Major security breach at Southampton as West Brom stars swarmed by pitch invaders and flare thrown into away end
SOUTHAMPTON fans clashed with West Brom’s supporters and players after winning the play-off semi-final.
The Saints had booked their spot in the play-off final against Leeds with a stomping 3-1 win at St Mary’s.
However, the victory was marred by fan trouble at the full-time whistle.
Footage filmed from the away end showed West Brom players trying to applaud their supporters get stranded in a tide of home fans invading the pitch.
And exclusive SunSport footage revealed a flare being thrown into the away end as stewards fought to separate the two sets of supporters.
Police and security staff managed to restore order a couple of minutes before the pitch was cleared.
But fans were left shocked that the home supporters had been able to come into contact with the West Brom team so easily on the pitch.
One wrote on social media: “Probably the worst security I’ve ever seen, Southampton 3-0 on 85 surely it would’ve been smart to get all the stewards down the away end and form so form of perimeter instead of just standing there”
And another posted: “Disgusting from Southampton stewards this. Completely left our players out to dry there. Disgraceful”
A third wrote: “Respect to your players coming over. Level of stewarding there is disgraceful.”
All of this occurred while the Prime Minister took in the scenes from the stands.
Rishi Sunak is a proud Saints fan and would have been delighted to see his team get to Wembley… if less so with the scenes that followed the final whistle.
Southampton will now face Leeds United at Wembley on Sunday, May 26.
Goals from Will Smallbone and Adam Armstrong were enough to seal the win despite Cedric Kipre’s late consolation.
Leeds sealed their place in the final as they demolished Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road on Thursday night.
The result led to the Canaries sacking manager David Wagner.