Source: Daily_Mail
Phil Thompson: Idiots on the pitch, morons fighting police
The former Liverpool captain Phil Thompson was commenting on West Ham v Millwall in the Sky Sports studios on Tuesday night and found himself reporting on a violent scene reminiscent of the Seventies...
I was in the studio to do what I love, to watch football, but ended up reporting on a sickening night of mayhem. I've seen at first hand the violence in our football stadiums in the Seventies, when it became known as the English disease. I felt uneasy. It gave me that same scary feeling.
On Tuesday I watched aghast when, at the bottom left of the stand, the scenes became uglier as the fans clashed with police. It was obvious that this was a big problem developing.
As I listened through the headphones, there was a sickening atmosphere. I could sense the tension in the stadium. There were all these cowards, three or four rows in, pushing people in front of them towards the police. The police and stewards had to be applauded. They tried not to be heavy-handed.
But when the West Ham equaliser went in, I questioned Junior Stanislas's celebrations. He is young and it was the heat of the moment, but the last thing the police and stewards needed was him running to that corner, towards the hooligans.
I really felt for the authorities. The last thing they needed was extra time and I could tell, looking at the faces on the screen, that many fans hadn't stayed on for the average football. It was because they were scared of what might lie outside.
News was coming into the studio of the clashes outside the ground and, while Ed Chamberlin was briefing viewers on the news, the director wanted me to carry on painting the picture of intimidation, violence and football in the ground.
When West Ham's second goal went in, I was just incredulous. I couldn't believe Stanislas celebrated in similar fashion and that gave the excuse for idiots to run on.
One moron went on the pitch and used his mobile to take a picture of Carlton Cole and there was another idiot jigging about, videoing the Millwall fans and laughing. There was another guy with a ponytail who had been on the pitch before.
And, at the end of it all, there was the pitiful sight of poor Jack Collison, emotionally distraught, being helped from the pitch. He earned everyone's utmost respect by playing the game for his late father and then there were these absolutely stupid animals rushing over to thump him on the back and gesture to him.
The kid has been through more than enough to have to then endure that. It was awful to have to watch the pain he was in.
We are living in an HD world and we need to use this technology to catch these people and punish them.
