A throwback to the dark ages. A terrible day for football. Scenes and pictures we hoped we would never see again. Phrases used to describe the Aston Villa supporters invading the pitch after their 2-0 victory over West Brom last Saturday.

The fans weren’t running on the pitch in anger. They weren’t looking to attack the West Brom players. It was a sense of relief after years of dismal football, the joy of watching your team beat your local rivals to set up a trip to Wembley and a look into a future where the glory years may return.

Lower down the leagues, pitch invasions after victories which secure promotions or set up cup finals are common and the media loves it.

Look at the way the BBC portrayed Bradford fans running onto the pitch to celebrate an FA Cup victory earlier on in the season. It was seen as bringing the magic back to the cup. Bantam supporters were praised for showing the rest of the country that there was passion still in football.

But on Sunday the same media outlet were calling the Villa fans stupid and disgraceful. Had they not celebrated in the same way?

No-one wants to see players getting attacked and if reports about West Brom players Callum McManaman and Boaz Myhill were struck are true then those responsible should be banned for life from not just Villa Park but all stadiums across Europe.

But this was a strange occasion. At no point did it seem like anyone was going to get hurt, just a group of people who were about to do something not very smart but with good intentions.

Pitch invasions in general are usually seen as a pleasant thing in these circumstances. Whenever people talk about West Brom’s great relegation escape in 2005, they talk about the euphoric pictures of fans jumping around with players on the final day of the season.

It will always be remembered as one of the greatest days in English football and no-one was hurt. Fans being able to celebrate with players is one of the things that make this game so amazing.

And not everyone thought it was a bad thing for the sport. Tim Sherwood said: “You want to celebrate with the whole crowd. I don’t think it’s scary, it probably is for a West Brom player. Emotions are running very high after two wins and it’s been a huge week for the football club.”

If you’re an away player then yes it is a scary prospect, especially after a local derby. But for home players, the memory of interacting with fans after such a huge occasion is one that they will never forget.

Baggies boss Tony Pulis was of course enraged with the Villa fans but West Brom supporters were the ones who ripped seats off their hinges and hurled them below. It was fortunate that no-one was killed.

As the Football Association investigates what happened, I hope they look into the timing of the match because 5.30pm on a Saturday night was a terrible idea.

You can argue that it shouldn’t matter what time the game kicked off and that everyone should have behaved themselves.

But it’s “tradition” that before you go to watch a match, you meet up the local pub and have a few drinks before setting off to the stadium.

Giving fans the whole day to drink isn’t asking for trouble but you are increasing the likelihood of drunken fans being a nuisance.

The police have looked into the relationship between late kick-off times and fan related behaviour and it was agreed that derbies should be given an earlier kick-off time to limit the drinking time before matches. So why was this ignored by the bigwigs at the FA and the BBC? 

Another thing that needs to be looked at is the stewarding. Before the thousands of fans descended onto the pitch, small pockets of people ran on before the final whistle and the reaction by those employed by the clubs was appalling. 

They stood back and watched as supporters hugged Scott Sinclair and you could clearly see Gabby Agbonlahor telling them to go away. That’s not his job and the stewards should have been quicker to get them back into the stands or ejected them out of the stadium.

Over the past few months we have seen individuals attempt to celebrate with players and in general stewards and police have been excellent in nullifying the danger and thus sending out a message to anyone attempting that the next person who tries to enter the pitch will not get very far.

But this didn’t happen at Villa Park. They allowed the situation to escalate and fans were given an inch so took a mile.

It was far from a hostile environment on Saturday and to try to paint it as one is unfair to a group of supporters who were showing their love for the club.

Not since 2010 have they been to Wembley and not many tipped them to reach this far in the competition, you can see why they were so happy after the match.

They may be relegated come the end of the season and let the occasion get the better of them. Ninety-nine per cent of the fans ran to the pitch in pure elation and we must not let the other 1 per cent take away from one of the more iconic images in football.