Source: Team_Talk
Violence mars Hammers-Lions match
Hundreds of fans are involved in the disorder which police said was caused by people without tickets to the Carling Cup tie who had planned to start trouble.[LNB]A spokesman for Metropolitan Police said more officers were being rushed to the scene outside Upton Park, in east London.[LNB]"There is large-scale trouble involving hundreds of fans which we are dealing with at the moment," he added.[LNB]Officers have made two arrests, one for disorder and the second for breach of a banning order.[LNB]Police said the stabbing, in Priory Road close to the stadium, is connected to the fighting and the man is being treated by paramedics.[LNB]Inside Upton Park pockets of violence also broke out. Some supporters made it on to the pitch.[LNB]The rival fans taunted one another as news of the fighting outside filtered through. The game finished 1-1 meaning an extra 30 minutes would be played.[LNB]As West Ham took the lead in extra time, 50 or 60 fans ran on the pitch. The players were forced off the field for a short time.[LNB]Outside John Whittingham, 35, a caretaker who lives near the ground, said: "There were lots of scuffles and fights before the game. I saw a couple of people with bloody faces. There was lots of shouting and a lot of bottles were thrown.[LNB]"People were throwing bricks but I haven't got a clue where they were finding them. Some people were trying to rip bollards off the pavement. There were also some small fires lit."[LNB]Builder Peter Simpson, 35, from Southend, Essex, said the clashes were between rival football fans.[LNB]"It was kicking off all over the place and the police didn't seem to be able to stop it," he said. "There were quite a few people injured. It was quite nasty."[LNB]As a helicopter buzzed overhead, scores of police officers in riot gear lined the streets.[LNB]By 9.45pm, the trouble seemed to have been brought under control but officers remained outside the ground in readiness for the final whistle.[LNB]Police said later that the victim of the stabbing was a 44-year-old man who is now in a stable condition in hospital.[LNB]A Met Police spokesman said, "Officers are now containing it but there is still disorder."[LNB]Onlookers said Green Street, close to the ground, was filled with several hundred West Ham and Millwall fans before the match.[LNB]They said bottles and bricks started being hurled shortly after 6pm.[LNB]A 29-year-old man, who runs a kebab shop in Green Street said: "All hell broke loose, it was very frightening. It's not every day you see stuff like that.[LNB]"There were West Ham fans on one side and Millwall on the other. They were being kept apart by the police. There were West Ham fans for as far as you could see along the street.[LNB]"Bottles and bricks were being thrown from the back and some were hitting West Ham fans at the front. There were loads of people with blooded faces."[LNB]He said he closed his shop for two hours as the violence flared. He added that the clashes continued after the match kicked off.[LNB]Another man, aged 19 but who did not want to be named, said: "People were chipping bricks off buildings and throwing them at police. I saw one officer getting kicked as he was on the ground."[LNB]Rubbish, shards of glass and beer cans were strewn across Green Street and bricks could be seen in rubbish bins.[LNB]About 50 police officers in riot gear congregated outside Upton Park tube station as they waited for the final whistle. Several hundred fans were seen leaving the match before the game ended.[LNB]As the final whistle blew at Upton Park, hundreds of fans invaded the pitch. [LNB]Police and stewards battled with fans in an attempt to remove them from the field of play.[LNB]As thousands of fans flooded from the ground, police closed several roads surrounding Upton Park and ushered them towards the tube station.[LNB]Around 200 officers in riot gear, backed up by at least 20 mounted officers, patrolled outside the station.[LNB][LNB]
