TOP 100 SOCCER SITES
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| Blackburn Rovers 2 Sunderland 2: match report El-Hadji Diouf came off the bench to score against his former club to earn a point from a game between two teams that have forgotten how to win. telegraph.co.uk |
Alan Smith: Premier League big boys on easy street in FA Cup third round Scanning this weekend's FA Cup fixtures, it's not easy to pick out upsets, particularly when it comes to Premier League sides. telegraph.co.uk |
West Ham guilty on two charges over Millwall riot and face FA fine • Three charges against south London club are dropped• Hammers to discover punishment on FridayWest Ham United look likely to be fined after being found guilty by an independent Football Association Regulatory Commission of failure to ensure their supporters "refrained from violent, threatening, obscene and provocative behaviour" on the night of their Carling Cup tie against Millwall in August.The club were also found guilty of failing to prevent their supporters entering the field of play, but the case against them and Millwall on the counts of racist abuse from fans, and a failure to ensure their supporters did not throw harmful or dangerous objects on to the pitch were not proven. Millwall were also found not guilty on the obscene and provocative behaviour charge. Each club will be especially relieved to have had the racism charges dismissed.West Ham, who won the game at Upton Park 3-1, are likely to discover their punishment on Friday when they will present their mitigation before the Commission, but the most likely outcome is a fine. A statement from the FA read: "An independent regulatory commission last week heard charges issued as a result of the serious crowd disturbances in and around the West Ham United versus Millwall fixture at Upton Park on 25 August, 2009."It was alleged that both clubs failed to ensure that their supporters conducted themselves in an orderly fashion. The independent regulatory commission, chaired by an independent QC, found West Ham United to be in breach of FA rules in the following respects: failure to ensure their supporters refrained from violent, threatening, obscene and provocative behaviour; failure to ensure their supporters did not enter the field of play. The Commission found all charges against Millwall not proven. The FA will now await the full written reasons from the independent Commission before making any further comment."West Ham, who in mitigation will again draw attention to the claim that they followed instructions by the various safety bodies, said on their website: "West Ham United have been cleared of two of the four FA charges issued as a result of the disturbances at the Carling Cup match with Millwall on 25 August, 2009."The FA Regulatory Commission will reconvene on Friday to consider the sanctions after finding against the club on two charges of pitch incursion and provocative behaviour by supporters. West Ham are unable to comment further until the conclusion of the legal process."The south London club said they were pleased that all three charges against them were dropped. Andy Ambler, the chief executive, said: "Millwall FC welcomes the verdict in respect of our club as we have always maintained that we were innocent of the charges.""As ever this club condemns all mis-behaviour within football stadia and works tirelessly to eradicate misconduct and to continue to change an unfair and distorted misconception of Millwall Football Club and its fans. We thank the FA Commission panel for their judgment and we will make no further comment until we receive and consider their full statement on the matter, which we anticipate will be on Friday."West Ham UnitedCarling CupMillwallJamie Jacksonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Everton 'will miss Lucas Neill' Everton manager David Moyes says his side will miss Lucas Neill after the Australia defender agreed a surprise switch to Turkish side Galatasaray. foxsports.com.au |
Carling Cup mayhem and top Gunners Paul Doyle, Raphael Honigstein and Barry Glendenning join James to discuss a feast of midweek football action.The Carling Cup semi-finals produced a 10 goal bonanza at Villa Park and a very tasty Manchester derby. But will Carlos Tevez' goal celebration come back to haunt him in the second leg? Will it? Eh? In the Premier League, Arsenal went top and Liverpool showed there is life in the mangey old dog yet. Were Arsenal right to carry on after Mark Davies went down injured? And could Owen Coyle's commendable footballing philosophies spell bad news for Bolton? There's a full round-up of the leagues in France, Germany, Italy and Spain (with a bit of help from Dr Sid Lowe) as well as the latest from Angola where the Africa Cup of Nations is reaching the knockout stages. Leave messages on the blog below, or find us on Facebook or Twitter.James RichardsonPeter Sale guardian.co.uk |