West Ham And Millwall Bringing Back Old School Hooliganism

If you're one of those people who thinks that soccer exists only to support bottle-throwing riots, you're not alone. Supporters of rival London clubs were apparently way more interested in stabbing each other than watching their last game.

Last night's Carling Cup match between West Ham and Millwall ended with hundreds of fans storming the pitch at West Ham's stadium, dozens of arrests, people throwing bricks and bottles in the streets outside, and one fan getting stabbed in the chest. (He survived.) The brawls began in the streets before the game even started, carried on both in and outside the stadium during play, and then ended with fans taking over the field in the final minutes ... before being ushered outside for more fighting with police.

For some of these goons, the fighting—and not the soccer—is what they live for. "Nights like last night make me want to go back to Upton Park more regularly... the passion and atmosphere," said one. Not only were fans proud of the mayhem they created, they were planning on it all along. Online message boards were filled with pre-match warnings like, "Make sure you bring your bats and don't bring your kids," which led to a heavy police presence at the stadium, which only encouraged the goofballs even more. And, of course, they immediately went back online to gloat over their performance.

One wrote on Millwall Online under the headline 'Someone stabbed': "Let's just pray that whoever it is pulls through ok.. unless they're a West Ham c**t, then let them die."

Charming, as always.

Man is stabbed as West Ham and Millwall fans brawl outside stadium [Daily Mail] West Ham v Millwall: the hooligans are back [Who Ate All The Pies]