Norwich City vs Ipswich Town game causes issues in away end

Supporters said there was "pandemonium" in the cramped away end and that they were left to merge with Town fans shouting abuse at them, on their way to and from the stadium.

It comes after ugly scenes saw items, including a beer can, thrown at the car carrying City's co-owners Delia Smith and Michael Wynn Jones to the game, which ended in a hard-fought draw - extending City's 14-year unbeaten streak against their rivals.

Jonathan Rowe celebrating one of his two goals in the game against Ipswich (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

The Canaries Trust said it had received complaints about the way Norwich fans were handled, while Ipswich Town confirmed that it was looking into the stewarding of the away fans.

Suffolk police said two people had been arrested on the day, one for assault and one for failing to disperse, although it is not clear if they were Town or Canaries supporters.

But some Norwich fans said the situation had risked getting out of control on several occasions.

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Tim Taylor, who lives near Trowse, said: "I’ve been going to watch football for more than 40 years and haven't been as worried for people’s safety since the bad old days of the 1980s.

Tempers flared before the game started, when Delia Smith's car was targeted by the home fans on her way into the stadium (Image: Josh Fusion)

"I arrived 20 minutes before kick-off and joined a long queue of Norwich fans trying to enter the stand through two tiny entrances.

"When we finally got in, what greeted us there was a scene of disorder and nobody in apparent control - fans were just bottlenecked and stewards weren't directing people to their seats.

"When Norwich scored their first goal there was a rush of fans down the steps to the Perspex screen at the front.

"A steward was knocked off his feet and landed in front of me at the bottom of the stairs and was groaning in pain, his leg badly injured, possibly broken.

Tim Taylor, who attended the game, said the situation was extremely dangerous (Image: Tim Taylor)

"When Norwich scored their second, it was pandemonium again as a huge surge of fans came rushing down the steps, two fell on the slippery surface and there was a pile of bodies, where on the bottom was a young woman, trapped.

"After the game the Norwich fans had to walk back to the station through lines of Ipswich fans shouting abuse. I can't imagine why this was allowed to happen.

"Overall it was an extremely dangerous and unsatisfactory way to supervise a large and unruly crowd.

"This was not an unforeseen situation. The police and the club must have been planning this day for months."

Ipswich maintained their 21 point advantage over Norwich after the game (Image: Paul Chesterton, Focus Images)

Robin Sainty, chairman of Canaries Trust, said he hadn't been to the derby for years "because this is what happens every time we go to Ipswich".

He added: "The last time I went was when we won 5-1 [in 2011] and it was disastrous. They clearly haven't learned any lessons in that time."

Henry Durand went to the game with his dad Alex and sister Lucy. "My sister said she'd never seen anything like Saturday before," he said.

Henry Durand with his dad, Alex and sister, Lucy attending the game at the weekend (Image: Henry Durand)

"My dad was sat in a different section to me, on the first row of the away end and described it being so crowded that multiple women were crying around him and leaving the section altogether.

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"We entered through a line of police into an away section-only road passage. However there was two groups of Ipswich fans chanting abuse and congregating in little blocks.

"I said to my dad that I doubt you’d see similar policing strategies at any other derby game.

Ipswich Town confirmed it's looking into the incidents which occurred during the day (Image: Paul Chesterton, Focus Images)

"On the walk back to the coaches, we were just left to merge with the Ipswich fans and I saw one Town fan make a run at a Norwich fan, before getting pulled back by three or four policemen."

A spokesman for Ipswich Town said: "The club is looking into these incidents."

A steward is thought to have been injured after getting knocked off his feet during celebrations of City's first goal (Image: Paul Chesterton, Focus Images)

Robin Sainty, chairman of the Canaries' Trust said he doesn't go to the East Anglian derby because this is what happens every time we go (Image: Robin Sainty)