There were some disturbing scenes before Everton’s FA Cup Fourth Round clash against Millwall today, a skirmish between both sets of fans left one fan with a slashed face.
Despite having the lead on two occasions during the match, Everton were knocked out of the cup after a 94th minute goal from Millwall’s Murray Wallace.
Unfortunately the events of the game will not be the centre of attention and it will be the disgusting scenes before the encounter that dominate the news.
This Everton fan was slashed across the face by a Millwall fan:
Everton fan at Millwall ?#MILEVE pic.twitter.com/vQtGebUZj6
— ScouserChris (@ScouserChris89) January 26, 2019
In an ideal world there would be no place for violence at a football match, but it would be naive to think that there would never be fights between sets of fans before or after games.
One thing should be guaranteed though and that is that fans should by no means be heading out with weapons to intentionally cause potentially life-long injuries to someone – just because they support an opposing team.
These videos were shared online, they show both sets of fans fighting each other and the police desperately trying to keep both sets of fans separated:
Millwall and Everton fans going at it earlier today. ? pic.twitter.com/qSYRdJC6M4
— Football Tweet (@Football__Tweet) January 26, 2019
Millwall vs Everton outside Surrey Quays station pic.twitter.com/4BddyVdfK7
— Mike McEvoy (@mikemcevoy0) January 26, 2019
These Millwall fans even prevented some Everton fans from getting off their bus, they surrounded the coach and police couldn’t allow them to come off the coach with their safety in danger:
Everton fans on their bus with Millwall hanging about outside The Den this evening pic.twitter.com/71YbYdhOJ2
— Casual Mind (@CasualMind_) January 26, 2019
Millwall can’t seem to shake the negative image that is associated with them, fans that are involved in these incidents should be severely punished by the club and the police.
The footage above shows that there should be stronger measures in place to stop this kind of thing from happening in the future.
Violence shouldn’t be tarnishing the image of the beautiful game.
