The city of Birmingham was dragged through the mud as Villa and Birmingham fans threw flares at each other and Villa supporters ripped up seats in the Carling Cup tie.
An FA statement read: 'We wholly condemn the actions of any individuals involved in the scenes of disorder.'
Flame thrower: a flare is hurled as last night's derby is marred by disturbancesafter the final whistle
City boss Alex McLeish was quick to condemn the actions of hundreds of home supporters, who invaded the pitch at the end of their quarter-final win.
On the eve of the 2018 World Cup announcement, McLeish admitted: 'This takes us back to the dark ages. It does not look good when fans run on to the pitch like that and carry on like that. It was horrible.
'I don't think it will affect the World Cup bid; that's been decided. But I'm disappointed the fans came on. They shouldn't come on at any time and that's the one disappointing aspect of tonight. We don't want to be associated with things like flares being thrown.'
Both clubs could find themselves inthe dock after the crowd trouble. Around 500 policemen were on duty tostop the supporters clashing in the first night match between the sidesfor eight years.
On the pitch: hundreds of City fans ran on to the turf at the final whistle to taunt the away supporters
Theyformed a thin blue line between the two sets of fans, who lit flares.Dozens of seats were ripped up at the visiting end too after NicolaZigic's 84th minute winner.
Birmingham's acting chairman PeterPannu said: 'We are extremely disappointed with the events that tookplace after the game. I promise there will be an impartialinvestigation by the club as we do not condone the embarrassing actionsof certain individuals.'
The last time Birmingham City and Aston Villa were allowed to play each other under floodlights was seven years ago.
Following clashes between supportersduring the 2002-03 season, West Midlands police insisted all futurederbies be played on a Sunday lunchtime.
The Carling Cup draw led to that rule being waived for this game.
Flame thrower: A fan hurls a flare onto the pitch
One Aston Villa fan told Radio 5Live the pitch invaders had made it most of the way up the ground towhere visiting supporters were sitting before they were turned away bystewards.
When asked about reports that Aston Villa fans had thrown flares, she said: 'It's just retaliation.
'If the Blues are going to do it, Aston Villa are going to retaliate.
'They were disgusting for going on the pitch in the first place.'
Another Aston Villa fan said holding the match in the evening was "a recipe for disaster".
Theman, who attended the game with his two sons, said: 'There was a lot oftrouble before the game. The problem is everyone gets into the pubs atlunchtime hours before kick-off.'
Police line: Villa supporters tore up seats and hurled them at the home fans
He criticised the stewarding during the game, saying: 'Sitting above the Villa fans were Birmingham fans. My 11-year-old-son was spat on repeatedly and no action was taken.'
Adrian Goldberg, presenter of 5 Live Investigates, was at the game.
He said there were clashes between fans before kick off.
'I think there was more significant trouble on the outside of the game. It was worse than anything that happened in the stadium.'
Mr Goldberg said he saw large groups of rival fans being kept separate by lines of police as they walked into St Andrews.
He said: 'There were probably more riot vans than I have ever seen in my life.'
Face off: Birmingham fans confront police on the pitch
Superintendent Steve Graham of West Midlands Police does not believe that McLeish's pre-match appeal for passionate support had an influence.
He told Sky Sports News: 'The passion that we saw for 85 minutes of the game is what we're proud of in this country. We've started a post-match inquiry where we'll seek to find people who committed offences. We've got steps in place to identify and prosecute.
'We weren't expecting it. We knew it was a strong possibility as it had happened in the past and that's why we had resources in place.'
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Source: Daily Mail
Source: Daily Mail