An MP and keen West Ham fan, who attended the match against Millwall where violent clashes broke out, has urged football bosses not to punish innocent supporters.

Mike Gapes (Lab Ilford South) said there was no reason to hold games behind closed doors or reintroduce fences.

But a Millwall-supporting MP, Simon Hughes (Lib Dem North Southwark and Bermondsey), said the blame lay partly with poor stewarding and a lack of respect shown to Millwall fans.

The FA and Barclays Premier League have both launched investigations into violence at the West Ham vs Millwall match at Upton Park, after rival supporters clashed outside and inside the ground.

Thirteen arrests were made on the night and a 44-year-old man was stabbed in the chest.

It has been reported that West Ham may be ordered to play games behind closed doors, if inquiries conclude that they failed to provide adequate security for the game.

But Mr Gapes, who watched West Ham win 3-1 from Upton Park’s Bobby Moore stand, said neither the clubs nor their “true fans” could be held responsible.

He said: “We should not exaggerate what happened or overreact.”

Hooligans who took part in violence should be prosecuted if they were identified by CCTV footage, he said.

But writing on his website, he added: “I suspect many of the idiots who ran on the pitch are not season ticket holders or regulars and it will be deplorable if there is a form of collective punishment of the 23,500 plus who were at the match and did not leave the terraces, or the season ticket holders and regular attenders not at the game, because of the antics of a few .

“But we will no doubt get calls for fences, away fan bans,and matches behind closed doors…. bringing back memories of Margaret Thatcher, David Evans of Luton and the Bates regime at Chelsea.

“We have made great progress since those days and we must not return to them.”

Mr Hughes has written to sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe asking the Government to intervene – but he appeared to lay the blame on the way Millwall and its fans were treated.

In the letter to Mr Sutcliffe, he said: “I was approached by fans the week before the match because of the ridiculously small number of tickets allocated to Millwall fans.

“It seemed to me then that there would be less risk of violence if Millwall fans had always been treated with respect and allocated enough tickets.”

He added: “I also understand that there were concerns about the policing before the match, and the stewarding and policing inside the ground. These concerns too should be investigated.

“It is important too that there is a full investigation into how West Ham fans were able to come onto the pitch on several occasions.

“The management of Millwall FC tell me that, quite wrongly in my view, they were not properly involved in the planning for the policing of the match and I am very concerned about this. This seems entirely wrong.

“Millwall FC has made significant efforts in recent years to eliminate violence and the club's experience, knowledge and wisdom is hugely important and should not have been overlooked.”

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Name

Website (optional)

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

Add Comment