VIOLENT “large-scale” crowd trouble between rival fans which left one man stabbed marred West Ham’s Carling Cup derby against Millwall at Upton Park last night.
Fans invaded the pitch while police tried to control the crowds
There were also ugly, violent scenes inside the ground, but the worst trouble in a hostile and volatile atmosphere exploded outside the ground and near Upton Park tube station. Fights between “hundreds” of supporters broke out around half an hour before the 7.45pm start – and were still raging more than an hour later. A man was stabbed in the chest in Priory Road, close to the stadium, and was treated by paramedics – with police saying the attack was linked to the disorder.
The match also saw two pitch invasions and the players were led from the field after West Ham had taken the lead in extra time. A huge contingent of riot police were on duty around the tube station, separating the two sets of rival fans on either side of Green Street, and helicopters hovered overhead.
Witnesses reported bricks and bottles being thrown and hundreds of fans were involved in the trouble which police said was caused by people without tickets .
West Ham's Jack Collison encourages fans to leave after a pitch invasion following their equalizer
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said more officers were being rushed to the scene, saying: “There is large-scale trouble involving hundreds of fans which we are dealing with .”
Officers initially made two arrests, one for disorder and the second for breach of a banning order.
With a quarter of an hour left police and stewards had to battle back some West Ham supporters who spilled out onto the pitch trying to confront the Millwall fans.
Missiles were thrown, and when Junior Stanislas levelled Neil Harris’s opening goal after 87 minutes there was a pitch invasion. Earlier Harris, Milllwall’s all-time record goalscorer had delighted the 2,300 Millwall fans with a 26th-minute close-range effort.
Elsewhere, League Two Port Vale stunned Championship side Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 at Vale Park.
Kris Taylor scored the first, and just two minutes later team-mate and namesake Robert made it two.
Wayne Routledge scored the winner in the last minute as QPR edged past Accrington Stanley 2-1 at Loftus Road. Hogan Ephraim earlier gave them the lead, though Stanley grabbed a consolation in injury-time through Michael Symes.
Preston won the all-Championship clash with Leicester 2-1. Nicky Adams put the visitors ahead, but two goals from Chris Brown put the Lancashire side through.
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