A Night Of Shame At East London

"Return of thugs at Upton Park" (Die - "vorprogrammierte" - Rückkehr der Rowdies...) -> Daily Mail

The Football Association is to investigate the violence that marred the Carling Cup clash between West Ham and Millwall at Upton Park on Tuesday.

One man was stabbed as fans clashed outside the ground, while there were also three pitch invasions (-> BBC).

Martin Samuel: "It was like a horror movie" (-> Daily Mail)

Guardian: -> Reporter describes terror after witnessing football violence

West Ham issued a statement vowing to help any investigation and ban fans found guilty of taking part in the violence:

"West Ham will fully investigate the deplorable scenes that took place during the Carling Cup tie with Millwall on Tuesday evening," it read.

"The club will not tolerate the unacceptable behaviour witnessed inside the Boleyn Ground and will take the strongest possible action against anyone found responsible, including life bans."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.”

(-> London Evening Standard)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gianfranco Zola, the West Ham manager:

"I've been involved in difficult games and things happened. Here, I've played seven years and I've never seen it like this.

"It's certainly not good for football. I was completely shocked. Totally.

"I knew it was a game that meant a lot for the two sets of supporters, but I didn't imagine it like this.

"What can I say? I'm a sport man. I love the game. I love to go on the pitch and try and make it exciting for the supporters and enjoyable for everybody to watch. This was beyond my powers."