BIRMINGHAM’S Championship return descended into chaos as a 16-man brawl broke out late on, with a fan FLOORED in the melee.
Former Manchester United star Ashley Young was among the players involved in the shameful scenes on the opening night of the Championship season.
Having led through a Jay Stansfield strike, newly promoted Birmingham looked on course to start their season back in the second tier in dream fashion.
However, a controversial injury-time penalty was awarded to the Tractor Boys after the ball connected with the hand of Lyndon Dykes.
It was duly converted by George Hirst, which sparked a mass brawl at St Andrew’s.
Birmingham defender Christoph Klarer was seen charging towards Ipswich’s Conor Chaplin before players from both sides rushed in to try and separate the pair.
Their grappling led them over to the advertising boards where a fan jumped over the guard rail to try and get involved.
The fan attempted to grab some of the players before being pushed back and floored as a security guard rugby tackled him and stewards moved in to remove him.
Ipswich will be reporting the incident to the FA.
Premier League veteran Young, 40, who signed for Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich this summer, rushed over himself to try and help squash the beef.
He was seen desperately trying to drag Tomoki Iwata away from the mass of players who had come together.
Young succeeded in dragging Chaplin away from the melee, before he was seen in heated conversation with Klarer as the high emotions finally fizzled out.
The match went on to end in a 1-1 draw – the fourth time in a row Birmingham have drawn their opening game of the season.
Ipswich managed just one shot on target – from the penalty spot – the entire game, compared to Birmingham’s three.
However, Town defender Jacob Greaves insisted the team deserved to come away with a point.
He told Sky Sports: “It was very tough. For the first 15 minutes, we found it tough. When they went 1-0 up we got back in the game and it only looked like us to equalise and go on and get three points.
“I thought he gave a foul on the keeper. I knew George was going to score and he probably got the point we deserved.”
Fans were certainly not happy at the referee’s game-deciding decision, with some hurling objects towards them as they left the field.
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