 In the 2009 – 10 season Millwall were drawn away to West Ham in the League Cup, which was the first meeting between the teams in the competition. The police cut the number of tickets given to travelling Millwall fans from 3,000 to 1,500, sparking anger among supporters; Millwall warned police of a higher probability of trouble. West Ham won the game 3 – 1 on 25 August 2009, their first win over Millwall in seven games played over in 18 years. Neil Harris had given Millwall the lead, but a goal from Junior Stanislas three minutes from the final whistle forced the game into extra-time. Stanislas added another and Zavon Hines a third for the win. Violence marred the match before, during and after kick-off, with multiple pitch invasions by Hammers supporters. Lions fan Alan Baker was stabbed outside the ground and suffered a punctured lung, but made a full recovery. He was one of 20 people injured. The police concluded that the violence, because of its large scale, was organised beforehand. The Football Association brought misconduct charges against both clubs. A disciplinary tribunal fined West Ham £ 115,000 for "failing to ensure that their fans did not enter the field of play and refrained from violent, threatening, obscene and provocative behaviour", but concluded that the allegations against Millwall of "violent, racist behaviour and throwing missiles or dangerous objects on to the pitch" had not been proved.
