Four Millwall fans were injured before their club’s UEFA Cup tie with Ferencvaros in Budapest.
Two of the travelling supporters are in a serious condition and remain in hospital after being stabbed.
3000 fans made the journey for the conclusion of the first round fixture according to police estimates and rival supporters are said to have clashed in Budapest’s main squares, breaking shop windows before mounted police with tear gas were brought in to deal with the trouble.
“Both fans are stable, one is in a serious condition and has had an operation but he should be out of intensive care soon,” said Millwall chairman Theo Paphitis.
“We’ve managed to contact the British Embassy and they sent round two representatives promptly and they’ll be talking to fans, and helping them to get back the minute they are released from the hospital.”
“I was so proud of them, they were fantastic, they faced huge intimidation but they never reacted at all to anything.”
Millwall lost the match 3-1, exiting the UEFA Cup 4-2 on aggregate. Lions’ assistant Ray Wilkins was pleased with his side’s second half display despite the score-line and will be looking for Millwall to bounce back in the league.
“We are extremely disappointed to be out but I believe our players have learnt from the experience. Our second half performance was exceptional,” said Wilkins,
“The European adventure is over but the players may get another go if we play like this in the league.”
There were also clashes in the Czech Republic during Middlesborough’s tie with Banik Ostrava. Boro were only allocated 900 tickets for the match forcing the 4000 travelling fans to buy touted tickets for the home section. Chairs were ripped from the stands as police were brought into the ground prior to kick off.
Middlesborough drew 1-1 to progress to the group stage 4-1 on aggregate.
