London • A fan punches a police horse as the streets of Newcastle are turned into a battleground. Bloodied supporters brawl inside Wembley Stadium as weeping youngsters watch on. Fighting erupts at train stations as hooligans hurl racist abuse.
English football has been in a time warp this weekend, with a return of the crowd trouble that stained the national game in the 1970s and 80s when its fans were the pariahs of Europe.
Almost 80 fans were arrested as violence spread from stadiums to the streets and transport network, prompting fears that the "English disease" had resurfaced.
"You never finally defeat football hooliganism," British sports minister Hugh Robertson told The Associated Press. "Huge, huge strides have been made since the 1980s. The situation has been transformed but we don't appear to be able to make it go away forever.
"It is too soon to say if this is an emerging trend," said Andy Holt, who oversees policing of football in England at the Association of Chief Police Officers. "But we will review what happened at the weekend and make any changes if they are necessary."
Wembley witnessed its most violent scenes since the rebuilt national stadium opened six years ago as Millwall fans turned on each other during Saturday's FA Cup semifinal loss to Wigan.
Fourteen arrests were made inside the stadium as the disorder was allowed to build throughout the second half in the Millwall end. As trouble spilled out of the stadium into a nearby tube station, another six Millwall fans were arrested for a series of offenses, including affray and racist abuse.
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