No surprises: trouble overshadows Hammers win

If anybody didn't know there would be trouble at West Ham United's second round Carling Cup match against Millwall last night, they're immeasurably stupid. If anybody thinks English football hooliganism is dead, they're wrong.

And last night they got a severe reality check in the form of some of the most high-profile football violence we've seen in years.

Football-related violence has changed since the bad old days. The pre- and post-casual eras are different beasts altogether, though they share a level of organisation which gives the battles an eerie cold-bloodedness which, perversely, makes it that bit more concerning than if it were just a bunch of lagered-up football fans getting carried away.

Historically, football violence in England existed on a far larger scale, on a more regular basis, and in closer proximity to the grounds than we see today. The idea of trying to "take an end" or fighting on the pitch sounds like an alien concept to modern football fans, but it was very real.

It does happen on occasion even now, though rarely at such a high level as a Premier League stadium. But as recently as the 90s, I witnessed on-pitch crowd trouble, most notably at Dean Court during a visit by Brighton & Hove Albion. Most often, trouble now occurs outside or even away from grounds, my most recent experiences being violence outside Villa Park when Birmingham City were visitors and at Villa's trip to the Britannia last season.

Trouble at Upton Park

Inevitably, Millwall's trip to West Ham last night resulted in violence. Everybody with a brain knew it would, though the sheer scale was admittedly surprising. To clarify, the details presented in this post have not come from one source but an evening of listening to the radio, watching the television and surfing the web.

My understanding is that Millwall supporters broke a large police presence outside The Queens, after which scuffles broke out between rival "fans". From some photos I've seen, those scuffles would appear to be more like full-on running battles. Unsubstantiated claims suggest that fighting continued from around 7.15pm until after the match ended after extra time.

At least one man was stabbed (in the chest) during the disorder. I've yet to decide whether I consider this tragic or not. That depends on whether or not he was an innocent bystander, which I suspect is unlikely at this stage.

Inside, the atmosphere was predictably tense. Rival fans reportedly faced up to each other throughout, and I've seen and heard numerous accusations of objects being thrown onto the pitch by Millwall's fans, ranging from cigarette lighters to the backs of seats. There was apparently a scuffle in the first half as well, all of which combines to make a mockery of Kenny Jackett's defence of Millwall's fans.

That said, West Ham's thugs (they might claim to support the club, but they're not fans) were undoubtedly the main culprits inside the stadium. There were three pitch invasions which caused the Millwall players to briefly head down the tunnel.

It's outdated, it's retarded and it's sickening.

What can be done?

Let's avoid the hype: football hooliganism is not back. Despite being home to some of the worst violence in world football history, England is one of the best-managed countries in the world in football-related disorder terms, West Midlands Police utterly excepted.

Government, the police and the clubs have done a good job of driving this nuisance out of the game. But it's practically impossible to do away with it entirely, simply because society must suffer a large number of morons. Banning orders have made improvements, but what can we do when hooligans are so determined to fight? After all, are they more interested in supporting their team or beating the crap out of someone?

The FA is, of course, investigating. And with a 2018 World Cup bid in the offing it is likely to come down very hard, most likely on West Ham. There's a difficult dilemma here, and it's the one which makes tackling football hooliganism so challenging: the most obvious way to punish the clubs is to force them to play games behind closed doors, but this affects the real fans more than it does the retarded gibbons intent on trouble.

But realistically, what else can be done? This isn't a football issue, this is a problem of human breeding and human nature. If football didn't exist, the same people would be tarnishing the reputation of the next biggest adversarial "crowd" event. Looked at in those terms, it seems as if there's no solution. I await anxiously the Football Association's response, and hope that this doesn't affect our chances of hosting the World Cup.

(Pic via Daily Mail/PA)