West Ham and Millwall have been hit with several Football Association charges after the crowd trouble which overshadowed last month’s Carling Cup match.
They are expected to contest the charges of failing to control their fans at the match on 25 August.
Both clubs are alleged to have taken insufficient action to stop missile throwing and violent, threatening and racist behaviour at Upton Park.
West Ham face four charges, while Millwall must answer three.
Millwall say they are “shocked and disappointed” by the charges levelled against them.
A club spokesman said: “We maintain we did everything in our power in regard to ticketing arrangements for this game. We expressed our concerns in advance about ticket allocations and arrangements in general.
“It was widely acknowledged that none of our supporters came onto the pitch and indeed the behaviour and forbearance of our fans brought praise from media observers on the night.
“Our question for the Football Association is what can Millwall Football Club do to control individuals’ actions once inside our opponents’ stadium?”
West Ham plan to review the charges before responding, but are expected to launch a strong defence.
“In advance of the Millwall match, the club followed the strict advice of the relevant authorities at every stage of the planning process,” said a club spokesman.
“That full co-operation continued on the night with the club working closely with police on a carefully set-out plan that was initiated and approved by the independent safety advisory group.
“We do acknowledge the appalling behaviour of a minority of fans inside the stadium and, in conjunction with police, will continue to take strong and appropriate action against anyone found responsible.”
A statement from the FA said: “The FA have issued charges against both West Ham United FC and Millwall FC following the serious crowd disturbances in and around Upton Park on 25 August 2009.
“West Ham United FC have been charged on four counts of failing to control their supporters whilst Millwall FC have been charged on three counts following events at the Carling Cup fixture. It is alleged that both clubs failed to ensure that their supporters conducted themselves in an orderly fashion.”
In addition the each club will have to answer are “failure to ensure their supporters refrained from racist behaviour,” as well as “failure to ensure their supporters refrained from violent, threatening, obscene and provocative behaviour” and “failure to ensure their supporters didn’t throw missiles, harmful or dangerous objects on to the pitch”.
West Ham have received an additional charge of “failure to ensure their supporters didn’t enter the field of play” after the pitch was invaded three times by their fans during the game.
The FA has liaised with the Metropolitan Police and received reports from both clubs, who have 14 days to respond to the charges.
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