At least 10 people were stabbed as a running battle broke out after Chelsea and Tottenham's dramatic FA Cup clash on Sunday.
Hooligans wielding knives, wooden clubs embedded with nails, baseball bats and hockey sticks turned the well-heeled Parsons Green area of London into a battleground, leaving bystanders fleeing in terror.
Police believe that the fight – which began outside the White Horse pub, known locally as the 'Sloaney Pony', a traditional match-day drinking spot for Chelsea fans – was either a pre-arranged clash between rival gangs, or an 'ambush' by Spurs-following hooligans intended to catch Chelsea fans 'in their own backyard'.
Thirty-four men were arrested in the violence, which saw vans full of riot police and a police helicopter called in to combat the mayhem. Seven of them were taken to hospital with stab wounds and head injuries.
Three of the injured men were kept in hospital overnight, while the rest were treated and discharged back into custody.
The fight began just after 8pm, several hours after the match ended in a thrilling 3-3 draw.
A police source said: 'Clearly there was a degree of organisation. These guys had not turned up with sticks and bats to play a game of hockey or baseball.'
One witness said: 'It was pandemonium, I've never seen scenes like it.
'I was in Parsons Green itself having a quiet drink with friends – nothing to do with football. Suddenly there was a lot of loud shouting and screaming and we saw a huge mob fighting outside the Sloaney Pony, smashing each other with baseball bats and anything they could get their hands on.
'People were fleeing in all directions, it was chaos.'
Hooligans wielding knives, wooden clubs embedded with nails, baseball bats and hockey sticks turned the well-heeled Parsons Green area of London into a battleground, leaving bystanders fleeing in terror.
Police believe that the fight – which began outside the White Horse pub, known locally as the 'Sloaney Pony', a traditional match-day drinking spot for Chelsea fans – was either a pre-arranged clash between rival gangs, or an 'ambush' by Spurs-following hooligans intended to catch Chelsea fans 'in their own backyard'.
Thirty-four men were arrested in the violence, which saw vans full of riot police and a police helicopter called in to combat the mayhem. Seven of them were taken to hospital with stab wounds and head injuries.
Three of the injured men were kept in hospital overnight, while the rest were treated and discharged back into custody.
The fight began just after 8pm, several hours after the match ended in a thrilling 3-3 draw.
A police source said: 'Clearly there was a degree of organisation. These guys had not turned up with sticks and bats to play a game of hockey or baseball.'
One witness said: 'It was pandemonium, I've never seen scenes like it.
'I was in Parsons Green itself having a quiet drink with friends – nothing to do with football. Suddenly there was a lot of loud shouting and screaming and we saw a huge mob fighting outside the Sloaney Pony, smashing each other with baseball bats and anything they could get their hands on.
'People were fleeing in all directions, it was chaos.'
Obviously he'd been watching too much Braveheart! "HOLD.....HOLD..."
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