BLACKPOOL MANAGER PAUL Ince has called for tighter security at English grounds after crowd trouble marred his side’s 1-0 loss at Preston North End in the League Cup.
Preston’s fans flooded onto the Deepdale pitch to goad rival supporters at the final whistle of Monday’s local derby, while a steward had to be taken to hospital after being trampled on by a police horse.
Ince branded the scenes an “absolute joke” and voiced fears that it would take a more serious incident to spark the football authorities into action.
“I understand that fans get excited, but who knows what can happen,” said the former England midfielder, whose side play in the English Championship.
“We’re not listening. Has someone got to be stabbed before we listen?”
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He added: “I wondered if we have enough stewards. You see enough situations where fans run on a pitch and I can understand fans’ excitement, but there have been enough frightening things that have happened to players that we need to stamp down on it.”
A spokesman from Preston told the BBC that the steward had been taken to hospital to undergo an x-ray on a suspected injured shoulder.
Police said two people were arrested for criminal damage to one of the supporters’ buses outside the ground, with another four people detained for minor offences.
