"Ban them from football for life!"

The FA have condemned the violence in the clash between West Ham and Millwall, calling for "all culprits to be banned for life".

Earlier this evening a man was stabbed and violent battles broke out between rival fans outside Upton Park in what police labelled "large-scale" trouble.

When the match did get under way it was marred by several late pitch invasions as West Ham went on to win in extra-time.

Hundreds of fans were involved in the disorder which police said was caused by people without tickets to the second-round tie who had planned to start trouble.

Police said later that the victim of the stabbing was a 44-year-old man who was in a stable condition in hospital.

A Football Association spokesperson told Press Association Sport: "We absolutely condemn all of the disorder that has occurred at Upton Park this evening both inside and outside of the ground.

"We will be working with all parties, including the police and clubs, to establish the facts surrounding tonight's events.

"We strongly expect all culprits to be banned from football for life. They have no place in our game."

As the final whistle blew at Upton Park hundreds of fans invaded the pitch. Police and stewards battled with fans in an attempt to remove them from the field of play.

As thousands of fans flooded from the ground, police closed several roads surrounding Upton Park and ushered them towards the tube station.

Around 200 officers in riot gear, backed up by at least 20 mounted officers, patrolled outside the station.

Onlookers earlier said Green Street, close to the ground, was filled with several hundred West Ham and Millwall fans before the match.

They said bottles and bricks started being hurled shortly after 6pm.

A 29-year-old man, who runs a kebab shop in Green Street said: "All hell broke loose, it was very frightening. It's not every day you see stuff like that.

"There were West Ham fans on one side and Millwall on the other. They were being kept apart by the police. There were West Ham fans for as far as you could see along the street.

"Bottles and bricks were being thrown from the back and some were hitting West Ham fans at the front. There were loads of people with bloodied faces."

He said he closed his shop for two hours as the violence flared. He added that the clashes continued after the match kicked off.

Another man, aged 19 but who did not want to be named, said: "People were chipping bricks off buildings and throwing them at police. I saw one officer getting kicked as he was on the ground."

Rubbish, shards of glass and beer cans were strewn across Green Street and bricks could be seen in rubbish bins.

About 50 police officers in riot gear congregated outside Upton Park tube station as they waited for the final whistle. Several hundred fans were seen leaving the match before the game ended.

The Metropolitan Police said tonight they had no reports of any officers being injured during the violence.

It is believed the travelling Millwall fans were kept in the stadium to allow the West Ham fans to leave the area in an attempt to stop further clashes.

Outside the stadium a 56-year-old man, who witnessed the violence earlier tonight, said: "There were a lot of lunatics around. The thing is, between these two sets of fans, it's hatred. The teams haven't played each other for so long so I suppose it was always going to kick off.

"The Old Bill seemed to have done quite well."


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