Cup bid, that they contacted Carling Cup officials requesting the match be played on a different day.

“It is the worst possible time for these two teams to meet,” said one source.

The congested fixture calendar, and history of the competition being played in midweek, meant rescheduling was impossible, so instead up to 500 police officers, four times the number required for normal fixtures, were deployed in a visible show of force to deter any trouble-making.

The FA added: “The whole of English football has worked hard to eradicate scenes of disorder from our game, with Home Office figures this week showing a significant drop in arrests at the many thousands of football matches held every week, the majority of which still pass trouble free.”
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Brits doing what they do best. Shooting themselves in the foot :erm:
 
As if other league don;t have problem with hooligans :rolleyes:

Seriously, the Brits have cleaned up their act tremendously since the early 80s .
 
smokey said:
As if other league don;t have problem with hooligans :rolleyes:

Seriously, the Brits have cleaned up their act tremendously since the early 80s .
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+1

Compared to the other European leagues the English have some of the more well behaved fans.
 
This could dent their WC chances. exactly the thing you don't need going into today.

I also hope Russia get it.
 
smokey said:
Yeah, I hope Russia does.
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Think Becks has Fifa charmed :p
Id like to see England get it.. Dont think Spain even deserves to be up for it, too much racism in their football
 
nivek said:
Think Becks has Fifa charmed :p
Id like to see England get it.. Dont think Spain even deserves to be up for it, too much racism in their football
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:erm: Wait, what?

@becks comment - Abramovich'll pound them with money until they give up.
 
smokey said:
I've never heard anything about Spain wrt racism. Italy and Eastern Europe on the other hand... are infamous for it.
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A black player was racially taunted by spectators at the second-division game between second-place Real Betis and leader Cartagena, according to the referee.

Alfonso Pino Zamorano said in his post-match report that Cartagena's Panamanian substitute, Alberto Quintero Medina, was subjected to monkey taunts from the crowd during Sunday's goalless draw at Betis' Manuel Ruiz de Lopera Stadium.

Pino Zamorano briefly halted the match in the 78th minute and a loudspeaker announcement was made requesting the taunting to stop.

This latest episode of racist behavior by spectators at a Spanish sporting event came five days before Madrid learns whether it will host 2016 Olympic Games.

Spanish authorities have recently tried to improve the country's image by dealing with such incidents with greater severity.
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http://www.soccerway.com/news/2009/September/28/referee-reports-racism-at-spanish-football-game/


When Spain played England in 2004 in an international football friendly, no-one could have imagined the repercussions it would have for the Spanish game. The match in Madrid´s Bernabéu stadium was remembered not for the football, but for the monkey noises made by large sections of Spanish fans when England’s black players received the ball. Tension was already high as previous to the game, Spanish manager Luis Arogones had caused outrage when he referred to French striker Thierry Henry as a “black ****”. Since then, Spanish football and society has been subject to intense scrutiny – notably mainly by foreign media – as to how far racism really extends here.

More common in Catalonia is racism at Espanyol matches who have a much more vocal skinhead contingent known as the “Brigadas Blanciazules”. “The Brigades Blanciazules usually wear swastikas and are staunch Spaniards singing Viva España etc,” says Espanyol season ticket holder Adam Florsheim. “They have a reputation for making monkey noises when opposition black players touch the ball although last season wasn’t so bad due to the outstanding performances of their Cameroonian goalkeeper, Carlos Kameni.” The Real Madrid ultras however are perhaps the most renowned in Spain. When Real lost 2-0 to Deportivo last season, the referee had to take the unprecedented measure of temporarily stopping the match due to incessant racial chanting by the Madrid ultras at their own black Brazilian defender, Roberto Carlos.
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http://nicholasmead.com/2009/03/23/spanish-footballs-race-debate/


lol from the same article

After all, it was only two years ago that the English FA was fined when English fans chanted “I’d rather be a Paki than a Turk”
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Wasn't that one of the main reason's Eto'o left Spain? I remember reading somewhere that he often used to get racially abused from the spectator's at matches.
 
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