Source: PA
Pitch invasion fans have `small club mentality'
Birmingham manager Alex McLeish has said that the pitch invasion that took place after his team's win over Aston Villa betrayed a 'small club mentality' amongst those Blues fans at the heart of the trouble.
After the Carling Cup semi final win over local rivals Aston Villa, more than a thousand home supporters ran onto the pitch and confronted away fans housed in the Gil Merrick Stand.
Dozens of seats were ripped out and a flare was thrown from the Kop stand, before being tossed backwards and forwards between the two sets of supporters.
McLeish said: "We have to be bigger than that. We have to not have the small club mentality.
"The scenes were like when Hereford beat Newcastle in the cup a few years ago and the fans ran on at the end, and that's fine.
"But not Birmingham, not a Premier League club. Our fans don't need to do that. We should be bigger than that. Definitely celebrate it but don't make it look as if it's the World Cup final."
