West Brom v Wolves FA Cup tie halted after clashes between rival fans

Players have been taken off the pitch during an FA Cup tie between West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers after reports of fighting among fans in the stands at The Hawthorns.

The players were taken off the pitch in the 82nd minute, soon after Wolves scored their second goal to lead 2-0 in the Black Country derby.

Some fans were injured, with pictures published of a supporter with blood pouring from a head wound being helped away by police.

Earlier, officers and security staff rushed to a corner of the ground supposedly holding home fans as the disturbance developed, while the players were ushered off the pitch.

There appeared to be a lot of pushing and shoving in the stand.

Some West Brom players were concerned for family members seated nearby and some, including Kyle Bartley, went into the stand to remove their children.

Referee Thomas Bramall eventually took the players from both teams back to the dressing rooms.

There had earlier been pockets of trouble in other parts of the ground.

Flares were thrown in the away section after Wolves opened the scoring in the first half and objects were also thrown at Wolves’ Tommy Doyle as he prepared to take a corner.

The players returned to the pitch, to warm up, after around 15 minutes, and the match re-started after a break of around half an hour with just over 12 minutes of the game remaining.

The FA said in a statement posted on X that it is launching an investigation into the “serious incidents”, which it called “completely unacceptable” and the behaviour of those involved “dangerous and inexcusable”.

ITV’s pitchside reporter, Katie Shanahan, said, after the players left, that they were “waiting to get the go-ahead from the safety team”, [before re-starting].

She said the referee “can’t start the game again until he gets the go-ahead from the safety team. At the moment, it is not safe to re-start the match.”

Police and security officers surrounded the pitch as the players left after the Premier League side beat their neighbours from the Championship, 2-0.

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