| Hateland -
Articles |
04/05/02
- Police may sue Millwall over violence
Total of 47 officers hurt in 90-minute street battle
Steven Morris
The Guardian
Police were yesterday considering taking the unprecedented
step of suing a football club for the behaviour of its
fans after violence erupted outside Millwall's ground.
Forty-seven officers were injured in the most violent
football disturbance seen in Britain for years following
the south London club's defeat by Birmingham City on Thursday.
Fans hurled bricks, paving stones, flares and thunder-flash
explosives at police lines in what officers believe was
a planned riot. The disturbance, which lasted an hour
and a half, is the latest in a series of incidents this
season at Millwall and other grounds which have led many
to fear a return to the violence which plagued football
in the 70s and 80s.
Trouble began outside Millwall's ground, the New Den in
Bermondsey, south east London, after the club's last minute
defeat in the semi-final of the first division play-offs.
While the Birmingham fans were kept in the ground 900
hooligans attacked the police. Missiles were aimed at
officers and residents cowered in their homes as cars
were set on fire.
When the thugs ran out of missiles they ripped up a playground
and threw paving stones at officers. Nine police officers
needed treatment for injuries including a broken leg,
arm and foot. Every member of a 21-strong unit from the
territorial support group, which is trained to deal with
riots, was injured.
Twenty six police horses were also injured, and one, called
Alamein, nearly died when a thunder-flash exploded beneath
it causing it to rear and sever an artery in its leg as
it smashed into a car. Reinforcements were drafted in
to back up the 250 officers who had been policing the
game.
Ian Blair, Metropolitan police deputy commissioner, said
he would meet the club's officials before deciding if
the force should seek compensation for officers' injuries
and the cost of the operation. Chief Superintendent Mike
Humphrey, who led the police operation, said: "Millwall
has always been a difficult club and last night it disgraced
itself."
Mr Humphrey, who described the trouble as "recreational
violence", said he was convinced the troublemakers
came from inside the stadium after the match. He said
the explosives must have been stored somewhere during
the game as it would have been impossible to take them
into the stadium, suggesting the riot had been planned.
Seven people, including two from Birmingham who travelled
to the match despite being banned from football games,
were arrested. However, police are now poring over video
footage and expect to make more arrests. Millwall FC has
worked hard to rid itself of its violent image but this
season there has been a spate of clashes.
More than 140 supporters have been prosecuted so far this
season, 43 of them for violent disorder. Regular visitors
to the New Den say the police have had to work hard to
keep Millwall fans from getting to the supporters of other
clubs. When they have been unable to reach rival fans
they have turned on the police.
There has also been violence at other grounds. On Wednesday,
there were clashes with police in Cardiff after they lost
the second division play-off semi-final to Stoke. The
trouble this season has also led to fears that English
hooligans could try to cause trouble at the World Cup
finals which begins in Korea and Japan at the end of the
month.
The FA, which will await a police report into Thursday's
violence before taking action, could fine Millwall or
even force the club to play matches behind closed doors.
Millwall chairman, Theo Paphitis, said: "Once again,
the thuggish element which sees football as a cover for
their violent tendencies has sullied the name of football
and Millwall."
The FA yesterday announced that it was a step closer to
the rebuilding of Wembley Stadium and that it had written
to the government addressing the concern over how the
project is to be financed. The FA wrote to the media,
culture and sport secretary, Tessa Jowell, with evidence
of the five tests that she had set before the government
was willing to allow construction to go ahead. |
| Contact : bernard.omahoney@bernardomahoney.com |
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