Birmingham City and Aston Villa derby match ends in violence at St. Andrews
A clash between police and fans broke out at St. Andrews, where 500 policemen were deployed following the violence that broke up at the final whistle.
During the game, two set of rival groups provided a superb atmosphere of noise that seemed to wed perfectly with the thrilling football on show.
Problems started to rise when thousands of Birmingham fans started to provoke the Villa fans, who were at the other corner of the pitch, after getting a late winner and sealing the win 2-1.
Last time Birmingham City and Aston Villa faced each other under floodlights was seven years ago. After the clashes that took place in the 2002-03 Season between the supporters, The West Midlands police concluded all future derby matches to be played on
a Sunday afternoon.
The draw made that rule a joke and was waived off completely in this game. The West Midlands police have requested and released various help line numbers to recognize and take action against fans that caused the problems.
Flares and seats were ripped from the stand and were thrown over the police and rival fans, where arrests were made and police were forced to suppress the angry mob involved in such an event. This is not the first time a football match has turned upside
down because of the hooligan nature of English football history.
“We wholly condemn the actions of any individuals who have been involved in the scenes of disorder at St Andrew’s.
The FA abhors acts of violent behaviour and we urge the clubs and authorities to identify any individuals involved in disorder, and impose the stiffest available sanctions, including banning orders.
The FA will fully investigate the matter. The whole of English football has worked hard to eradicate scenes of disorder from our game, with Home Office figures this week showing a significant drop in arrests at the many thousands of football matches
held every week, the majority of which still pass trouble free”.
McLeish admitted that the events of the hooligans had "destroyed" his player’s night, which made them miss the chance of enjoying the win since 2005.
“That was horrible to see the punters running on the pitch – it’s from the dark ages. We don’t condone that at all.
I know we have not beaten Villa for a while, and the fans were treating it like a cup final. But when you see flares being thrown into the crowd, it’s not something you want to be associated with.
Fans shouldn’t come on to the pitch at any time; that’s the disappointing aspect, and that sours it a bit for me.”
Birmingham took an early lead in the 10th minute when Larsson scored a penalty kick after Richard Dunne's foul on Lee Bowyer. Agbonlahor made the scores level in the 30th minute, but Nikola Zigic outran American goalkeeper, Brad Friedel, in the
84th minute to give Birmingham City the win and their first quarter final in nine years.
Officers have been studying the surveillance tapes to look out for any evidence that can prove useful following the match’s events to catch problem makers.
According to the police statement before the game, their experiences in other such big events will prove handy in handling any future problems.
The West Midlands force had served for both the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the city and the Conservative Party conference.
This is not the first time both these clubs are having problems playing together. This can be proved as 6 men from the 2009 season are facing their sentences when the derby match was played.
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