Season 00/01 - February

Brighton & Hove - Cardiff City - 11/02/2001

Source: The Argus

Soccer yobs go on rampage

From the archive, first published Monday 12th Feb 2001.

Violence erupted on the streets as football fans clashed during the Albion v Cardiff match on Saturday.

Hundreds of police had been drafted in because of fears of trouble.

Twelve fans, both Brighton and Cardiff supporters, were arrested during the Division Three game, which Brighton won 1-0.

The Station Hotel, in Hampstead Road, Brighton, was left with only one window intact after rival, ticketless, supporters clashed.

Landlord Derek Stott blamed a renegade band of Brighton fans for sparking the trouble which saw ashtrays, furniture, pool balls, cues and even a road sign hurled through his pub windows.

Fighting spilled on to the street as more than 15 thugs came to blows.

Mr Stott, 52, said: "I've seen trouble in pubs before, but nothing like this. They've wrecked the place. They've caused such a mess, I'll be closed for days."

Mr Stott had left the pub in the hands of his barman, Rob Semark, 28, and Mr Semark's girlfriend, Jennie Winson, 29, following the 3pm kick-off, believing once the fans were inside the ground it was safe.

He said: "Apparently all of a sudden the Brighton fans realised there were Welsh voices in the pub and the trouble started."

The bar staff took refuge and when Mr Stott returned he was confronted with the devastation.

He said: "The pub is about 80 years old and some of the original windows were still here, now there's only one left.

"I'm disappointed, very disappointed, especially with the Brighton fans, but you always have a bad element.

"We've had Brighton fans in here ever since they moved to Withdean and there has never been trouble."

Police had launched a full-scale security plan, Operation Seagull, with South Wales Police, British Transport Police and Brighton and Hove Albion FC after receiving intelligence that fans from Cardiff and Brighton were intent on causing trouble.

Hundreds of officers, some with dogs, were posted to Worthing and Brighton railway stations and arriving fans were herded to the Withdean stadium.

After the game, officers were drafted into the city centre and Worthing. Police vans lined Madeira Drive, Brighton.

More than 60 Cardiff City fans left Withdean and made their way to Worthing in the evening before breaking into groups and dispersing from the station.

A large group gathered in the Clifton Arms in Tarring Road, shortly after 7pm, where licensee Karen Ledger became concerned.

She said: "Some Cardiff City supporters came in and the police told me to be wary, but it was fine, no problem.

"Then I looked out of the window and saw riot police arriving. The Brighton fans were herded up the road by the police.

"I was not at all concerned, but I would have been if the Brighton lot had been allowed in as well."

Police hailed their operation a success with only a dozen fans arrested from a crowd of almost 7,000 at the match.

Superintendent Peter Coll, of Sussex Police, said: "I'm proud of all concerned in this operation as we had the potential to sustain significant damage and disorder.

"As a result of excellent intelligence and swift action, we were able to stop an outbreak of violence in Worthing town centre."

Albion Chief Executive Martin Perry said: "Unfortunately we have a very small group of so-called fans who attach themselves to the club who use a game as an excuse, but they are not true fans."

From Rochdale to Rio via Rome hooliganism is alive and kicking - 02/02/2001

Source: The Guardian

In Strasbourg, an assistant referee is hit by a firecracker during a French first division match. In Milan, a Molotov cocktail is thrown at the coach carrying the players of Internazionale. In the Argentine province of Isidro Casanova, a 17-year-old boy is killed during rioting between the supporters of two neighbouring second division clubs. In Nicosia, players' dressing rooms are besieged and a stadium is severely damaged after a referee ends a derby half a minute before the end of the indicated stoppage-time. In the Netherlands, Den Bosch supporters riot for three days and nights after the cancellation of a match following the shooting of a fan by police. In Johannesburg, the African women's championship final is abandoned after rioting by supporters of South Africa when the referee ignores an offside flag and allows a goal by Nigeria to stand. In Rio de Janeiro, the climactic match of the Brazilian championship has to be replayed after 60 people are injured in a fracas sparked off when two spectators - fans of the same team - start fighting each other after disputing the wisdom of a substitution.

In Oslo, meanwhile, the Nobel committee announces that the game of football has been nominated for this year's Peace Prize. French referees, who threatened a national strike this week unless their federation takes action, and Italian players, who held up the kick-off of their pre-Christmas matches by 15 minutes to protest against the rising tide of violence, might not be impressed by the gesture.

In England, too, aggro seems to be back in fashion. A few weeks ago several hundred fans of Manchester United and Leeds United, en route to matches at Bradford and Maine Road respectively, met in Rochdale for a Saturday morning head-to-head that seemed to have been prearranged. Pitched battles in the centres of Sheffield and Burnley, with associated damage to property, have followed recent bitterly contested derbies. On the internet, gangs associated with Queens Park Rangers and Arsenal exchanged taunts about last weekend's fighting in the streets around Loftus Road. Coventry supporters reacted to losing a Cup match in injury-time at Maine Road last Saturday by attacking their Manchester City counterparts in the main grandstand. And at the other end of the scale the officials of Burton Albion, unused to trouble in the Dr Martens Premier League, were shocked this month by the behaviour of two coachloads of visiting Bishop Auckland supporters, who staged two pitch invasions and fought with police during an FA Trophy tie.

These events appear to contradict the image that football is trying hard to create. After several decades spent skulking in society's shadows, the game seemed to emerge during the 90s into a world of light and joy and festivity, a world in which Thierry Henry could perform pirouettes that would not shame Sylvie Guillem while David Beckham got in touch with his feminine side. If Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch provided the prologue to this new football culture, then its defining event was surely the party on the Champs-Elysées on a summer night in 1998, when more than a million citizens of France celebrated the winning of the World Cup. When English fans rioted in Marseille during that tournament and again in Charleroi two years later, their misbehaviour was dismissed as a mere echo of the past, an aberration that could occur only in special circumstances.

But the catalogue of recent events suggests that football's social makeover may have been less than entirely successful. The new image may, in fact, be no closer to the truth than the old vision of uninterrupted mayhem which made it a pariah sport in the 80s. And if football has indeed been enjoying a period of relative calm, in which the increasing affluence of the players seemed to exist in a direct inverse ratio to the decreasing violence of the spectators, then it seems to be over now. From places as far apart as Hong Kong, Kurdistan, Leipzig, Brunei, Palo Alto, Shiraz and Nairobi, reports of violence suggest that the game has once again become a focus for people who want to fight and need an excuse.

Terraced streets
But weren't we supposed to have outgrown all that? In England, particularly, weren't the side-effects of all-seat stadiums and stock-market flotations supposed to include the removal of the game, both literally and metaphorically, from the Victorian terraced streets through which gangs once chased each other? "Only God, if he exists, would know what the present rate of football hooliganism is," Professor Eric Dunning said this week. "What we can say for certain is that in the last two years the reporting of hooliganism in the media has increased."

In the 80s, he said, the extent of the phenomenon had probably been exaggerated. "But in the 90s there was the appearance of a decline, probably because the Major and Blair governments were putting pressure on people to ignore it in order to help the English bid to host the World Cup. When England fans rioted in Europe, people tried to explain it away by saying that it only happened when they went abroad, or it only happened when they drank. They claimed that in general hooliganism had been removed from the Premier League and displaced to the lower leagues. But we can see that none of those arguments really holds good."

Professor Dunning's work at the University of Leicester's Centre for Research into Sport and Society made him one of the world's foremost experts on the sociology of football-related violence, which he refuses to see in terms of the conventional definition - a single phenomenon caused by a mixture of the effects of drunkenness, unemployment, violence on the field of play, and the permissive society. His analysis tends towards a view, expressed in a recent article in the European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, that football hooliganism is "basically about masculinity, territorial struggle and excitement ... fighting is a central source of meaning, status or 'reputation' and pleasurable emotional arousal".

And, as such, it is highly resistant to attempts at suppression - particularly since it takes so many forms. Not long ago in Kandahar, for example, spectators rioted when Taliban police attempted to take action against a visiting Pakistani team, to whose shorts the Islamic fundamentalist authorities took exception.

"Football is the world's most popular spectator sport," Professor Dunning continued, "so I don't think it's surprising that it should be the vehicle for what you might call the pathologies or the fault-lines of organised societies, which might include racial, tribal or sectarian differences."

In England, that fault-line is generally the one running between two neighbouring clubs - hence the trouble in Sheffield, or between the fans of Burnley and Blackburn Rovers. "The hard core of English hooligans, like the Chelsea Headhunters, have an interest in getting publicity for what they're doing, either for the National Front or simply for themselves," he observed. "But there are people whom we've come to call football hooligans who just like a punch-up."

Although the history of football hooliganism in England goes all the way back to the 19th century, the recent outbreak indicates that it is no longer the English disease, if it ever was. After watching the England fans rioting in Charleroi during Euro 2000 on his hotel TV, the Italian player Angelo di Livio asked a reasonable question: "How is it possible that such an advanced nation can't shake off this plague?" But this season Di Livio's own nation has been the epicentre of football-related violence. A 31-year-old Leeds fan was stabbed in the centre of Milan on the night before a Champions League match in November. In Rome a few weeks ago, visiting Bologna fans fought police at half-time and set fire to vehicles in a car park underneath the grandstand - an event which rated barely a paragraph in the next day's paper. The rival Sicilian supporters of Palermo and Messina staged a ferocious street riot last month after their match in the Italian third division.

Lacking other means of expression - a proper war, for example - man's perennial instinct for violence seems to have identified a reliable outlet. It is football's bad luck that, along with all its virtues, it has spent the last 100 years creating the perfect setting and equipment for small-scale conflict: an international code, tribal identities, a variety of locations, and an inbuilt emotional trigger. And there seems little reason to suppose that change is imminent.

Professor Dunning himself attended the FA Cup tie between Aston Villa and Leicester City last weekend, in his capacity as a fan. "Yes, there were a few fights," he said. "Nothing special."

Swansea City - Millwall FC - 11/02/2001

Source: BBC News

South Wales Police say they will bring charges against football fans arrested in Swansea after violence erupted at the match with London club Millwall. Hundreds of officers were drafted in for the biggest anti-hooligan operation ever mounted in Swansea for Sunday's Division Two clash. Twenty-two arrests - mainly for public order offences - were made and a variety of weapons were seized.
Police have confirmed that the first court appearances are expected on Wednesday. A total of 350 officers - some on horseback and others in riot gear - escorted around 400 Millwall fans from Swansea's railway station to the Vetch field shortly after midday. As the crowd neared the Vetch Field, a small group of Swansea supporters tried to confront the visitors. Missiles and smoke flares were thrown but the police moved in quickly to keep rival fans apart. A collection of weapons, including an axe, knuckle dusters and flick knives were seized from a group of Millwall fans who arrived at the game by coach. Intelligence gathered by specially-trained officers, and information published on internet sites suggested that known football hooligans would be attending the match. Detective Inspector Julian Williams - the officer co-ordinating police intelligence - said they were pleased with the way the operation had contained trouble. "It's quite obvious the people attending the match with weapons weren't football supporters, " he said. "It's a pity that honest supporters of Millwall and Swansea have to put up with the people who carry these weapons. "That's why we took such firm preventative action."
Those arrested included fans from both sides. Police officers were drafted in from divisions outside Swansea to strengthen the operation. The operation came at the end of a week when the spotlight had been focussed on football hooliganism. Police from Staffordshire investigating violence at last May's game between Stoke and Cardiff released a "wanted" poster of 64 people believed to have been involved in disturbances.




Football violence: 22 charged
Police patrolled the streets on horseback and with dogs South Wales Police say they will bring charges against football fans arrested in Swansea after violence erupted at the match with London club Millwall. Hundreds of officers were drafted in for the biggest anti-hooligan operation ever mounted in Swansea for Sunday's Division Two clash. Twenty-two arrests - mainly for public order offences - were made and a variety of weapons were seized. Some of the weapons confiscated Police have confirmed that the first court appearances are expected on Wednesday.
A total of 350 officers - some on horseback and others in riot gear - escorted around 400 Millwall fans from Swansea's railway station to the Vetch field shortly after midday. As the crowd neared the Vetch Field, a small group of Swansea supporters tried to confront the visitors. Missiles and smoke flares were thrown but the police moved in quickly to keep rival fans apart.
A collection of weapons, including an axe, knuckle dusters and flick knives were seized from a group of Millwall fans who arrived at the game by coach. It's quite obvious the people attending the match with weapons weren't football supporters Detective Inspector Julian Williams Intelligence gathered by specially-trained officers, and information published on internet sites suggested that known football hooligans would be attending the match.
Detective Inspector Julian Williams - the officer co-ordinating police intelligence - said they were pleased with the way the operation had contained trouble. "It's quite obvious the people attending the match with weapons weren't football supporters, " he said. "It's a pity that honest supporters of Millwall and Swansea have to put up with the people who carry these weapons.
"That's why we took such firm preventative action."
Officers in riot gear escort fans to the ground Those arrested included fans from both sides. Police officers were drafted in from divisions outside Swansea to strengthen the operation.
The operation came at the end of a week when the spotlight had been focussed on football hooliganism.
Police from Staffordshire investigating violence at last May's game between Stoke and Cardiff released a "wanted" poster of 64 people believed to have been involved in disturbances.

From the South Wales Evening Post:
A HAUL of weapons including an axe, flick knives, knuckle dusters and martial arts weapons were seized from fans during Swansea's match with Millwall yesterday.
A total of 22 people were arrested for possessing weapons, disorder and alcohol related offences — 20 of them from Swansea.
More than 350 police, including mounted officers from other forces, were drafted in to Swansea city centre as part of a two-day operation to prevent trouble.
It was the biggest ever anti-hooligan operation mounted for a soccer match in Swansea.
Most of the seized weapons were taken from Millwall fans heading to the game by coach.
Hundreds of police in riot gear met 400 Millwall fans from a soccer special train at Swansea railway station and escorted them through the city centre to the Vetch.
Trouble erupted when 100 Swansea fans tried to reach them on the way. Further problems flared between fans and police in Paxton Street in Sandfields when stones and a flare were thrown.
The game was halted briefly when trouble erupted in the North Stand. It was believed Millwall supporters had been throwing golf balls at rival fans. Several vehicles in the city centre were also damaged during minor skirmishes.
The match was classed by police as category C — carrying a high risk for serious disorder. But police believe their heavy presence prevented any major incident occurring. Officers are now examining CCTV and other surveillance footage.
Detective Inspector Julian Williams from Swansea Central police said: "There were no major incidents yesterday. We believe that the strong police presence on Saturday and yesterday was necessary and prevented more trouble erupting.
"Most of the arrests made were among those claiming to be Swansea fans."

From the DAILY MIRROR:
Police seized knives and an axe from football thugs yesterday, as violence erupted between Swansea and Millwall fans yesterday.
Officers arrested 22 supporters before the key Division Two match at Swansea's Vetch Field. Around 400 Millwall supporters were attacked by Swansea fans at Swansea Railway Station. Bottles and bricks were thrown as dog handlers and police on horseback battled to keep fans apart.
Extra officers were drafted in after threats were posted on the internet. a police spokesman said he was "amazed" no one was seriously hurt.

VfL Bochum - Hertha BSC Berlin - 03/02/2001

Source: mail - Report from Young Thugs Berlin

This weekend supporters in the whole of Germany made a protest against pay-tv gams. In all German first league stadiums there were transparents to bring the matches back to Saturday 15:30.
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The Bochum Hooligans (Bo-City) have an old friendship with the Hooligans from the BFC Dynamo Berlin (4th League). This friendship still exists over 10 years. The Police in Bochum became from the german supporters a price in 1995. "The golden battom". The police in Bochum is one of the most brutal in whole germany. At last Saturday the Berlin Fans/Ultras/Hooligans were not allowed to enter the city of Bochum. The Press said before the game: "Militant Hertha Fans want to use 20 kilogramm of smoke bombs to end the game before it starts." So the security and the police made some arrests before the game. At the beginning the police destroyed some Berlin flags, also a protest flag against pay-tv games and provoke rival fans. So there were little clashes with the riot police in the away sector. But the police made some arrests. The Berlin Fans -only 15 Hooligans in the away sector- were agressive and fight again the police. After the game (a 3:1 win for Berlin) the Berlin Ultras and Hools had to go to there busses under heavy police escort. The Fans/Hools from Bochum don't wont to fight because they did a protest action against the manager. Bochum is at the at the bottom of the laegue and in danger of relegation.

RC Lens - Lille OSC - 04/02/2001

Source: mail - Lille lad view

Before the match 20-30 losc lads made their way to the stadium area. There was a fight with 40-50 Lens fans. Lens fans threw bottles and all the things they could find to avoid beeing battered by a smaller losc group. Losc came back with a bigger (50-60) group and charged the same Lens group. This time Lens ran away. A few minutes later Losc again attacked a Lens group and for the second time Lens lost the battle and ran away. After the game, who was won by Losc with 0 - 1, the 1800 Lille fans waited a halfhour before they could leave the stadium. They were escorted by the police to their busses. 100 lads of Lille who got there by car went back to a Lens pub near the stadium. There was a lot of CRS - police there( 250-300 ). Losc attacked the pub but could not do very much because Lens fans didn't stand their ground and ran inside their pub and locked the doors. CRS-police drove the Lille fans back to their cars.

AC Parma - AS Roma - 04/02/2001

Source: english website

A 21-yrs old student received slash wounds after being attacked after this match in Parma. An aggression that looks very strange, mainly due to the fact that Parma has a very peaceful firm.
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Another report
Clashes broke out when Parma fans, together with Bordeaux fans and Verona fans attacked AS Roma fans outside their side. AS Roma reacted against them but they couldn't expect a thing like this, 'cause Parma is the most peaceful city in Italy and maybe Europe. This coalition of fans attacked with sticks and flares but they have been headed from AS Roma fans in minority. Tear gas shot by police divided the fans. After the match a Parma fan has been hit with a broken bottle by AS Roma fans.

Pisa - La Spezia - 04/02/2001

Source: forum

Things went mad yesterday afternoon in Tuscany, where Pisa and Spezia played a local derbymatch for the 3rd div.championship. Already before the match, police had to charge Pisa fans with batons and teargar as a mob tried to attack the Spezia group as they arrived to the ground. During the match, very nervous also on the pitch, things lead to madness during the second half, as Pisa scored its second goal, going up 2-0. Spezia fans attacked the police escort and began to smash, burn and throw seats onto the pitch and at the police. Also bricks and every kind of missiles were thrown, and a coin struck the Pisa goalkeeper on the head, leading the match being halted for about 5 mins. Police tried at this point to force the Spezia fans out of the stadium in order to escort them back to the train station before the match had end and avoid contact with Pisa mob. The Spezia lads battled with police inside the ground and in the forecourt, while again a Pisa mob joined up and attacked once again the Spezia fans. Police lost control and furious toe to toe broke out between Spezia, Pisa and coppers. The police managed to get on top of the situation after a long while, grouped the Spezia mob and brought them back to Pisa station (again a couple of attacks by Pisa fans on the way to the station). Police forced fans on to the train, but the best still has to come as, after having injured a couple of people near the station by throwing missiles out of the moving train, on the way home they came across the train bringing the Livorno firm back from their away game in Carrara. Emergency brakes were pulled on both trains and a new battle begun in open countryside, with a small police force trying to separate the firms. The final balance of the day talks about 30 police and 20 hools injured.

Stoke: Soccer thugs banned from games - 07/02/2001

Source: BBC

Trouble flared at the Britannia Stadium in Stoke on Trent
A football hooligan has been jailed for his part in violent disturbances during a game between Stoke and Cardiff. Twelve police officers and 27 members of the public were injured when trouble involving hundreds of fans from both sides flared during the game in April.
A***** T******, 22 - who was jailed for six months - was one of 21 Stoke City fans who appeared at court, Stoke-on-Trent on Thursday. Their appearances followed mass disturbances at Stoke's Britannia Stadium. Three police forces - Staffordshire, South Wales, and Gwent - have since been involved in tracking down those responsible.
In January, police charged 21 Cardiff City fans with violent disorder after a series of dawn raids. Inquiries have been continuing since the match at Stoke City's Britannia Stadium 10 months ago, during which 27 members of the public and 12 officers were injured. A total of 29 people were arrested at the ground, but video evidence showed that hundreds more were involved. The officers later mounted a series of dawn raids on homes in south Wales and made more arrests.
As the Stoke fans appeared in court on Thursday, Staffordshire police travelled to Cardiff to release 64 photographs of others - believed to be Cardiff City fans - who are wanted for questioning. The pictures were taken from CCTV footage shot on security cameras on the day. Two people have so far come forward of their own accord.
Fenton magistrates heard that A***** T****** was seen throwing punches in the stadium. After leaving the game he was seen to pick up an object and throw it at mounted police officers. Townley, of Pennarth Grove, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, pleaded guilty to two charges of affray and was banned from all league football grounds for 10 years.
District Judge Graham Richards, who watched videos of the clashes in court, said the scenes around the all-seater stadium resembled the protracted war which tore apart the Lebanon in the 1980s. He told the court: "There were the most appalling scenes of fighting during the course of the game and along Hartshill Road. "It carried on after the game at a time when people should have been at home. People were throwing objects at police on horses. It looked like the streets of Beirut 10 years ago."
Of those who appeared in court on Thursday, 16 were banned from attending any designated sporting event for between three and 10 years. Those sentenced ranged in age from 18 to 40 and included a university student, a store manager and a laboratory technician. The clashes between rival fans also resulted in 27 members of the public being injured and damage running into thousands of pounds to property in the Stoke-on-Trent area. The cases of five other men - all facing charges of violent disorder - were adjourned.

Motherwell FC - Aberdeen - 10/02/2001

Source: forum

The two rival groups of casuals, Motherwell Saturday Service and Aberdeen Soccer Casuals numbering around 30 each clashed, in Motherwell town centre before the match, fighting lasted a couple of minutes before police managed to restore order.

Manchester City - Tottenham Hotspurs - 10/02/2001

Source: forum

Spurs took a mob of around 200 to this match. A group of around 50 clashed with a group of Man. City lads numbering about the same near the stadium. The Spurs lads also clashed with Wrexham fans on their way to their match.

Como - Varese - 11/02/2001

Source: mail

Incidents and clashes between police and tifosi of the Varese took place before the game. Hundreds of fans diesembarked the train before reaching Como-Lago station, after they pulled the emergency brakes as it neared the station. The Varese fansthe clashed with police, threwing missiles at them. One innocent by-stander was hurt after being hit by a missile. Clashes continued on the way to the stadium and onlt halted once the Varese fans entered the stadium.

FC Bologna - AS Roma -11/02/2001

Source: Tifonet

Clashes between fans and police at this fixture. One Roma fan was stabbed after being attacked by a group of Bologna Ultras.

Celtic Glasgow - Glasgow Rangers - 11/02/2001

Source: Glasgow Evening Times

23 arrests after Old Firm trouble

POLICE arrested 23 people as violence erupted after the Old Firm clash.
Sixteen fans, including one woman, were arrested for public order offences at Celtic Park immediately after yesterday’s game, and another seven were arrested in the city centre and Lanarkshire last night.
In Govan, a 40-year-old man was stabbed in the chest at Benburb Social Club in Craigton Road. He was taken to the Southern General Hospital, where his condition was said to be serious but stable.
Police also closed McChuills in High Street after the pub was attacked by a mob of 30 Rangers fans. One man was taken to hospital with a hand injury and another arrested. Celtic fan Stephen Breen (27), from Belfast, said: “There was a real party atmosphere in the bar and then suddenly bottles came flying into the bar. “You could hear windows all around being smashed and groups of guys inside the pub tried to force the doors shut. If they hadn’t managed to do that there would have been a bloodbath.”
There were also two assaults in streets near Celtic Park shortly after the game. A 23-year-old man suffered head injuries in a fracas in Tollcross Road, near Parkhead Cross. He was taken to the Royal Infirmary. Five minutes later, in London Road at Rimsdale Street, a 35-year-old man was jumped by a gang carrying weapons. He was taken to the Royal Infirmary with a serious eye injury, and released after treatment.
Police also reported disturbances at other pubs in the east end, as well as Ayrshire, Greenock and Campbeltown. However, the number of arrests was significantly lower than after last Wednesday’s CIS League Cup semi-final between the two clubs, when 41 people were taken into custody. Strathclyde Police said they were delighted with the behaviour of fans at the ground as Celtic all but clinched the Premier League title with a 1-0 win over Rangers.
Some 600 officers and 800 stewards policed the match.

AS Roma - Liverpool FC - 15/02/2001

Source: BBC

A Liverpool fan has been stabbed in Rome amid clashes between rival supporters ahead of the team's UEFA Cup match.
The man, whose injuries are not believed to be life threatening, is recovering in hospital, according to the Foreign Office.
Two other Liverpool fans suffered head injuries after clashing with AS Roma supporters in Rome city centre.
A spokeswoman confirmed the man had been involved in an incident on Wednesday night. She added that he was now being treated for his injuries. Police in Rome said Gerard Collins had been stabbed in the left arm and in the thigh.
Glen McAlbin and Terry Blake suffered head injuries and were treated briefly in hospital, police added. During the clashes a British fan also broke the windows of a pub police said.
About 4,000 Liverpool fans were expected in Italy's capital for the fourth-round match at the Olympic Stadium. It is the first time the two teams have met since a 1984 European Cup final, which Roma lost on penalties.

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Source: mail - Roma fan report

Before the AS Roma/Liverpool match there was a guerrilla war between AS Roma fans and police. AS Roma fans attacked police with little bombs, bars, stones and flares. Two police vans were burnt out, as well a couple of cars and motorbikes, while police first tried to react with tear-gas, but after had to refuge inside the Curva Sud and closing the gates. But from the inside of the stadium the AS Roma fans who were already in attacked police again, so that police had to leave the Curva Sud and their vans without policemen which has been destroyed. In the meantime as roma fans tried to pull down the closed gates with big iron gratings and bars. They finally opened the doors and all the people went in without getting their tickets checked due to the fact that police went away. This troubles occurred for what happened last week before of Bologna/Roma: police threw an AS Roma fan down a set of stairs, he is now in a serious coma.

Marseille - Paris SG - 17/02/2001

Source: mail

An incessant stream of missiles were thrown on PSG players and the trainer, Luis Fernandez. The referee had to delay the kick-off of the second half, to clear the pitch from the thrown missiles (cell phones, batteries, stones, watch...). 600 Parisian supporters went to the stade Vélodrome, but +/- hundred Boulogne Boys went by train to marseille and were not accepted inside the stadium. Stewards,marseille fans and cops were wounded during the game.

Atalanta Bergamo - Vicenza - 18/02/2001

Source: Tifonet

A policeman was seriously injured after a homemade bomb was thrwon from the terraces at Bergamo. The policeman had to have a finger amputated after he picked up a homemade bomb hurled from the terraces during a Serie A clash between Atalanta Bergamo and Vicenza. The bomb exploded in his hand. Three other officers were also hurt in the blast. One was wounded in the thigh and the other two were treated for shock and temporary deafness.

Bari - Juventus Turin - 18/02/2001

Source: Tifonet

After the Juventus goal, which meant defeat for Bari, a big group of Bari hools tried to invade the main stand of the Bari stadium in order to attack the club's managers. New attacks in the forecourt after the game, players and managers were sieged inside the stadium until the police charged the crowd to clear the area.

FC Bruges - Germinal Beerschot - 18/02/2001

Source: Vak 17 Bruges website

After we took liberties at our last visit to Beerschots manor a few months back, we were hoping the Beerschot crew would be up for it and bring it to us this time. Tree hours before kick-off the Beerschot mob was drinking in a pub just outside Bruges, they were 80 handed at that moment. At the same time we had 150+ drinking in different pubs all over Bruges citycenter. (in order to avoid police attention we were gathering there, and not at the pubs near to the ground) One hour before kick-off the word was spread that we should meet the Beerschot mob at a fun-fair called 'Bouwdewijnpark'. All the Bruges lads feft the pubs and headed to this place, the police had their helicopter up and was filming all our movements and a big police-force (200+, watercanon, etc...) headed towards the 'agreed' place to avoid a clash between both mobs. Our lads that were informed by mobile that the date was arranged somewhere else and they headed towards 'the place to be'. Some of our lads got stuck in the traffic, just like the OB and only 60 BCF lads managed to get there in time. The Beerschot mob did a good job and was waiting there for us, without OB. The Beerschot crew started hurling bricks and than charged towards our lot. We just stood our ground waiting for them. During the toe to toe that followed we had the upperhand and the Beerschot lads had to run after a while. As you can see on the pics, some of the Beerschot lads were tooled up but they still made a runner (CS-gas, batons, bars, etc...) During this clash 5 Beerschot lads got injured, 2 were brought to Bruges hospital. After a while the OB steamed in and arrested most of the Beerschot lads. (66 lads) Our boys managed to get away because they knew the streets very good and sneaked away. After the game our younger lot had a go again at the Beerschot following, 11 of them got nicked when they tried to break through the policelines. Some small toe to toe's occurred, but nothing major. The OB was on top of it now and we knew most of the Beerschot lads got nicked before the game. All by all we had a good day, we showed again that nobody can take liberties at our manor and that we are always up for it. Fair play to Beerschot, at least you showed... you are the best mob coming to Bruges all season.

Inter Milan - Alaves - 22/02/2001

Source: Tifonet

As Alaves scored the second goal, condemning Inter FC to elimination from the UEFA cup, the team was heavily contested from the North End's Boys. Seats were set on fire, others were hurled onto the pitch with every other kind of missile. The game was suspended, while about 50 inter hools tried to attack the chairman and the managers in the main stand, but did not reach them as they were escorted out of the ground as the situation got worse. About 150 then went to wait for the Inter bus as it was supposed to leave ground, but after midnight, about 1hr30 after the end ofgame, police were forced to charge the crowd in order to let the players get out of the stadium.

Atalanta Bergamo - Bari - 24/02/2001

Source: Tifonet + Press

About 300 Atalanta lads tried to force an ambulance entry in order to get into the ground without paying. As police tried to restore order, the crowd attacked police with flares and missiles before, then with proper charges. The lads were tooled up with flagsticks and iron bars. The battle lasted several minutes, with some police assaulted and injured. With CCTV and police camere footage, about 80 lads have been identified and sentenced with a 1-year ban.

Niort - St Etienne - 25/02/2001

Source: mail

At the end of the game, the pitch was invaded by 50 Saint-Etienne supporters. Players ran quickly to the changing-room, and there were clashes between supporters and stewards. Outside, supporters attacked the car of the French National League President, Mr Bourgoin, who left the stadium. One Niort supporter, with Marseille colours, was beaten up.

Juventus Turin - Milan AC - 25/02/2001

Source: Report from Milan lad

As the busses arriving at the station with about 500 Milan drew into the forecourt, flares and missiles were thrown at the first busses from a group of Juve lads, who then hide behind OB fence as the Milan fans got off the busses and a small mob tried to get at them. Continuous missiles exchanges took place throughout the game.

Liverpool FC - Birmingham City - Match played in Cardiff - 25/02/2001

Source: BBC

Football fans clash in Cardiff

Around 70,000 fans are expected for the final

Nine football fans have been charged after clashing on the streets of Cardiff before the Worthington Cup final.
Police made 16 arrests on Saturday night as Cardiff City fans met with supporters from Birmingham.
In a night of sporadic outbursts, one person was assaulted and nine were taken to hospital with minor injuries.
Seven were charged with public order offences, one with criminal damage and another with posessing drugs.
They are to appear before Cardiff magistrates next month. Three more remain in custody. Forced to close
The violence closed St Mary Street in the city centre for two hours ad, in one incident, the street's Philharmonic bar was smashed up when rivals rioted. Three nearby pubs were forced to close.
Police said the situation was under control by 0030hrs.
Officers were stretched to their limits on Saturday with incidents across the city.
A South Wales Police spokeswoman said: "There have been pockets of disorder involving rival fans across the city as they come out of pubs.
"Incidents are not concentrated in one place. The most serious so far have been assault." Police have been preparing for the possibility of large-scale riots breaking out on Sunday. There are also fears that hooligans attached to Cardiff City, who have one of the worst reputations in the UK, may seek confrontations with Birmingham's notorious "Zulu Warriors".
The Bluebirds were playing at Kidderminster on Sunday, buts fans are expected to return home as the Worthington Cup clash ends.
Bluebirds fans have reportedly been using the internet to arrange clashes with Birmingham's minority element.
The South Wales Police spokesman said: "It has been quite minor. Hopefully it will not get worse on Sunday because most people will be going home after the match."
Advice to drivers Drivers are being asked to avoid the city centre, as key routes will close in preparation for the arrival of up to 70,000 football fans.
Police expected 4,000 to 5,000 fans to arrive in Cardiff by train.
The vast majority are expected to arrive in minibuses or specially-hired coaches, most on Sunday.
Officers from Liverpool and Birmingham are also travelling to Cardiff to help with policing.
Chief Supterintendent Gerald Toms said: "There will be 700 officers in Cardiff - quite a substantial number."
"That's just to ensure that everything goes well." Pristine pitch The Worthington Cup and FA Cup finals are being played outside England for the first time because of the closure of Wembley Stadium, which is due to be rebuilt.
The Millennium Stadium has staged a number of football fixtures - including two during last year's Rugby League World Cup - but the quality of the surface caused concern when Wales tackled Norway in a World Cup qualifier last November.
But stadium bosses have relaid a new pitch and believe the playing surface is in pristine condition for the showpiece occasion.
It was announced earlier this year that the FA Cup and Worthington Cup finals would be played at the 73,434-seater stadium for at least the next four years while Wembley is rebuilt. The FA Cup Final will also be staged at the stadium on 12 May.

Sampdoria Gênes - Torino Calcio - 25/02/2001

Source: Tifonet

As the Torino fans group arrived near the stadium, a group of maybe 50 forced the police escort and attacked a group of Sampdoria waiting for them. Heavy offs broke out with toe to toe and missile launches and lasted several minutes before police managed to get on top of the situation. 13 people were taken to hospital for minor injuries, and ten arrested. After the game ALL THE PEOPLE IN THE AWAY END WERE BLOCKED INSIDE THE STADIUM, SEARCHED, IDENTIFIED AND CHARGED WITH A 1-YEAR-BAN (a total of 1,004 people were arrested and sentenced with 18-mont' bans). This is absoluely a novelty for the footie violence history in Italy, and undoubtly a dangerous milestone as like the Torino ones, all the fans attending away matches could be banned for the only fact of having attended the match without having been involved in violent facts.

Legnano - Padova - 25/02/2001

Source: Tifonet

In the Legnano end there was a Mestre banner, which meant that there were Mestre fans allied with the Legnano. As the game ended, while the Legnano fans were into the pitch for retreiving banners and flags, a group of Padova got into the pitch and headed towards the home end. Toe to toe broke out between Legnano and Padova lads and then between Padova and police after.