Why?? Thought we were past this

Ugly scenes of crowd violence ruined crucial end of season football matches for the second day running on Monday as York City players were pinned in a stand and pelted with missiles by Luton Town fans.

The disturbing scenes at Luton's Kenilworth Road in the Blue Square Premier play-off semi-final second leg came just 24 hours after serious crowd trouble marred Sheffield Wednesday's 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace at Hillsborough on Sunday.

Palace player Clint Hill was chased into the tunnel by Wednesday fans after the draw on the final day of the Championship, which condemned the Yorkshire club to relegation.

Danger: York's players are forced to flee into the stands

The FA did not comment on Monday on the events at Hillsborough but will be forced to act immediately on Tuesday after the unsightly end to Luton's season.

Chris Carruthers had sealed York's trip to Wembley, where they will meet Oxford United later this month, and Luton had Adam Newton sent off as they were condemned to another season in non-league football.

But a swarm of Luton fans ran on to the pitch after their side's 2-0 aggregate defeat and charged at the away end where York players were celebrating with their fans. The York players were forced back into the Oak Road stand and then into the police box as officers tried to keep back Luton fans by forming a protective cordon.

The visitors were pelted with missiles and had to cower in the stand for 20 minutes until it was safe for them to return to the dressing room.

York manager Martin Foyle said: 'There didn't seem to be enough stewarding or policing, but it was a very scary moment. Within seconds, it was all closed off and my players were in the corner, which I've never seen in years of football.

'But credit to the police and stewards after that, they took the players into the away end and took them through into the police box. It was a scary time but my players have come through safely.'

Luton chairman Nick Owen told Sky Sports News: 'It's shattering on two counts. We are out and not going on to Wembley and the play-off final but, more importantly, it's devastating to see what happened on the pitch after the game.

Threat: York's celebrations were quickly halted by Luton's supporters

'It all happened so quickly. The fans swarmed towards the York end, where the York players were celebrating with their fans. It obviously wound up a certain number of our fans, and it led to fairly bitter verbal confrontations.

'It just looked an absolute mess down there, with police trying to hold fans back and leave the playing area clear at the York end, so the players could get off. Things were obviously being thrown, which is absolutely dreadful.'

The disturbances at Luton came after eight people were arrested for assault and public order offences outside Hillsborough on Sunday.

South Yorkshire Police will now review CCTV footage in the hope of making further arrests.

Sheffield Wednesday last night promised to co-operate fully with police and issue lifetime bans to any fans who are proved to have acted inappropriately.

Battle: Sheffield Wednesday's match against Crystal Palace was marred by crowd trouble

But Owen stopped short of saying any fans found guilty of causing crowd disturbances would be banned from watching Luton Town.

He said: 'I'd never condemn our fans en bloc because our fans are absolutely magnificent, but one or two of them have let the club down and we're very upset about and pretty angry, really.

'There will be an investigation by us and, no doubt, by the authorities. We'll just have to see where it goes from there.

'It doesn't look good for Luton Town. I'm just hoping it gets cleared up and there aren't any serious repercussions, but it's a very sad day.

'We do have our own ways of treating things. We've had problems in the past and dealt with them so, I can assure you, we won't hold back.'

The Luton chairman also criticised the number of police and stewards on duty at Kenilworth Road, where 9,781 attended the Bank Holiday match.

Owen said: 'I don't deal with the detail of stewarding and police numbers, but they certainly seemed to struggle with the swarming number of Luton fan heading towards the opposition end at the end of the game.

'I'm surprised, really, that they weren't able to deal with it and for a while it looked very ugly indeed, but it did calm down.'

Football League breakaway threat

"Private talks have taken place among Championship clubs about a breakaway from the Football League following the decision of the lower divisions to reject the Premier League package of parachute and solidarity payments worth £400million over three years.

Feelings are running so high that there is talk of taking up the offer, worth £48m in phased payments to relegated clubs and £4.6m a year to the rest of the division, and splitting from the Football League in what would bring about a Premier League Two in all but name."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-1270208/Charles-Sale-Football-League-breakaway-threat-parachute-row.html#ixzz0mzH9WcMv

More money for the championship, how can this be a bad thing? It means more money for attracking new players, more money to invest in your youth. Surely this can only improve the quality of our English football

Rooney nets writers' player award

Wayne Rooney has picked up his second individual award of the season after being voted Football Writers' Association footballer of the year.

The Manchester United striker polled 80% of the vote, with Didier Drogba a distant second and Carlos Tevez third.

"I am delighted to win an award with so much history and tradition," he said.

The 24-year-old, who has scored 34 goals this season, was named player of the year by the Professional Footballers' Association on Sunday.

The Football Writers award makes it a hat-trick of awards for the England international this season after he was also named the Premier League's fans' player of the season this week.

"Wayne's enthusiasm, hunger and desire mark him out as a special player and we hope he can carry his club form on to the international stage in the World Cup this summer and help England achieve their dream"

Manchester United 'world's most valuable football club'

Manchester United may be out of the Champions League and face a scrap to retain the Premier League title, but they have topped the table for the world's most valuable clubs.

The Old Trafford side held on to top spot in Forbes Magazine's list of the 20 most valuable football teams, worth £1.19 billion, a two per cent fall on last year.

Football Association Consider Relaying Wembley Pitch

I'm afraid laying pitches is always a hazardous business because you are never sure how that grass is going to bed in.The Football Association have confirmed it will make a decision over whether to relay the Wembley pitch after the weekend.

The pitch, which has been relaid ten times since the stadium opened in 2007, has come in for criticism following the FA Cup semi-finalsover the weekend.

The venue will host the rugby unionmatch between Saracens and Harlequins on Saturday and the FA will make a decision after the match.

An FA statement read: "Football is the number one priority and we understand we have to find a way to deliver and sustain a consistent quality pitch and replicate the successful formula that we developed in the second half of last year.

"We are currently reviewing all options to provide the best surface for the busy period going forward, including a probable pitch replacement. We will make this decision after the weekend."

Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish and Fulham boss Roy Hodgson have both added their voices to the chorus of criticism levelled at the state of the playing surface at Wembley.

The pitch was once again the focus of attention at the weekend's FA Cup semi-finals, with firm pitch with a damp surface causing problems for players.

Senior groundsman such as Dave Saltman, former head groundsman at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, also branded it an "embarrassment" earlier on Tuesday.

McLeish feels it is a shame that the stadium's busy schedule has made it very difficult to maintain a decent playing surface.

"Wembley was renowned for its wonderful playing surface," McLeish told Sky Sports News.

"Just now it is looking a bit dodgy and it is a shame to see players slipping over on the turf in the last couple of weeks."

Hodgson echoed that viewpoint, adding: "It's sad but it does happen when you are constantly relaying pitches," he said.

"I experienced it at Inter when the pitch had to be relaid two or three times a year.

"I'm disappointed for the four teams playing in the semi-finals that they didn't get a good pitch to play on but it is one of those things I suppose and hopefully the FA will put it right."

Start practising for the World Cup!

Get in the mood of the upcoming World Cup 2010 by playing 010 World Cup Prep. You stand towards the goal and attempt to score by a header, ground shot or a volley. I am expecting plenty of that in this highly anticipated tournament! We might as well start getting practising already! There are many other addictive flash games available to play there too! Give it a shot! (Pun intended)

The World Cup Draw is Here!

The draw for the World Cup has just finished in Cape Town and all the games, locations are set! The World Cup is just around the corner.

Hosts South Africa have a tough group and England will be more than happy. In all likelihood, Fabio Capello is possibly one of the happier managers after the draw. There is no real stand out group and overall, it is set up for a very exciting tournament but not many teams, even England, will fancy they are going to win their group. Maybe, just Brazil.