United trio speak of Cup fear

UNITED'S England trio Nigel Martyn, Danny Mills and Jason Wilcox are the first members of the Leeds squad to speak of the horrific crowd scenes at Cardiff on Sunday, with Martyn admitting he had feared his career could have been in jeopardy.

The Leeds players were the targets of a deluge of missiles thrown from the crowd throughout the game, while a pitch invasion at the end also threatened their safety.

Lee Bowyer, Mark Viduka and David Batty were all attacked as they lift the pitch at the final whistle, while referee D'Urso and one of his linesmen were also struck by missiles thrown during the game.

The events of the afternoon are now the subject of a joint investigation by the English and Welsh Football Associations, with Cardiff facing instant penalisation.

Leeds boss David O'Leary admitted afterwards that feared for his players safety, felt that the game should have been halted, and singled out Nigel Martyn as an example of the hell his players had endured throughout the match.

On Wednesday the England keeper spoke to www.leedsunited.co.uk about his ordeal.

"There were coins, sweets lighters all sorts of things coming on and hitting you," he said.

"I never felt in real danger, but my real concern was if a coin had hit me in the eye when I turned round towards the goal as that could've ended my career."

Martyn was also close to referee Andy D'Urso when the Essex official was struck by a coin and needed treatment.

Nigel added: "That went right across my line of vision which made me jump back. A coin hit the referee on the side of the head but it didn't cut him."

England and Leeds colleague Danny Mills was another target for the missile throwers, but he also revealed his major concern was at the final whistle when he narrowly escaped the onrushing fans and pulled team-mate Jonathan Woodgate off the pitch.

"There were a lot of things being thrown throughout the game, not just one or two isolated incidents," Danny told www.leedsunited.co.uk.

"I think Nige (Martyn) got particularly heavily battered from behind the goal.

"It was more worrying when the fans came on then pitch at the end of the game. That's when you are really concerned that something could happen to you

"A few of the players were approached by fans who were slightly overly hostile towards them and it could have turned nasty.

"It only takes one idiot to do something if you get tripped up and you're on the floor. Then who knows what could've happened

"As soon as people started coming off the pitch I was one of the furthest away from the tunnel and I realised it wasn't the ideal situation to be in.

"As I ran past Woody I said 'come on let's get off the pitch as quick as we can and get in the tunnel.'"

However Mills feels it was right the game went on.

"Where do you draw the line. It's not the first game it's happened and I'm sure it won't be the last," he added.

"The crowd were not coming on the pitch during the game but things were being thrown.

"How do you stop it without playing without a crowd there, which makes for a very poor atmosphere, so it was right for the game to go on."

United midfielder Jason Wilcox also spoke of the nightmare he faced on the touch-line.

Jason said: "There were missiles coming on the pitch and there were things thrown when I was warming up.

"It was disappointing, but it's up to the referee and the football authorities to sort these things out.

"I don't think anybody really knew how bad it was and the other worrying thing was at the end when people came on the pitch which can be dangerous. Luckily all our players got off safely."

Following the violent scenes four men have now been charged with public order offences and are due to appear at the city magistrates court on January 17.

Police are also studying video tape footage to track down a group of 25 fans they believe were at the heart of the disruption.

Meanwhile, Cardiff owner Sam Hammam has promised to stop walking around the pitch while matches are in progress.

Hammam's 'walkabout' on Sunday during the game was seen as inflammatory and angered United boss David O'Leary, who had a public bust up with the Bluebird chairman after the game.

Hammam has now backed down following an intervention from the Football League and he has promised to remain in his seat for future games.

League spokesman John Nagle said: "The league acted early on in the season and wrote to Sam Hammam asking him to desist from walking around the goal.

"Following further complaints later in the season a meeting was held to discuss the matter. We feel it is an unnecessary practice and unnecessarily provocative."

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