A REDDITCH man has been charged following trouble at the Aston Villa v Birmingham City Capital One Cup match on Tuesday night.
Glenn Browne, 34, a finance clerk from Redditch, was charged with using threatening words or behaviour along with Tony Lightwood, 35 a courier from Solihull.
They have both been bailed to appear at Birmingham Magistrates Court next month.
Factory worker Daniel Hawkins, 32 from Birmingham, was charged with invading the pitch; he will appear at Birmingham Magistrates Court on October 7.
Two men, aged 38 and 44, were given fixed penalty tickets for being drunk and disorderly. A 20-year-old man was cautioned for a public order offence. Two men, aged 23 and 31, were released without charge.
A 27-year-old man arrested on suspicion of breaching a football banning order was released without charge.
A 25-year-old Solihull man was questioned over allegations of assault and a 31-year-old man was put in custody on suspicion of a public order offence.
Eleven others have been bailed while further investigations continue into allegations of violent disorder and affray at Manor Tavern in Portland Street, Aston just before 6pm. One person suffering a minor head injury.
Two men were also arrested on suspicion of committing a public order offence and were bailed pending further enquiries.
Four other men were arrested by British Transport Police on suspicion of assault, breaching a banning order and two for public order offences.
Despite this West Midlands Police said the first Birmingham football derby in more than four years passed off without any major disorder in and around Villa Park.
The policing plan that was in place meant there was little cross-over between the two sets of fans before and after the game which helped to prevent any confrontations.
West Midlands Police’s Football Unit had worked closely with Aston Villa and Birmingham City, licensees and British Transport Police before the League Cup match between the two rivals.
The force also made use of offender management teams to visit those known to cause football disorder before the game and warn them over their behaviour.
After the game road closures were in place to keep the two sets of fans separate as they headed towards local train stations to make their way home.
Chief Superintendent Steve Graham, from West Midlands Police, said: “This was always going to be a challenging fixture for us with the history between Aston Villa and Birmingham City and the fact they hadn’t faced each other in some time.
“It is of course disappointing that any disorder broke out during the course of the evening and we reacted quickly to arrest several people in connection with the damage caused to the Manor Tavern Pub.
“However the aim of our operation was to engage with fans in the city centre and in the vicinity of the ground to ensure supporters were able to enjoy the evening in safety.
“We had put together a significant policing plan which was based on intelligence gathered before the game and I’m pleased that the vast majority of fans behaved well and contributed to an excellent atmosphere at the match.
“I want to thank some fans for their patience as they may have been inconvenienced as they made their way back to train stations after full-time. Our experience and intelligence told us that we needed to do everything possible to keep the two groups separate to keep people safe.”
