MILLWALL fans had to be held back by police as things turned ugly during the first game of their Championship play-off bid.
Alex Neil‘s Lions took the trip to Yorkshire to play Hull City in the first leg of their play-off semi-final.
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Things threatened to boil over between Hull and Millwall fans Credit: Getty
Millwall fans were held back by police during their clash with Hull City Credit: The Jattvibe
Tension was already in the air for such an important match, but things boiled over as visiting fans began to clash with their neighbours.
Lines of police separated the sections as Millwall fans surged towards the Hull City faithful at either edge of the away section.
But things really took a turn as multiple missiles were thrown from inside the Millwall melee and into the home end.
A number of items sailed over police officers’ heads as they continued to wrestle with the rowdy fans on both sides, and thankfully no fans broke through the line.
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Several missiles were thrown from the Millwall section into the home stands Credit: The Jattvibe
Police had to hold back a line of frustrated fans Credit: The Jattvibe
But while tensions escalated in the stands, there was also controversy on the pitch, after the visitors saw a potential winner disallowed for a foul.
Ryan Leonard thought he had stabbed home a winner in the 85th minute from a Femi Azeez cross.
But referee Gavin Ward saw something he didn’t like in the fight for the ball and blew his whistle as the shot flew in.
Replays showed Tristan Crama dragging down Charlie Hughes right before he attempted to clear it, though Hughes had a fair chunk of Crama’s shirt as well.
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And things weren’t much better on the other side of the away end Credit: The Jattvibe
The game finished 0-0 with it all to play for in, hopefully, a more exciting second leg in the week.
Both sides will also be keeping an eye on developments on the other side of the play-off bracket, with Middlesbrough and Southampton set to kick off their first leg on Saturday.
That game will be played under a cloud of charges brought by the EFL against Southampton after an alleged spy was said to be found monitoring a Boro training session.
An independent Disciplinary Panel is looking at the case in relation to breaches of EFL regulation 3.4, which requires clubs to act towards each other with the utmost good faith and EFL regulation 127, which prohibits any club from observing, or attempting to observe, another club’s training session within 72 hours of a scheduled match between the two clubs.
Southampton released a statement that read: “Southampton Football Club acknowledges the statement issued by the EFL in relation to alleged breaches of EFL Regulations.
“We can confirm that we will be fully cooperating with the League throughout this process.
“Given the ongoing nature of the matter, the club is unable to comment any further at this time.”
As the game petered out, the scenes in the crowd certainly didn’t Credit: Reuters
