“Rob Green could not believe what he was seeing. The then-West Ham United goalkeeper was aware of the hatred between West Ham and Millwall supporters — but not to this extent. ‘I was in front of the Millwall fans, they’d ripped up the chairs and started throwing them on the pitch. But then they started pulling out the metal framework that held the seats in. That’s when I realised, ‘S***, this is going to be a long night.’ It was venomous hatred.’ Green, who played for West Ham between 2006-2012, is reflecting on the 2009 League Cup tie against Millwall, a game labelled ‘the Upton Park riot’. West Ham won 3-1, but the match was marred by violence outside the ground and pitch invasions by fans during it. There were arrests and a Millwall supporter was stabbed in the chest before the match. …”
NY Times/Athletic