Night of Shame at Epton Park

08/26/2009 17:11:01

A 44-year-old man was stabbed after hundreds of fans clashed outside London's West Ham stadium ahead of their cup tie with fellow fans Millwall. NEWSru reports about this.

According to the BBC, clashes between fans took place on several streets adjacent to the Upton Park arena, and all the windows of one of the local pubs were broken. Special riot police units were deployed to the area. However, Millwall fans were able to break through the cordon, throwing bottles and stones at the riot police.

According to the police, the riots were planned in advance by those who were left without tickets. During the game itself, fans continued to sort things out in the stands and ran onto the field three times, which led to a temporary stoppage of the match.

Fans of these clubs are long-time opponents. People support West Ham in east London, and Millwall in the south-east. The peak of football-related enmity occurred in the 70s - 80s of the twentieth century, but when the teams met after a long break, the conflict flared up with renewed vigor.

Police confirm the arrest of five rioters. The Football Association of England has announced an investigation and wants to impose lifelong stadium bans on the instigators of the clashes.

Despite the fact that West Ham plays in the Premier League, and Millwall plays two divisions lower, the match itself turned out to be very stubborn. The less famous guests opened the scoring in the 26th minute and held the advantage for a long time. Only three minutes before the end of regular time, the Hammers managed to get even, and in extra time they scored two goals and won.