FA to investigate Oakwell trouble

The Football Association have confirmed they are investigating reports of crowd disturbances at the Carling Cup tie between Barnsley and Manchester United at Oakwell on Tuesday night.

The FA are awaiting reports from FA crowd control advisor, present at the game, as well as from referee Chris Foy. The FA are also liaising with both clubs and South Yorkshire Police to gather evidence relating to events at the ground.

According to South Yorkshire Police, eight fans were arrested at the match after trouble flared before at the start of the game. Eight catering staff were trapped inside a food kiosk and had to barricade themselves in a store room for around 25 minutes as fans broke in and stole cash from the till and food from the shelves.

An FA spokesperson said: “There is no place for anti-social or violent behaviour in our game. Any culprit found to be involved in these disturbances and identified as such by either the police or clubs should be subject to a lengthy ban from attending football matches.”

A Barnsley spokesman said: “The club is going to launch a full investigation as soon as possible after substantial damage was caused in the concourse of the north stand. A complaint has been made to the police and we will be taking a look at CCTV footage of the incident before we can comment further.”