Arrested after fighting between West Ham and Millwall supporters

TWO football hooligans face jail for involvement in a soccer riot.

One fan was fighting for life after being stabbed as violence erupted at the West Ham v Millwall Carling Cup clash at Upton Park in August, 2009.

Police arrested some 80 people variously suspected of violence before and after the match. The fracas also left several police injured.

Yobs pulled up part of a road surface to lob at rivals, along with bottles, while others kicked police horses, Inner London Crown Court heard on Thursday.

There were also three pitch invasions during the match. West Ham fans Steven Drysdale, 41, of Masterman Road, East Ham, and Terry Loveday, 27, of Stamford Road, Dagenham, admitted affray at an earlier hearing.

Drysdale was captured on film confronting police in the surging mob outside The Queens pub near the ground. He was seen to hurl plasterboard, which he had plucked from a wheelie bin, towards a police line.

Loveday kicked a police van and was among pitch invaders. He is currently banned from matches for three years.

Football violence investigator Pc Simon Creevy said outside court that the police’s Operation Balconi had led to a number of convictions, but no-one had been held responsible for the stabbing

Drysdale and Loveday are due to be sentenced on November 4.