23rd
May 1999
A
day of tragedy for Salernitana and Italian Football. The team lost to Piacenza,
thus resulting in relegation to Serie B. Over 1500 Ultras from Salernitana
mad the journey to Piacenza by train. The return journey was to be a nightmare,
incidents kept breaking out aboard the train and the police were already
trying to stop the train and transfer the Ultras to awaiting buses they
had laid on but this police tactic failed. On arrival at Salerno station
the Ultras set fire to a carriage of a their train, but tragically part
of the train was still in a tunnel thus resulting in the deaths of 4
fans and a number of others being badly hurt.13th
May 1999
Detectives have carried out a series of raids targeting suspected football hooligans in the Midlands. Three people have been arrested in what police say is the first in a wave of action to break up an organised group known as the Zulu Warriors. Teams of officers set out for addresses across Birmingham in the early hours of Thursday.
The move followed disturbances before and after the Birmingham City game against Wolverhampton Wanderers last month. The Zulu Warriors group is thought to have organised the violence.
Superintendent John Perkins, of West Midlands Police, said the group was using football as a "cover for their gratuitous violence. They don't commit the actual acts of violence in the ground necessarily - it's afterwards," he said.
"It's organised and sometimes at locations we don't become aware of until it's actually taken place. Somebody's going to get seriously hurt if this continues. We've got to stamp it out."
Although Wolverhampton won the Derby match against Birmingham City in April, it is Birmingham who are in the play-offs with a chance of promotion to the premier league.
There are fears that a hardcore of hooligans could use this as a showcase for their own ends.
Police have released pictures of three men they would like to question. They were captured on closed circuit or surveillance cameras after a police officer was kicked to ground and a missile thrown at a match official. The Zulus are not typical soccer thugs. Their uniform is made up of Burberry caps and expensive designer labels.
Detective Constable Ian McFadzean, of West Midlands Police, said: "They wear expensive baseball caps, Burberry tops, various types of designer labels costing several hundred pounds, and they all like to conform to a sort of a designer image.
"They're not down and outs who are hard up, they're people with a bit of money to spend."
While some Birmingham City fans have always had a reputation for violence, less and less trouble takes place within the ground, but club officials are determined to get rid of those responsible.
Alan Jones, of Birmingham City Football Club, said: "Anyone that is subject of a ban or a court order, or are found to be wrong-doing, will be banned by the club. We have the flexibility to ban for anything up to life."
The police say Thursday's arrests were the first in a series which will be carried out in an operation to target football violence.
13th
May 1999
Around
4000 Mannheim made the trip to this crucial Regionaliga game with about
400 being hooligans. Offenbach had roughly 500 hooligans out for this one
and were also boosted by a group from Leverkusen Young Boys.
Trouble erupted during the game as Offenbach fans tried to attack the Mannheim supporters resulting in the rival groups pelting each other with missiles. The police spent the rest of the game trying to keep the two rival factions apart.
After the game large scale disorder took place. The Offenbach hooligans attacked the Mannheim fans as they left the ground and the police had to use water cannons to separate the rival groups. Fights were breaking out in surrounding streets now and a police car was very badly damaged by fighting fans resulting in the police having to fire warning shots to scare the rioting fans. There was also large scale disorder at the railway station and more than 100 people were injured (25 police) during the disturbances and a police dog was killed. Police arrested 28 fans and described the days events as the worst German football has scene for many years.
2nd
May 1999
Over
100 fans were arrested as Rangers clinched the league title at their rivals
Celtics ground. A number of fans invaded the pitch during the match and
the referee was hit by a coin which required him to receive treatment for
a cut to the head. Running battles took place outside the ground and in
Glasgow city centre between rival fans resulting in more arrests.
1st
May 1999
Police received information that Carlisle and Middlesborough supporters would by drinking in Newcastle city centre. Carlisle ere playing at Hartlepool, and 30 of them arrived at 1030 hours. 50-60 Middlesborough arrived between 1100 and 1200 hours. 40 Newcastle were already drinking in the Gotham Town pub near the train station.
At 1940 hours a disturbance broke out between Newcastle and Carlisle outside the Lennons Bar on Newgate Street. Police arrived and the two groups dispersed and a number of arrests were made.
At 2010 hours fighting between all 3 groups was reported near the Train Station. Running battles ensued and more arrests were made. 25 arrested in total.
25th
April 1999
This
fixture is fast becoming a very high risk game. This match saw Aberdeen
allocated 1200 tickets for this live televised match. Minutes before kick
off an Aberdeen fan ran all the way from the Broomloan Stand behind the
goal to the centre circle and assaulted a well know entertainer who Rangers
had brought in to provide pre match entertainment and generate an atmosphere
among the 50,000 home fans (see picture on left). After the game the police
tried to keep the visiting Aberdeen fans in their section so they could
clear the area outside their end of Rangers fans so they could escort the
Aberdeen fans back to their buses without confrontation but the police made
a mess of the operation and instead ended up holding the Aberdeen fans in
the area outside their end which resulted in the two sets of rival fans
trying to get at each, this was only averted by mounted police being on
hand to restore order.25th
April 1999
The celebrating Feyenoord fans who were celebrating winning their 14th league title, turned the celebrations into a riot as fighting broke out and over 150 fans attacked police with missiles and other weapons as well as damaging property and looting shops. Police eventually had to open fire on the fans to restore order but this resulted in four fans being shot and injured. There were over 80 arrests by police during the disturbances with follow up arrests expected to be made. The rioting fans did well over fl.10million of damage to property.
11th
April 1999
Police received information that Norwich fans had made petrol bombs for this derby fixture. A search of wasteland near the train station found two petrol bombs. A bomb disposal team was called to deal with the situation.
20th
March 1999
Serious disorder broke out between rival groups with running battles around the ground. Mounted police restored order and a number of arrests were made.
13th
March 1999
A Blackburn group numbering about 60 arrived in Coventry and made their way to a city centre bar. A Coventry group were also present and a number of fights broke out. After the match the Blackburn group were attacked by Coventry fans. Police noticed that before the first disturbance the Blackburn group had been very active on their mobile phones.
6th
March 1999
150 Spurs made the trip by train only to discover on arrival the match was postponed. After drinking in Sheffield they travelled to Leicester where they were involved in serious disorder in the city centre. 2 arrests were made on the day.
28th
February 1999
Another high risk match which saw 350 Fiorentina Ultras travel to this fixture by train. The police were prepared and stopped the train at a small local station before it could arrive at Salerno Central. They the put the Fiorentina fans on specially prepared buses and bus them straight to the stadium in Salerno to avoid any confrontation. The viola ultras were kept in the ground for over an hour after the game to avoid and trouble.
20th
February 1999
At the end of this match Sunderland fans went to the visitors coach park and tried to attack their buses. The Sunderland fans then turned on the police. The police drew batons and eventually dispersed the group. 23 arrests were made.
13th
February 1999
A mob of around 100 Spurs at this match. A mob of 150 Leeds were waiting in the city centre through police kept the two groups apart. After the match sporadic fighting took place. A group of 50 Spurs attacked a group of Leeds. A mob of 300 Leeds tried to ambush Spurs supporters after the match. 23 arrests were made.
13th
February 1999
The second half of this FA Cup match was the scene of some of the worst trouble seen at a Huddersfield match. Trouble broke out after Derby took a 2-1 lead when Police entered part of the stand occupied by Huddersfield's mob, the HYC, to eject some supporters. The fans then turned on the police as the police drew there batons, a number of arrests were made and a number of police were injured during the trouble, 1 quite badly. Huddersfield's mob was boosted for the day by the presence of 8 Aberdeen lads.
6th
February 1999
After this match there was serious disorder at the Elusive Camel Pub in Victoria when Chelsea and Birmingham fans clashed. 3 arrests were made.
2nd
February 1999
Police had to act swiftly as the Millwall fans tried to break through segregation to attack the Manchester City fans. Over 30 arrests were made and several police were injured during the disturbances which required police to enter the stand in full riot gear. Before the game Millwall fans had gone on the rampage in the Moss Side area directly next to Manchester City's Main Road stadium, during this the Millwall fans had set fire to cars and smashed windows. After the game there was further incidents as the Manchester City fans tried to attack the Millwall fans leaving the stadium.
30th
January 1999
Before the match 150 Derby were involved in skirmishes near the ground. After the match there was a confrontation between 30 Sheffield United and a group of Wednesday fans at the Tin Pan Alley Pub.
30th
January 1999
Nearly
2000 Feyenoord travelled to this friendly game taking the police by total
surprise as they had not expected anywhere near as many fans as that. During
the trouble the Feyenoord fans set fire to part of the stadium. Before the
game there had been a number of incidents in the city centre. Police had
to turn a a water cannon on the Feyenoord fans to stop then from trying
to break away from police after the game. More police were drafted in as
well as a helicopter from Holland and a number of Feyenoord fans were arrested
and a number of police injured during the disturbances.
29th
January 1999
This
was another high risk game that marked the opening of the new third tribune
at the Brugge Stadium. There had been some minor incidents before the game
outside the ground. During the game Anderlecht fans broke seats in the new
tribune and threw them onto the pitch holding the game up for 15 minutes
and causing 3 million Belgian Francs worth of damage. After the game the
police sent in mounted police to clear the streets.23rd
January 1999
At the end of the match a mob of 200 Portsmouth attempted to attack the Leeds support. The Portsmouth group charged the police cordon keeping the fans apart. Bottles and bricks were thrown. 14 people charged with violent disorder.
4th
January 1999
One of the Bruges lads who was arrested before the UEFA cup game in Lyon is sent to prison for 9 months. He is also banned for 2 years from all stadiums in France. The other Bruges lad was released about 2 weeks ago because there was not enough evidence to keep him in jail.
20th
December 1998
Over 400 police were on duty for this high risk match and some minor scuffles did occur at the railway station before the game and missiles were thrown between the rival groups. After the game the Feyenoord mob tried to break through police lines to get at the visitors but failed. Over 20 fans were arrested.
24th
November 1998
Brugge had between 120 to 150 VAK-17 who made the trip to Lyon. Some of them made the trip to France (800 km) by car or minibus, but most of the Brugges lads went by TGV. In Paris the TGV was delayed for 25 minutes after an incident in the bar of the train, but no arrests were made. At 13h. the main group of the Brugges lads arrived at 'Lyon Part Dieu'. The Bruges lads went straight to the city centre where some small incidents occured with local immigrants. The Brugges mob gathared in the 'Eden Rock' pub. At about 1730 the Brugge lads made their way to the stadium. When they arrived at the 'stade Gerlande' they went to the pubs in the area around the stadium looking for the local hooligans. Some small clashes occured and in one of these fights some French policemen (in plain clothes) were wounded. After these incidents the CRS arrived and the Bruges lads were escorted to the visitors section of the stadium. Two Bruges lads were arrested before the start of the game for the incident with the policemen and they are still in prison, their trial starts on the 4th of January 1999. During and after the game some fights occured inside the stadium between the Brugges fans and the local security and the CRS. About 30 minutes after the game about 25 Brugges lads fronted a group of about 60-80 Lyon lads at a pub near the stadium. The Lyon-fans started throwing stones and glasses, but the police arrived and dispersed the two groups.
You can view pictures of this incident at http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Bleachers/9295/
21st
November 1998
Approximately 100 Sheffield United, Chesterfield and Nottingham Forest were on the train from St. Pancreas at 2100 hours. Disorder occurred throughout the journey including assaults on police.
18th
November 1998
This match was played in Gelsenkirchen. Some minor scuffles but a huge police presence prevented any serious disorder.
15th
November 1998
A high risk match which resulted in 25 arrests. A mob of Spurs attacked an Arsenal pub after the match. 20 people were arrested in relation to this incident.
3rd
November 1998
This match was played in Salerno as punishment on Fiorentina for previous crowd trouble by their fans. At this game a smoke bomb was thrown on to the pitch injuring the referee. The game was then abandoned, It was believed a Salernitano fan may have been responsible for throwing the bomb. UEFA later threw Fiorentina out of the competition.
31st
October 1998
A police escort of 250 Manchester United to Lime Street Station came under attack several times by a mob of 40 Everton.
28th
October 1998
51 away fans and 8 home fans were arrested for public order offences, most for Breach of the Peace.
20th
October 1998
This cup match saw a large police presence to avoid trouble between the 2 sets of fans. The first trouble broke out as the Den Haag fans arrived at the train station. The 2 rival groups threw missiles at one another with the police caught in the middle. Nearly 1000 Den Haag fans made the trip but some were sent back on arrival at Feyenoord after being found to have forged tickets.
3rd
October 1998
Post match disorder saw Burnley fans attacked by Manchester City. The Burnley police escort was also attacked on it's way back to Manchester City Centre.
29th
September 1998
14 arrests for disorder after the match. There was 2 pitch invasions following each goal. Millwall fans tried to confront the visiting fans after the match. City fans were escorted back to Bermondsey Station while the Millwall group were dispersed.
26th
September 1998
Before the match 20 Birmingham attacked a local pub with CS Gas and attacked home fans with bar stools.
25th
September 1998
From Reuters
Fan's throat cut, 12 arrested for violence at Old Trafford
A soccer fan had his throat cut and two others needed hospital treatment for injuries from fights before and after Manchester United's league win over Liverpool, police said on Friday.
Twelve people were arrested for violence at Old Trafford, where United beat Liverpool 2-0 in the English premier league on Thursday.
Police said one United fan had his throat cut with either a knife or a broken bottle. Another was hit by a bottle and a Liverpool supporter received serious facial injuries when he was caught in a hail of stones and bottles.
Two police horses and their riders were kicked after they fell to the ground as officers fought to control the disturbances, they added.
15th
September 1998
Over 120 fans were arrested at this match mainly Feyenoord. There was over 1000 police and 500 stewards at this high risk match. Stadium fences were damaged by Feyenoord fans during goal celebrations.
12th
September 1998
Stoke City - Millwall
Around 100 'Cockney Reds' were on a train back to London after the match when a mob of Millwall boarded the train at Stoke. Disorder broke out but was dealt with by British Transport Police.
9th
September 1998
19 arrests for public order in this high profile game.
9th
September 1998
2000 Brugge made the trip and the police closed the M4 Section at the ground so the Anderlecht lads could not gather there and get near the Brugge fans. Trouble broke out near the end of the game when Anderlecht fans tried to attack Brugge fans, the police used teargas to force them back. The trouble lasted for well over an hour and a number of police were arrested and over 30 Anderlecht fans were arrested.
22nd
August 1998
20 Oxford attempted to confront a similar number of Brighton at Victoria Station, but Met officers dispersed the groups into the tube network.
22nd
August 1998
Around 175 Manchester United were given a police escort to the ground by two units of the Met's Territorial Support Group. The vast majority did not have tickets for the match. A small group broke away and were located drinking at the Boleyn Pub where a disturbance broke out resulting in several arrests. At the end of the match there was again small disturbances.
22nd
August 1998
Around 20 fans from each side were involved in disorder outside a pub before the match. One arrest for threatening behaviour.
22nd
July 1998
UEFA Cup prelim match played at Tranmere's ground. Despite heavy policing serious disorder occurred with 12 arrests being made. Rangers fans waited for the Irish supporters to arrive, a confrontation ensued, police in riot gear were required to clear entrance to ground.