West Ham Utd FC were this morning hit with four charges by the FA over the disturbances at the home Carling Cup tie with Millwall on 25 August 2009. Millwall FC also face three charges.
The charges against the Hammers can be summarised as:
- Failing to ensure that fans refrained from violent, threatening, obscene and provocative behaviour;
- Failing to ensure that fans did not throw missiles, harmful or dangerous objects on to the pitch;
- Failing to ensure fans refrained from racist behaviour; and
- Failing to ensure that fans did not enter the field of play
Millwall have been hit with the first three charges, but avoided the final one because their fans did not enter the field of play.
West Ham Utd FC have published an initial response on their website in which they stress that they fully co-operated with the authorities in planning for the fixture and those plans were put in to operation. The club have 14 days to formally respond to the FA charges.
Amongst the first to comment is Harry Harris on ESPN who states that the FA are right to come down hard on the two clubs. He feels for the genuine fans of both clubs, they are the victims of a minority intent on trouble rather than pursuing their interest in the sport. He suggests that the FA are determined to draw a line in the sand to avoid the resurgence of 1970s and 1980s type hooliganism!
Yes, but would the FA come down so tough if it was the fans of Man Utd, Chelsea or Liverpool? Do the FA pick and choose when to get tough and with whom?
SJ Chandos
this is a joke.surely the people making racist comments are accountable for their own actions and not the place they said it in? so if i make a racist comment in a council car park then the council will be held responsible ?????
SJ, I agree with all the charges! BUT…….how on earth can a club or ANYONE ensure someone doesn't display racist behaviour?
What were they supposed to do, stop each fan at the gate and ask if they planned on being a racist scum while they were in the ground?
It's a bit of a stupid charge really! Where as I am obviously not racist (there are good and bad in black, white and yellow) and it IS illegal but racists see it as their right! They see it as being able to like and dislike who they choose! (this comes from a man who's cousin lead the BNP march through Welling, Kent a few years back! He is a pig headed, arrogant twat but he doesn't think he is doing anything wrong!
And that includes the black racists, and believe me there are as many black racists as there are white! They just show it in deifferent ways!
Matt, the FA charges are my summary from other sources. I could not get in to the FA website, this morning for some reason, to get the exact wording for the charges!
So we have been charged on 4 counts by the FA over the milwall game. The charge of "failing to ensure fans refrained from racist behaviour" is a joke. As much as it shouldn't that type of thing goes on at a great deal of football matches. How is the club supposed to prevent this on the night? Are club officials supposed to make their way through the crowd shushing anyone who makes a racist comment? It is hard to dispute or defend the actions of those morons who ran on to the pitch, nor would I wish to. They should be banned from the ground for life or until such time as they have completed a suitable period of community service in the case of those who has handed themselves into the club and showed clear regret for their actions. Now correct me if I am wrong but didnt a bunch of fans invade the pitch after the recent Manchester derby resulting in one of the fans getting into an altercation with Craig Bellamy and being struck by the player. Obviously both the home club and the player will face serious FA charges for failing to……….no no wait, my mistake its ok, no investigation, no charges! Maybe the FA are too busy investigating the trouble at the recent Villa / Brum game to make sure that both clubs are held to account for the violence…….no hang on again, no charges or investigation! Yet we are being lined up for the biggest show trial since Nuremberg. Obviously having been seen by some as not having punnished us for doing nothing wrong in the tevez affair the FA wish to show how even handed they are by punishing us for actions which are far from uncommon in football and 4 other top flight clubs are being let off scot free! The FA are the most incompetent organisation on earth! Run by a bunch of liggers more worried about keeping their snouts in the premier league trough than doing a decent job! Got my call to tell me that tickets are sorted for tonight so have just booked my flight and am heading to the airport shortly.
Celtic, the guy who ran on the pitch to have a quiet word with Bellboy was charged but as usual CB gets away with a ticking off dont do it again you naughty boy attitude as was Neville.
Quite right – we are an easy target. I agree that we should be punished, but if we are being charged for the pitch invasion then ManU have to be also. The invasion was not violent, the majority were just jubilant and will now pay the price by being banned from the ground for life. Unfortunately, a small number did approach the milwall fans to taunt them but again, this was a small percentage of an already small percentage!
John, I hope that this will bring the FA to bring charges against Man U/city
& Brum /Villa these have yet to be dealt with and I feel that the FA cannot just pick on us without dealing out the medicine to all clubs who have unruly fans bring the club and game into disrepute.
SJ, ok mate! Cheers for clearing it up!
Thjis is a quote from th emilwall manager – Kenny Overcoat (or whatever his name is)
"It was widely acknowledged that none of our supporters came onto the pitch and the behaviour and forbearance of our fans brought praise from media observers on the night. "
What a joke! And what a nob!
Matt,
It wasn't Jackett, it was their chief exec.
I think you'll find he's a coq.
I hope that the so called supporters whose actions have lead to these charges are proud of themselves.
The only drawback from supporting West Ham is being associated with these nutters. Unfortunately, whatever punishment is dished out by the FA will not deter these idiots from repeating their actions at the next fixture with Millwall.
If that happens it will be played behind closed doors with 100 police on duty outside the ground
unless they decide to play each team at their own home ground and get an FA board committee to predict the outcome
this is a joke.surely the people making racist comments are accountable for their own actions and not the place they siad it in? so if i make a racist comment in a council car park then the council will be held resposible ?????
Another season, another FA clash with West Ham. Hopefully the fact that we have more lawyers etc than Millwall will push the blame over…
http://www.inzolawetrust.com
We have the biggest, slimiest, lying lawyer in the premiership mate! Scott Duxbury! He's a lwyer by trade and by all accounts he was a pretty good one!
Didn't seem to do do us much good against Sheffscum United though! lol
Very true. But I hope this does not blight our season…
As it is the 2560th Birthday of Confucius today, I thought one of his quotes would be well placed for us Hammers today:
'Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in getting up every time we do'.
Confucius
Time to get up?
http://www.inzolawetrust.com
We only got a count of 8 that round
We are in this for the long term & I heard that confucius lived for a very long time
ROUND 2??
inzola..
Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.
Confucius
Matty, remember that it was an independent jury who ruled against us probably ShefU supporters!Lol!!
I think at this stage we can rest assured that any oppertunity to put the boots to us will be grabbed with both hands by the FA and we will be villified like a cartoon super villian by the press.
Got stung for 300quid for flights plus the hotel so am hoping that we win so I can make a profit from my bets on the game!
300 Quid???? Blimey mate! Hope we win! lol
We play good football, we encourage football at grass roots level , we encourage home grown talent, we respect loyalty within the club, we even won the world cup!! That is why the FA dont like us.
Saf, the only guy in the FA on our side in Sir Trev. unfortunately he hasnt got enough clout on the board to do anything and it is those twits who sit on their backside smoking big cigars and deciding what is on the menu for dinner at the next AGM.
As for the other clubs waiting for charges again it will be a little waggle of the finger and nothing more
as has been said before some of these charges are ridiculous. a max of maybe 10 people were racist, if that! and now the club will be fined thousands of pounds for this.
i have seen hundreds of pitch invasions, never have they caused such a stir!!!! its disapointing because as each day passes it seems something else goes wrong for us hammers.
and just looking at the table we are 2 points behind 17th and 3 behind 16th. a small gap already opening, a few results against us and it begins to get larger. the games in hand are no good, because there is no assurance of points from them games!
I think the government should play behind closed doors everytime someone in the public is rascist, oh wait, they would love that.
Screw the FA, they get everything wrong and are so inconsistent with their decisions. stupid!
The Power of 3
Tevezgate
XL.com
Millwall fiasco
Happy days, does that mean this is the last thing and we are trouble free from now on? I certainly hope so.
Oh and you forgot:
'Watch this space!'
Nice one Claret
My answer is shown below
WATCH this SPACE!!!!!
Lol!!
Answer:
Dont sign anyone who is linked to a 3rd party agreement
Dont go on holiday with any company on the internet they might go bust
Know your friends and keep them close,
but keep your enemies closer still.
Then you might have some money in the coffers to buy some players and run a football club
Lol!!!!
Sorry, people. We deserve to be punished, so let's take it on the chin.
I don't see it as any defence that supporters from other clubs have been involved in similar incidents and appear to have got away with it.
We have to be hammered, although I admit, so do the other clubs. I'm sure that will be flagged up by West Ham's defence and PR team, but that does not excuse the behaviour of our fans that night.
There has to be a deterrent somewhere along the line otherwise football will turn into the wild bloody west.
Does any true West Ham fan believe we should go unpunished for our behaviour? I don't.
However, I do agree with Matt and others that the charges levelled by the FA do seem strangely worded. Hard to see how the club can control fans in a manner not required of the police force in this country. They can only react after something has happened.
Hammered and chained in irons, Horters
Lol!!
I've had worse Saturday night, Fishy boy. LOL
I've had worse Saturdays night, Fishy boy. LOL
Of course we deserve to be punished! But NOT for fans making racist remarks!
If I go and stand in my local pub and abuse a few black men, should my local be held responsible? No of course not!
Sorry, people. We deserve to be punished, so let's take it on the chin.
What is GZ doing talking up Bellboy ahead of tonights game or is this a reverse psychology mind game he is playing to psyche our boys up against city??
Watch this Space @8pm tonight Lol!!
or should it be 21.45
Over on some of the city blogs, they think Bellend isn't playing tonight!
Santa Cruz will start instead! No idea if it's true or not!
i agree with horters. we do deserve punishment for what happened. the idea is that a punishment to the club will in turn punish the fans – but this an idea flawed by the fact that the worst offenders were not 'fans' of either us or millwall.
however, how we can be punished for "Failing to ensure fans refrained from racist behaviour" is beyond me. someone please tell me how this can be policed because i have no idea.
in the same way how can pitch invasions be policed would you propose 10000 stewards at every match Racist behaviour can be policed in the same way as any mindless behaviour When fans take responsibility and the majority make it clear to the minority that their behaviour will not be tolerated and of course this raises the very real problem of fighting amongst ourseves on the terraces and in that case should the club be punished
Don't agree! Racist behaviour cannot be policed! They had NO way of telling who would be racists and who wouldn't when they let them in!
surely the saqme can be said of those that ran on the pitch I firmly believe the club did everything possible to prevent all the charges levelled at them but they will be punished because the press demand it not justice vengeance being the order of the day
What I don’t understand is why the people who invaded the pitch weren’t A. ejected from the ground, or B. Charged then and there, removed to club offices ID’d and photographed. No excuses, done deal. As it was they got to see the rest of the game and invade again if they felt like it.
Makes no sense.
every person thus detained would have to have a minimum of 2 stewards to escort them probably more if they objected so would you propose all this manpower should come from or perhaps you would be one those fans that would stand up and be counted when some yob is giving a steward a hard time and lend a hand or would join the mob and bay at the guy (being paid minimum wage or less) who is just trying to do his job and prevent incidents such as this
Deane you are quite right, I just thought they were evicted, manpower would certainly be the issue,
I agree that we should stand up and be counted for the charges against us
but I cannot understand millwalls stance and statement:
Millwall said in a statement: "Millwall Football Club are shocked and disappointed that charges have been issued against us in respect of events that took place at West Ham."
were they not there for that match and was it only WH fans and other lowlife outside the stadium that caused all the voilence and disruption???
Would have made sense Hammerswest! I remember when I was medical cover at Arsenal, they played Rotherham and they were all throwing coins and stuff at us and teh police and stewards did absolutely NOTHING! When I questioned it, they were honest and said teh simple answer was they they were outnumbered! great eh!
Would have made sense Hammerswest! I remember when I was medical cover at Arsenal, they played Rotherham and they were all throwing coins and stuff at us and the police and stewards did absolutely NOTHING! When I questioned it, they were honest and said the simple answer was they they were outnumbered! great eh!
The scenes that night were an embarrasment to all of us, but I can't see that the club did much less than they could have been reasonably expected to do in the circumstances, either before, during or after the events. Remember, not one person was injured inside the ground.
Surely the important thing is to prevent these things from happening again. Punishing the club and effectively all of us will not do that. It actually sends out the message that the clubs, not the individuals are responsible for their behaviour.
With the technology available it should be possible to identify anyone invloved and punish them harshly, and the club need to use the media to make it known that that is happening. It sends out the message that even if you manage to do similar in the future, YOU, not the club you support, will have to face the consequences. Many of those involved were not season ticket holders or even regular supporters. Sanctions against the club they 'support' will not bother them at all.
As usual, Millscum are tryimg to wriggle their way out of this by saying it was our fans that incited it all! What a load of crap!
Why can't they just accept the punishment (ok appeal it of they have to) and accept they are as much to blame as us!
Was it not their so-called fans who ripped our stand apart??? YES it was!
Idiots!
Does this mean then as "we should be punished" that if my car is stolen after taking all precautions, locked, alarmed etc I should perhaps be jailed or fined for not taking adequate precautions (I mean I could have slept in it even though that would've prevented a determined thief)
Determined reople will achieve their aims and it is totally impracticle to police the whole stadium to the extent that the Millwall end was policed (the only reason Millwall fans didn't get on the pitch) so the choices are left to ban all spectators or fence them in then again perhaps something revolutionary reintoduce some standing and those of us given to natural showing of exuberance will have some where to go and celebrate and those of us that want a fight can fight outside like evey Fri or Sat night in any town centre anywhere in Britain
While what happened was wrong and, like Horters said, we're just going to have to take it on the chin, in terms of the racism I still fail to see how the club is supposed to dictate what everyone is allowed to say in a crowd of thousands. Each of us that goes to the football is responsible for our own actions; are they suggesting we all get our own steward to make sure we're behaving for the full ninety minutes? I really don't think anyone's actions are anybody else's responsibility.
http://whumg.thinend-wedge.co.uk/
While what happened was wrong and, like Horters said, we're just going to have to take it on the chin, in terms of the racism I still fail to see how the club is supposed to dictate what everyone is allowed to say in a crowd of thousands. Each of us that goes to the football is responsible for our own actions. Are they suggesting we all have our own steward to make sure we behave for the full ninety minutes?
http://whumg.thinend-wedge.co.uk/
I’m taking my mum with me in case I swear.
For once it would be nice to see us mentioned in footballing terms, rather than more scandal.
Stop clubs with "fan history" playing each other, drop the numbered balls back in the bag and pick another fixture.The hatred between the so called "fans" is not worth the agrro it brings.
I'm sure there are similar fixtures that deserve that treatment?
Lets be honest I don't remember a worthwhile meaningful game between the clubs and I hardly think Millwall will ever get promoted to the PL.
The minority are to blame, so ban them and police the matter,
I do agree that if a top 4 club were involved the FA's other face would appear and voice a different diluted set of charges probably worthy of a tap on the back of the hand.
You will hear me moan if we get a "game behind closed doors" punishment !!!
Don't you just hate Monday's!
Sue the FA for incitement it was them who brought the two clubs to play each other…15 million would be justifed LOL
Can you imagine the outcry if the FA make the correct decision and clear both clubs of all charges having found they did all that could reasonably be expected to prevent the trouble I mean that really will not do what sort of a story will that make for the papers that revelled in the scenes of the night Truth? Justice? or the 'fleet st' way
Well I'm pretty certain, once this round of West Ham bashing is out of the way, the papers will be on the hunt for their next piece of us anyway, so I don't know whether the FA's decision will make too much difference to them. If they need a story, they'll find one no matter what.
Green
Faubert Tomkins Illunga DaCosta
Noble Parker Kovac Jiminez
Diamanti cole
No Franco???
I hope this time GZ has got it right
Anybody know if there is a stream for this match?
da costa is a worry. gabby and upson missing will hurt if they get at us.
prediction 3-0
Franco is short of match fitness so it's good old 451 again (YAY!!!)
Kovac in midfield so 3-0 Citeh……..
Bellamy and Tevez up front for Citeh – Oh what could have been!!!!
his is going to be dealt with heavy handed ue to the fa feeling we need punishing still over the tevez/mascerano trouble , i a expecting a closed ground + a fine and bugger all for milwall save a telling off
Punishing the club(s) is futile because should/if/when these two sides meet again it will be the same thing all over again, this has nothing whatsoever to do with football. The authorities might just as well blame Osama Bin Laden for all the good it will do. They [the authorities] need to be seen to be doing something and there are only 2 scape-goats on the tether – West Ham United FC and Millwall FC. This is a fundamental social problem that is too difficult for the Government to deal with at it's root cause – so they blame instead