Will Birmingham City v Aston Villa violence dent World Cup bid?
England will hope their 2018 World Cup bid has not been derailed at the 11th hour by the violence which erupted at the end of Birmingham's Carling Cup win over Aston Villa last night.
More than a thousand Blues supporters invaded the pitch after their side's 2-1 win at St Andrew's and confronted Villa fans situated in the Gil Merrick Stand at the other end of the stadium.
A flare appeared to be thrown into the section housing the Villa supporters although it was then tossed backwards and forwards between the rival factions.
Seats were also ripped out and used as missiles along with other objects.
The Football Association immediately pledged to carry out a full investigation and called for any identified culprits to be banned.
But the scenes which will have been beamed around the world were the last thing England would have wanted in the final hours before the destination of the 2018 World Cup is decided in Zurich.
