West Brom Exclusive: ‘FA to investigate crowd incident v Stoke’ as image emerges
The FA are set to investigate crowd trouble as West Brom drew 1-1 with Stoke at The Hawthorns on Saturday.
In the first half, stewards were called to separate fans who allegedly started to throw punches at one another in the Birmingham Road End.
While details about the incident rely solely on social media witnesses at this stage, there have been some suggestions that it was either two Baggies fans fighting among themselves or a Stoke fan who’d got into the home end.
Former Premier League referee Keith Hackett has revealed how authorities respond to trouble in the stands.
Hackett believes the FA will be involved and will ask West Brom and the local police force for their account of the incident. He also claims Albion will look at their own procedures if it was a Stoke fan who’d got into the home end.
“Segregation in football at the professional level is taken very seriously because, like in this occasion, it can create a huge problem when a fan gets into the wrong end,” Hackett told West Brom News.
“The matter will be investigated by The Football Association who will ask West Brom and the police for their observations.
“The police, the home club and the head of security will review their procedures.
“Clubs do take great care with ticket distribution and thankfully this is a rare occasion when security fails.”
West Brom have had crowd trouble before
Albion fans won’t have forgotten the scenes that developed when they played Wolves in the FA Cup last season.
Fights broke out in the Halfords Lane stand after Wolves fans managed to get hold of home tickets.
Scuffles then spilt onto the pitch wit the game being forced to a halt for quite a while before the police and stewards managed to restore order.
In other West Brom news, Albion have a medical booked for the first signing of Tony Mowbray’s second spell at the club.
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