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Football fans clash in brawl at Fields
FOOTBALL hooligans staged a mass brawl on Highbury Fields before the Arsenal-West Ham match on Saturday.
Up to 30 members of the notorious Inter City Firm (ICF) waited near the tennis courts for what police believe was a pre-arranged fight.
Eye-witnesses say the West Ham supporters were clad head to toe in almost identical black “uniforms”.
They were seen huddled in a corner by the tennis courts, each carrying a wine or beer bottle to use as a weapon.
Members of the group were saying “Not now, not now” as if waiting for a signal to go.
The fight happened at about noon as children and their parents were playing on the fields.
About 50 hooligans were spotted by beat officers on a routine patrol in Church Path on the edge of the fields.
Police say that once the supporters became aware of the police presence they dispersed quickly. Lengths of metal pipe were found at the scene.
No one was injured in the fight although four men were subsequently arrested.
In January last year, when Cardiff City played Arsenal, a man arrested on Highbury Fields was found with a Stanley knife, extendable baton and several pieces of wood concealed in his clothes.
A 21-year-old man appeared at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday charged with public order offences.
A 17-year-old youth was cautioned for possession of Class A drugs and two other 17-year-olds were arrested for violent disorder but later released with no further action recommended by police.
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