Birmingham boss slams fans over pitch invasion

Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish has slammed the “small club mentality” amongst the fans that invaded the pitch following his side’s League Cup quarter-final win against bitter rivals Aston Villa.

Over one thousand Birmingham supporters ran onto the pitch following the final whistle at St Andrew’s on Wednesday to confront Villa fans in ugly scenes that shamed both clubs.

Dozens of seats were ripped out and flares were thrown from one stand, before being tossed backwards and forwards between the two sets of supporters.

McLeish said that Birmingham supporters — celebrating their first win over Villa for five years — had made the club look small with their actions and he called on them to show more restraint in future.

“We have to be bigger than that,” he said. “We have to not have the small club mentality.

“The scenes were like when Hereford beat Newcastle in the cup a few years ago and the fans ran on at the end, and that’s fine.

“But not Birmingham, not a Premier League club. Our fans don’t need to do that.

“We should be bigger than that. Definitely celebrate it but don’t make it look as if it’s the World Cup final.

“It’s a kind of phenomenon for us that we’ve beaten them and we’ve got to think bigger than that.

“It’s a huge thing for our fans. I don’t condone them running on at all but I understand their emotions. Running on the pitch is just a no-go in modern day football.”