Sheffield United v Birmingham City: Sheaf House pub landlord says fans piled off coach and smashed windows

A Blades fan also lost two teeth after being kicked while he was on the ground, he said, during the disorder outside the Sheaf House pub on Bramall Lane following the 1-1 draw between Sheffield United and Birmingham City.

Mark Rainey described the shocking scenes which unfolded outside the pub after the game yesterday, Saturday, October 1, telling how glasses and bottles were flying and terrified families had to be ushered upstairs to safety.

But he praised staff and the majority of United fans for keeping Blues supporters out and doing their best to ensure everyone’s safety.

He was on the door when the trouble kicked off and told how three or four coaches had gone past when the last coach stopped outside the pub.

‘Birmingham City fans were banging on coach windows trying to get off’

"There were a few people banging on the windows from inside and you could tell they were trying to get off the coach,” he said.

“Some of the United fans walked towards the coach and as they did the door came open.

Sheffield United vs Birmingham City: Reaction to London Road disorder after game

"Only about three fans got off the coach at first and there was a bit of a skirmish, and then some more United fans went over.

"Then at least 20 or 30 Birmingham fans seemed to come off the coach at once and just ran at the United fans.

‘Woman was threatened with fire extinguisher during trouble after Sheffield United-Birmingham match’

"They had a fire extinguisher which I think they must have taken off the coach and they used that to smash two of our windows.

"We later found out they’d threatened a woman with the fire extinguisher, and one man got kicked on the floor and lost two teeth.

“We had a lot of kids in and I think most people were trying to get the kids out of the way."

London Road Sheffield: South Yorkshire Police confirm reports of fan disorder after football match

Mr Rainey said Birmingham fans were kicking the door, which had been locked, trying to get in. He said staff were able to help some families with children take refuge upstairs and in the private back garden.

He claimed it was only when more home fans emerged from the pub garden that away supporters retreated and attempted to get back on the coach.

Some windows on the coach were also smashed, he said, and he estimates the pub lost around 100 glasses, with bottles and glasses being thrown by fans from both clubs.

Mr Rainey said he took over the pub during the Covid pandemic and this was the first serious football-related trouble he had experienced there.

He said it had taken police around 10 minutes to turn up and there were only six officers at first, who were ‘a bit overwhlemed’, but five minutes later another 30-odd turned up in ‘full riot gear’.

It is only a year since the pub was twice targeted by an arsonist, who was recently convicted, and Mr Rainey said he was ‘gutted’ that they were again facing a bill to fix the windows which had to be replaced after those attacks.

Trouble also flared on London Road after the match, and police are investigating the disorder.

South Yorkshire Police said two people had been arrested and work was ‘ongoing’ to identify others involved. It said no injuries had been reported to the force.