League One - FA to look at Millwall invasion

Eurosport - Sun, 10 May 12:14:00 2009

The FA are to investigate the crowd trouble which marred Saturday's League One play-off semi-final first leg between Millwall and Leeds.

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 League One Millwall's players and fans celebrate their opening goal scored by Neil Harris
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A number of spectators entered the field after Neil Harris' 71st-minute winner for Millwall and the FA have confirmed that they are to make enquiries and gather information from all concerned parties following the clash at the Den.

Leeds goalkeeper Casper Ankergren was subjected to taunts by the Millwall fans following the goal and also had missiles thrown at him, and Scotland Yard have confirmed that one man has been arrested on suspicion of assault.

The FA's decision to look into the incident comes on the back of the Danish goalkeeper's plea for action be taken against the London club.

"There was something thrown at me, I didn't see what it was as I turned my back on it," he told BBC Sport.

"It's very bad for football and Millwall should be punished.

"I was pushed in the back by one of the fans that came on the pitch too. It should never happen, fans should not be allowed on to the pitch.

"I'm not sure what the security were doing as no-one came to remove them. They are meant to be here to protect the players, it's not good enough.

"Anything could have happened, luckily it didn't and hopefully I wouldn't experience that again.

"English fans are normally much better than Danish fans, who always throw stuff on the pitch and at players. But it's happened here at Millwall and I hope something will be done. It is a disgrace to football."

PA Sport / Eurosport

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  1. i am a leeds fan and its about time supportes got there­ act together like we do in rugby .you see no trouble ­ and you get fans sitting with one an other .isnt this­ to be a family game .or are yobs going to get the­ better off it .i think its time to give all the ­ nutters the boot from clubs.

    From Wayne, on Tue 12 May 10:13AM
  2. MILLWALL are all soft t**ts. gob @#$%s the f***ing lot­ of ya, bring all 9000 up and then watch you C**ts run­ AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From Deep Sea Diver, on Tue 12 May 8:34AM
  3. n3llyo - ''in London there is around 7 and­ a­ half million people and 13 proffessional football­­ clubs to support
    in leeds theres just over 3 and a­ half­ million and one team
    so obviously you are going­ to­ have more support theres less choice''

    I­ really don't think you can compare the size of the­ fan base of Millwall against Leeds purely by location.­ If the recent poll on the Leeds website is anything to­ go by we could sell out the New Den with our OVERSEAS­ fan base let alone the fans who actually live in Leeds.­ There are over 10,000 Leeds fans registered with the­ Northants LUSC alone!! A quarter of a million Leeds­ fans applied for tickets to see them play in the­ Championship play-off final! The 40,000 season ticket­ holders and members who were lucky enough to get hold­ of tickets were vocal and PROUD to be LUFC even when we­ were 3-0 down.
    Leeds are a HUGE club and always will be­ beceause of the HUGE fan base which has been built on­ the back of an exciting roller-coaster ride of a­ history. Recent and long-term.

    As for the pitch­ invasion -

    Everything in football is based on­ reputation. Drogba has a reputation for diving which is­ one of the reasons he didn't win a penalty in the­ Champs League Semi. Messi has the reputation of being a­ prolific goal scorer/provider, that is why he is on the­ most wanted list of all the clubs that can afford him.­ Millwall and Leeds are two clubs with reputations for­ having ''passionate'' supporters, that­ is why they are always in the media when the slightest­ thing happens. Its up to the fans and clubs themselves­ to prevent ANY misconduct so as to improve the­ reputation.

    From Ashley E, on Mon 11 May 10:14PM
  4. So, that's sorted: it's okay for Millwall fans­­ to invade the pitch and throw objects at other­­ sides' players and match officials; Superintendent­­ of The Metroploitan Police, Peter Vincent has said­­ so....
    Has this guy got $%:t for brains? If it's­­ okay for Millwall then it's okay for all fans to­ do­ the same, and pretty soon pitch invasions and­ assaults­ on players will become the norm.
    The reason­ that these­ fans weren't rounded up, expelled from­ the ground­ and banned from attending future matches­ was becuase­ the police and stewards weren't doing­ their job.­ They were simply not in a position to take­ effective­ action because they had concentrated their­ crowd­ control on the 9991 Leeds fans.
    Peter Vincent­ should­ apologise and resign.

    From ANDRExu2, on Mon 11 May 9:00PM
  5. comment on the matter,for those who are interested­ millwall fc have made a statement which criticises the­ way the press and media in general have over blown the­ situation this statement can be read elsewhere on yahoo­ sport reports(if people care to want to read how­ fabricated and exagerated news reporting has got out­ of hand on this matter) also the metroploitian police­ have issued a statement which says the­ following

    Metropolitan Police statement
    Posted on:­ Mon 11 May 2009

    The Metroplitan Police have released­ the following statement following Saturday's match­ with Leeds United:

    Police have today praised the­ behaviour of the majority of fans who attended The Den­ on Saturday 9th May.
    Officers from the Metropolitan­ Police Service and British Transport Police had­ implemented a pan-London operation in partnership with­ Millwall football club prior to the play-off match­ against Leeds United.
    Superintendent Peter Vincent,­ said: "Over 13,000 fans attended the match on­ Saturday and the day largely passed off without any­ major incidents of disorder.
    Unfortunately, a few­ individuals had to be dealt with by stewards and­ police, resulting in four arrests.
    I would like to take­ this opportunity to praise not only the police officers­ and club officials involved in this operation, but also­ the fans whose behaviour in the main was very­ reasonable."

    From n3llyo, on Mon 11 May 3:54PM
  6. thursday will make galatasary look like a pre season­ friendly.

    From Dave H, on Mon 11 May 2:15PM
  7. what all you leeds fans seem to forget when going on­ about 9,or 10 thousand fans compared with the 36,000­ you keep going on about having at elland rd is,
    it was­ season ticket holders and members only
    because it was­ leeds we were playing about 4000 seats near the away­ end had to be closed dont know if this was done­ because the police might have thought we might bring­ our wings with us and flew up to the top tier where the­ away support were)
    also in London there is around 7 and­ a half million people and 13 proffessional football­ clubs to support
    in leeds theres just over 3 and a half­ million and one team
    so obviously you are going to­ have more support theres less choice

    and of course­ you are a big club and its all a lie youve been playing­ in the THIRD DIVISION for the past few years

    From n3llyo, on Mon 11 May 2:02PM
  8. 35,000 c**ts!

    From Matthew, on Mon 11 May 12:55PM
  9. Reading all of the above comments makes me realise what­ a bunch of morons so called football supporters are.­ None of you are able to read or write correctly, and­ what makes it even worse is that none of you have the­ sense to realise you are being ripped off by your­ clubs! Whether you're a Millwall Moron, Leeds Lout­ or a Manchester Maniac when will you realise English­ football isn't worth the money you pay to watch it!­ All you are doing is paying the wages of a bunch of­ untalented people with over inflated egos to kick a­ ball around for 90 minutes. There are only 2 genuine­ English players with any semblance of class, Stephen­ Gerrard and Frank Lampard. I watched the Millwall-Leeds­ game on TV and found it akin to watching a Sunday­ morning kick around at the local park. Where have the­ likes of Gazza, Tony Currie, Eddie Gray (Scottish) and­ George Best (Irish) gone from the game? I feel sorry­ for you so called supporters who waste your money on­ watching the rubbish that is supposed to be football­ nowadays, you're all that stupid that you don't­ realise you're being taken for a ride by those that­ see you only as a meal ticket.

    From R, on Mon 11 May 12:54PM
  10. milwall scum do u not realise leeds fans were happy to­ go to ur place first so we knew what we were up against­ so know u have to come to elland road with 35.000 +­ fans just waiting to get at you cockney wan+* s

    From andrew, on Mon 11 May 11:58AM
  11. yeah, you have to remember, its millwall`s cup final.­ all 9k of them.

    From ALAN, on Mon 11 May 11:49AM
  12. How on earth there is all this rubbish about the 15 max­ pitch invasion by supporters just with there own­ players, when we look at yesterdays match with­ GillingSCum in a full invasion and nothing is said by­ the FA. It has been 24 years since the mass invasion at­ Luton with Millwall. The FA need to jump out of the­ past and get with modern football fans.... (WAKE UP FA­ NOW)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From Aaron, on Mon 11 May 7:52AM
  13. Both A######E supporters

    From Had Enough, on Mon 11 May 7:22AM
  14. Typical of the Leeds fans to get involved AGAIN..... I­ was at the hartlepool game the previous week when the­ leeds fans acted like a bunch of animals, spitting on­ ball boys, fighting on the pitch and even taunting the­ family enclosure where women and small children got­ very frightened. The FA should investigate the cowards­ at Leeds also and punish them with a 10 point deduction­ or similar. Disgusting.

    From BRIAN M, on Mon 11 May 6:22AM
  15. LEEDS ITS EASY PICKING ON A FAMILY CLUBS FANS LIKE­ IPSWICH HEY? NOT SO HARD AT MILLWALL ARE­ YA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­ !!!!!

    From ABIGAIL, on Sun 10 May 9:25PM
  16. just going for a few tongue in cheek stereotypical ­ character assasinations on a leeds fan .Hard earned­ social was a pun.Cockyness about thinking leeds are at­ Wembley allready is exactly why everyone is so up for­ it for thursday night,(football wise that is).i still­ actually think MKDons should be up i hate them but they­ finished 3rd three go up that should be it,play offs­ just make money for the FA ,but saying that if­ millwall win thursday night i ll be straight round the­ den queing up for a wembley ticket once i get back from­ elland rd

    From n3llyo, on Sun 10 May 6:09PM
  17. n3llyo, just a few pointers for you mate, English­ usually starts with a capital letter, full stops follow­ the last word, no need for a little finger space. By­ the way when making a list its useful to use commas to­ break it up: whippets, Hovis...etc. Social money­ isn't usually hard earned, thats the idea. Hovis­ bread isn't from Yorkshire, even the famous Tv ad,­ with the young boy and his bicycle was filmed in Devon.­ However, I agree that the original post you commented­ on isn't exactly brilliant. Never mind, you ­ Millwall Neanderthals will always get a chance to stir­ some more trouble when Leeds are back in London in a­ few weeks........marching on to wembo!!!!

    From daniel, on Sun 10 May 5:38PM
  18. you can tell yahoo is an american paid for site when­ the word f.a.g meaning cigarette is edited thinking­ its a swear word

    From n3llyo, on Sun 10 May 5:08PM
  19. sour grapes by a keeper who spat at the people who got­ on the pitch.liar no one thumped him,a chewing gum­ wrapper or @#$% butt was flicked at him and a moron­ waved a coat at him BIG DEAL thats what happend .
    END­ OF.

    From n3llyo, on Sun 10 May 5:06PM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    "shut up u millwall girls.u should be kicked out­ and us­ got to the final.we,l be there anyway.uve got­ to come­ to ours on thursday.u,l see a real crowd of­ 40,000 not­ 10 like at ure dump.and u,l get thumped­ outside as well­ haaaaaaaaaaaaa"

    learn to speak­ and spell english .maybe instead of spending all your­ hard earned social money on whippets hovis and flat­ caps you should have spent some cash on english lessons­ northern @#$%

    From n3llyo, on Sun 10 May 5:02PM
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