Sadly on Wednesday night when the football between two London rivals facing off in the last 16 of the EFL Cup should have dominated the headlines, unfortunately the headlines were stolen by the violent crowd disturbances in the Sir Trevor Brooking Stand at the London Stadium as Chelsea fans made for an early exit minutes ahead of the full-time whistle. Over 1,000 stewards and a huge Police presence were only just able to restore some kind of order.

The turning point in the ugly scenes was when the two rival sets of fans made an attempt to get to each other rushing the barrier between them – an incident which has made the stadium have its safety plan for fans seriously doubted as to how effective it is. With seven arrests already made both Chelsea and West Ham have committed to assist Police in analysis of CCTV footage taken of the crowd trouble. Both clubs have agreed to effect bans or suitable punishments to any supporters who are confirmed to have been involved in the ugly scenes that marred the 2-1 West Ham win. The Hammers as the home side could face further repercussions with the Football Association able to make them play home matches behind closed doors if the incidents are deemed to merit such sanctions.

As ESPNFC reported, local Member of Parliament, Mark Field opined that West Ham should feel the force of the Football Association and should indeed be made to play with no fans present in a closed doors environment after the brutality of Wednesday night. The Tory MP had this to say,

“None of these problems were unforeseeable given the nature of the stadium and difficulties with policing large footballing crowds. There have been some clear failings and they now need to move with urgency to deliver a plan about segregation and broader public order issues.

“If there is a repeat of the violence, the next two or three home games for West Ham should be played behind closed doors.”

As the Express reported, the Hammers boss, Slaven Bilic was in absolutely no doubt what he thought of the violence calling it  ‘totally unacceptable,’ – a point of view which Antonio Conte agreed with.

“I must be honest because I didn’t see it, we were playing,” Conte said.

“I don’t like this type of situation because it’s important to always see the right atmosphere.

“In England we are used to seeing that and it’s right to maintain that. I’m sorry about this situation.”

So hopefully Chelsea are able to put their exit from the EFL Cup under such unfortunate circumstances behind them and turn their attention back to the Premier League. The Blues play next on Sunday against Southampton away at St Mary’s with kick-off scheduled for 4pm local time.