Season 02/03 - January

Police 'close pubs' call for United clash - 17/01/2003

Source: Bolton Evening News

PUB landlords are being urged to close their doors to prevent large scale violence by football hooligans during next month's local derby between Bolton Wanderers and Manchester United.

Licensees across Bolton have been sent a letter from Chief Supt Don Brown of Bolton Police recommending that they stay closed until after the match which kicks off at noon on February 22.

If licensees choose not to comply with this, it is advised that they only allow regular customers through the doors.

Police have gathered intelligence that hooligans from both sides are planning to meet at an undisclosed licensed premises and cause disorder and violence.

They are also concerned that the thugs will cause trouble several hours after the game has finished when the police operation has been scaled down.

As a result, landlords are also being urged to stay closed during the afternoon and only open in the early evening.

If violence does break out, licensees could be forced to close by the police in order to preserve the safety of the public.

Anyone who still refuses to shut could be prosecuted under section 179 of the Licensing Act 1964.

Supt Alan Green from Bolton Police said: "The letter is a matter of precaution because we expect the Wanderers and Manchester United game to attract a greater number of people.

"With it being played on a busy shopping day, we want to make sure all the pubs are aware of their responsibility to the community at large. We don't want a large scale build up of people in the town centre on the day.

"Although letters have been sent to all the pubs, we will be speaking to the licensees in certain areas close to the event. It is part of ongoing intelligence and it is not surprising that the match with Manchester United will be more volatile than other games."

A large number of extra police officers will be on patrol in the town centre on the day of the game.

Supt Green added: "It is not right that some licensees can make large profits at the expense of the security of the people of Bolton.

"They are collectively expected to play their full role in making sure the day passes without any trouble.

"We would urge supporters from both teams to behave themselves on the day or they will be arrested."

After the violent disturbances in the town centre during the World Cup, many licensees fear there could be clashes between fans during next month's game and have agreed to follow the police's advice.

Phillip Caine, from the Brass House, on Churchgate said: "Town centre pubs need to unite to support the police initiative. The Brass House will not be opening before noon, just as the police want. Whether people agree or not, we will probably lose money but safety is the issue here.

"If the police have information on the events surrounding past games, it looks as though they have decided to take action. We have got to support the police."

However, other licensees in the centre feel that their pubs do not need to take such strong action as it is unlikely to affect them.

Liz Goodwill, licensee of the Three Crowns, on Deansgate, said: "On match days we only usually get a handful of fans coming in. We are a family pub and concentrate on serving meals during the day. It may mean having doormen at the front earlier."

Huddersfield-Cardiff: Policing stepped up for match - 23/01/2003

Source: The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

EXTRA police will be on duty for Town's match against Cardiff City on Saturday.

But the message from senior officers planning to deal with a large crowd at the McAlpine Stadium was simple: "Come along to enjoy the football."

The fixture is a crucial one for both teams but has a history of hooligan behaviour.

A number of Cardiff supporters were arrested when the teams met in Huddersfield last season and are now involved in a legal battle with West Yorkshire Police.

They claim the police were heavy-handed when trying to prevent disturbances involving Huddersfield fans and visiting supporters.


Saturday's game will see more than 1,000 Cardiff fans head for Huddersfield and police are confident they can prevent any problems between the two sets of supporters.

Insp Graham Duguid, who is planning police operations, said: "We will be policing Saturday's match with sufficient officers to deal with any problems.

"People who want to come to the game should do so to enjoy the football.

"The main thing is that any supporter, from Town or Cardiff, should be able to come and hopefully enjoy a good game of football in a good atmosphere.

"It is being treated as a Category C match, which requires a higher than normal level of policing, and if people are intent on causing trouble we will have officers in place to deal with it".

Huddersfield: `Police averted running battles' - 27/01/2003

Source: The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

POLICE today revealed the reasons behind the huge and costly operation mounted in Huddersfield for Saturday's Town match.

Police at the McAlpine stadium

They revealed known soccer yobs from several other English clubs - and from abroad - had travelled to Huddersfield for the Town v Cardiff game.

Angry fans had criticised police tactics, which saw up to 300 officers on duty and thousands of Town fans forced to wait for more than 30 minutes after the game before they could leave the McAlpine Stadium.

It was one of the biggest- ever police operations in Huddersfield to deal with soccer fans.

But Chief Insp Chris Hardern said the operation had been necessary to prevent trouble from hooligans.

"We have to accept that the majority of peaceful fans were inconvenienced for the sake of a small minority. But that minority were intent on trouble and without the policing we would have had running battles throughout Huddersfield.

"We had expected some problems, but we were shocked to find that there were groups of fans from Manchester City, Leeds United, Newcastle United, Darlington and even Holland in Huddersfield, just because it was a game involving Cardiff.

"We had wanted to keep inconvenience to supporters to a minimum but there were problems and we had to deal with them."

Police made 16 arrests - eight from Huddersfield and eight Cardiff fans.

The bill for the police operation is expected to top £50,000.

Coventry City fan banned for six years - 31/01/2003

Source: Coventry Telegraph

A Sky Blues fan has been jailed for 12 months and banned from football matches for six years after violence erupted at the end of a game at Manchester City.

John O'Shaughnessy, aged 37, of Westmorland Road, Wyken, Coventry, was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court after pleading guilty to violent disorder at a previous hearing.

He is the last of 11 men to be sentenced over the disturbance which happened at the end of an FA Cup tie at Maine Road, in January 2001.

O'Shaughnessy was due to appear at Liverpool Crown Court last Friday but when he failed to attend a judge issued a warrant for his arrest.

His barrister, Ben Jones, told the judge that when O'Shaughnessy saw the story in the Evening Telegraph about his non-appearance, he surrendered to police in Coventry, who were initially unaware of the warrant.

O'Shaughnessy was among 11 supporters arrested at the end of the Cup tie when hooligans from Coventry charged into the main stand and began attacking rival fans after Shaun Goater scored the winning goal for the home team.

Eight men were each jailed for 12 months in December for trouble at the game and fans Philip Rooney, aged 33, of Mary Slessor Street, Willenhall, and Louie McAulley, aged 25, of Alwyn Road, Bilton, Rugby, were jailed for a year in January.

The men were all caught after a tip-off from West Midlands Police after a coach, packed with suspected troublemakers, left Coventry.

When the coach arrived at Manchester City Football Club, officers filmed each passenger getting off and asked them their name, age and address.

When trouble flared, all police had to do was compare the footage with CCTV footage from the stand.

Coventry: Soccer hooligan fails to turn up - 25/01/2003

Source: Coventry Telegraph

Police are hunting for a Coventry City football hooligan who failed to attend court yesterday.

A warrant was issued for the arrest of John O'Shaughnessy after he failed to turn up for sentencing at Liverpool Crown Court.

O'Shaughnessy, aged 36, of Westmorland Road, Wyken, had been found guilty of violent disorder after trouble at an FA Cup tie against Manchester City two years ago.

He was among 11 supporters arrested at the end of Sky Blues' 1-0 victory at Maine Road, when hooligans from Coventry charged into the main stand and began attacking City fans.

Eight men were each jailed for 12 months in December for trouble at the game and fans Philip Rooney, aged 33, of Mary Slessor Street, Willenhall, and Louie McAulley, aged 25, of Alwyn Road, Bilton, near Rugby, were jailed for a year in January.

The men were all caught after a tip off from West Midlands Police after a coach, packed with suspected troublemakers, left Coventry. When the coach arrived at Manchester City Football Club, officers filmed each passenger getting off and asked them their name, age and address.

When trouble flared all police had to do was compare the footage with CCTV footage from the stand.

Hibs thugs boast of violence on internet - 10/01/2003

Source: Edinburgh Evening News

FOOTBALL thugs linked to Hibs have launched their own website which celebrates violence and allows gang members to exchange information.

The site contains graphic descriptions of football violence and also the words of a song about slashing rival fans with a Stanley knife.

The launch of the site follows growing police fears about the rebirth of football "casual" gangs, which were a major problem in the 1980s and 90s.

The group behind the site uses the name Capital City Service (CCS) - the notorious Hibs gang that wreaked havoc in the 1980s and 1990s.

True fans of the Easter Road club today hit out at the website, while Hibs officials warned it could tarnish the reputation of Scottish football.

A spokesman for the Hibs Supporters Association said: "Websites like this do the club no favours and could bring it into disrepute. If these guys want to follow the club they should be able to do so without bringing violence into it.

"As far as we were aware, this thing was dying out years ago and everybody hoped it was gone for good. As the Hibs Supporters Association, we want nothing to do with this site."

An estimated 30 to 40 hard-core casual thugs are again following Hibs and have adopted the CCS title. On the website, recent discussions have included graphic reports of violence before Hibs matches.

Bizarrely, there has also been widespread discussion about the design of a new badge for members of the CCS to wear, with thugs asked to decide what colour and patterns they want to use.

Describing football violence at the west side of Gorgie before the January 2 derby, one thug writes: "Hibs came along from Stratfords bar. There was a stand-off followed by about ten seconds of punches and kicks.

"In between, Hibs lobbed bottles and tumblers before the police arrived very very hyped, looking for aggro themselves."

The site also invites thugs to tell stories about previous violent clashes.

One man tells how fans terrorised members of the public by smashing bus windows as they rampaged through Princes Street after one game. He boasts: "The first game I went to was Hibs v Aberdeen where me and my mate were with a mob at the top of Easter Road.

"There were about 50 of us and Aberdeen were coming up Easter Road and there was a good 150 of them. I was s**tting myself but we steamed into them.

" There was fighting in Wellington Place before we started smashing bus windows on Princes Street. After that I was hooked."

Another casual gleefully retells how Hibs fans clashed with rival fans during a pre-season friendly in London in the 1990s saying: "They were taking punches but stood their ground.

" The biggest plant pot in London was shoved through the pub window, cars were getting smashed and one was overturned. Hibs were everywhere. It was chaos."

The most bizarre posting urges fans to sing a song to the tune of the Hokey Cokey, but with the words: "You put yer Stanley in, Stanley out, in out, in out, shake it all about. You do the Hibee Shuffle and you turn around, That’s what it’s all about."

Hibs officials today refused to condemn the site - instead urging fans to ignore it.

A club spokesman said: "We believe it is ill-advised to give these people any of the publicity they are seeking through establishing a website which promotes behaviour which does nothing but tarnish the reputation of our sport."

A police spokesman said officers had received no complaints about the CCS website. However, one police insider said: "Unless there is evidence that something criminal is happening, we can’t do anything about sites like this."

The website operator refuses to divulge his identity on the website, so could not be contacted for a comment. However, the site has a disclaimer saying it is not intended to promote or glorify violence. No-one from the website’s service provider could be contacted for comment.

Two Celtic football fans arrested following 'riot' on Astraeus flight - 06/01/2003

Source: http://calbears.findarticles.com

Two teenage football fans have been arrested in connection with an alleged mid-air riot during a flight operated by Spanish airline Astraeus.

On 13 December 2002, a Boeing 737 aircraft carrying 148 passengers from Santiago, Spain after seeing their team play Celta Vigo in the third round of the UEFA Cup, was diverted to Cardiff International Airport, Wales due to a disturbance on board. The flight had been due to land in Glasgow, Scotland.

South Wales detectives travelled to Glasgow and arrested a 17- and 18-year-old. Both have been released on police bail and are scheduled to appear at Barry Police Station, south Wales, in March 2003.

Six other Celtic fans, aged between 37 and 51, were also arrested in connection with the incident, and are also scheduled to appear at the police station in March, reported PA News.

Pompey fans get their punishment - 29/01/2003

Source: Coventry Evening Telegraph

Fourteen Portsmouth soccer fans have been punished by the courts after violent clashes in Coventry.

One fan was jailed for his part in major trouble at Coventry City's home game with the south coast team in September 2001.

**** ***********, aged 22, of Purbrook in Portsmouth was sentenced to nine months on Monday and was also banned from attending football matches for six years after being found guilty of violent disorder by Coventry Crown Court.

Eight other Portsmouth fans were also found guilty of violent disorder and were banned from attending football matches for three years after admitting their parts in the clashes.

The court heard the charges related to incidents in Coventry city centre just before the match, and violence which broke out in the ground shortly before half time.

Judge Richard Cole, who was shown video evidence of the clashes involving all the defendants, praised West Midlands Police officers for their attempts to control the violence and said he wanted to make an example of the defendants in a bid to deter other football fans from getting caught up in violence at matches.

Det Sgt Ian Knowles, who led the investigation, said: "We are happy that we have been able to bring the main troublemakers before the courts.

"Conduct of this kind will not be acceptable at Coventry City football matches and we will always strive to bring these people to justice."

**** **********e, aged 36, of Copnor, Portsmouth, and ******* *****, aged 23, of Leigh Park, Havant, were each sentenced to 200 hours community punishment and ordered to pay £500 costs. ***** *****, aged 40, of Fareham, Hampshire, and *** ***, aged 30, of Stamshaw, Portsmouth, were each sentenced to 240 hours community punishment.

**** was ordered to pay £500 costs and *** ordered to pay £250.

**** ******, aged 26, of Fratton, Portsmouth, and ***** ******, aged 26, of Copnor, were each sentenced to 150 hours community punishment. ****** was ordered to pay £250 costs and ******* was ordered to pay £500.

**** *****, aged 33, of Hillsea, Portsmouth, was sentenced to 200 hours community punishment and ordered to pay £250 costs.

****** *****, aged 24, of Southsea, sentenced to 100 hours community service and ordered to pay £250 costs.

City fan banned for six years - 31/01/2003

Source: Coventry Evening Telegraph

A Sky Blues fan has been jailed for 12 months and banned from football matches for six years after violence erupted at the end of a game at Manchester City.

**** *************, of Coventry, was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court after pleading guilty to violent disorder at a previous hearing.

He is the last of 11 men to be sentenced over the disturbance which happened at the end of an FA Cup tie at Maine Road, in January 2001.

************* was due to appear at Liverpool Crown Court last Friday but when he failed to attend a judge issued a warrant for his arrest.

His barrister, Ben Jones, told the judge that when ************* saw the story in the Evening Telegraph about his non-appearance, he surrendered to police in Coventry, who were initially unaware of the warrant.

************* was among 11 supporters arrested at the end of the Cup tie when hooligans from Coventry charged into the main stand and began attacking rival fans after Shaun Goater scored the winning goal for the home team.

Eight men were each jailed for 12 months in December for trouble at the game and fans ****** ******, aged 33, of Willenhall, and ***** ********, aged 25, of Rugby, were jailed for a year in January.

The men were all caught after a tip-off from West Midlands Police after a coach, packed with suspected troublemakers, left Coventry.

When the coach arrived at Manchester City Football Club, officers filmed each passenger getting off and asked them their name, age and address.

When trouble flared, all police had to do was compare the footage with CCTV footage from the stand.

Jail for cup-tie brawl fans - 18/01/2003

Source: Coventry Evening Telegraph

Two Coventry City fans have been jailed for a year for their part in a large-scale disturbance at the end of an FA Cup game.

****** ******, aged 33, of Coventry. and ***** ********, aged 25, of Rugby, were sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday after pleading guilty to violent disorder.

They join eight other Sky Blues fans jailed for a year each in December following a brawl at the end of the team's match with Manchester City, at Maine Road, Manchester, in January 2001.

Both were identified using video evidence.

Ben Morris, prosecuting, told the court after a last-minute Manchester City goal, ****** had broken into a neutral zone heading towards home fans, punched a steward and began fighting with rival supporters.

Although ******** didn't fight, he gesticulated at the home fans, inciting Coventry fans to violence.

Dennis Watson, defending ****** - who has a five-year-old son - said his client was ashamed and embarrassed about what had happened and had given up running a pub because of the publicity.

Heidi Kubik, defending ********, said he had been drunk and got caught up in the moment.

Since then he has been raising money for charity.

Judge Bryn Holloway, who banned both from matches for six years, said: "It is a mystery to me why people such as yourselves get involved in this sort of behaviour."

Both men have previous convictions for similar football ground offences.

Another man, **** ************, aged 36, is due to be sentenced in connection with the same disturbance next Friday.

Portadown - Cliftonville - 14/01/2003

Source: http://www.rsf.ie

“Cliftonville football fans bus attacked.”
Football fans form north Belfast who travelled to Portadown on Tuesday night to the Cliftonville v Portadown Irish League match saw a number of their fellow fans injured when their bus left Portadown's Shamrock Park ground just after 10pm.
A number of Cliftonville supporters told SAOIRSE on their return back to Belfast that their bus had been attacked by a large crowd, many of them women who were singing loyalist songs and jeering sectarian slogans, as the RUC stood by.

One fan from the Old Park/ Bone area said “We were sitting in the bus and had just moved off, (the young man suffered a wound to his arm), then the next thing we knew was the window coming in round us. First there was a shock not knowing what happened, then I could feel the terrible pain in my arm, the glass was everywhere.

“I looked over to my mate who was sitting beside me and saw the blood running down his mouth and chin. The attack on our bus was vicious, those who did it knew very well that there was a lot a wee kids on our bus, one wee fella, I'd say about seven years old was also hit. He was seated just in front of us. The bus drove on a small bit and the peelers go on when we all complained about the attack. The peelers’ attitude came as no surprise, as it was indifferent and sectarian.

“One of them said well what do you expected with a Tricolour on the bus, I don’t know about the Tricolour, but, the peelers showed their true colours,” the fan said.

This is just one in a long history of attacks, carried out by sectarian loyalism on Cliftonville supporters. These attacks are for the most part played down.
Attacks on buses such as this are wrong for many reasons as pointed out here, but it should also be pointed out that both City Bus and Ulster Bus play down one incident in favour of another as is the case here.

Scunthorpe United - Leeds United - 04/01/2003

Source : Press

Kilmarnock - Celtic - Cup - 25/01/2003

Source : Daily Record

250 FOOTBALL YOBS ON RAMPAGE

FRIGHTENED shoppers and families were caught up in a mass brawl involving 250 football fans at the weekend.

Windows were smashed and glasses and tumblers flew as supporters clashed at Glasgow Central Station on Saturday, sending travellers screaming in panic.

One person was arrested following the incident and a further nine were detained in another disturbance outside the station.

The thugs, who police believe were Celtic fans, fought with Motherwell supporters returning from their cup match in Kilmarnock.

Inspector Graham Hart, of British Transport Police, said last night: "Around 50 Celtic fans were lying in wait for the Motherwell fans to arrive back in Glasgow from Kilmarnock.

"As far as I know the Celtic fans had been informed a large number of Motherwell fans would be on the train arriving at Central at 6.25pm.

"The Motherwell fans were subjected to a violent attack. The Celtic supporters threw bottles and glass tumblers at the innocent football fans.

"Although they weren't wearing football colours, they were chanting Celtic songs. The two groups were separated and escorted from the station.

"Members of the public were obviously frightened and taken aback by the large violent disorder. However, we had it under control within a few minutes."

A window of station pub McGinn's was smashed during the violence.

Owner Paul McGinn said: "They smashed the Bonapartes pub windows before smashing ours with a sign we have outside.

"They weren't dressed in football colours but in smart Burberry hats. A few of them did the Hitler salute and they were chanting songs.

"I'm surprised nobody was seriously injured or killed."

Around 50 football fans caused another "large-scale disturbance" in the city's Buchanan Street and St Vincent Place minutes later.

One man was injured in the attack.

Five men are expected to appear in court today, two in connection with the assault.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Source : Sunday Mirror

SIX men have been arrested following brawls between rival groups of football fans in Glasgow last week.

Up to 200 Celtic and Motherwell casuals had a series of clashes around Central Station, while 50 more clashed near Buchanan Street.

Ten were arrested at the time and yesterday police reported six more have been detained.

More arrests were likely, police warned.

'Oldest football hooligan' jailed - 13/01/2003

Source : http://news.bbc.co.uk

A man described by police as the UK's oldest football hooligan has been jailed for five years after attacking a police horse during a riot last year.
Lorry driver Raymond Everest, 56, from Sydenham, south-east London, was seen on a CCTV camera kicking the horse.

Woolwich Crown Court heard that Everest took part in the violence for 45 minutes outside Millwall's New Den ground in south-east London on 2 May 2002.

Everest, who had denied the charge, was convicted by a jury last month of riot.

Tom Wilkins, prosecuting, said Everest ran at police lines and encouraged others to build a barricade of wheelie bins to hinder charging police horses.

The riot broke out after Millwall lost 1-0 to Birmingham City in a Division One semi-final play-off.

The two hours of violence left 157 police officers and 26 police horses injured.

Everest, a former match steward at Millwall, is the first involved in the violence to be convicted of riot.

Several others have pleaded guilty to violent disorder.

'No remorse'

Simon Stirling, defending, told the court Everest had supported Millwall since the age of three but it was his first offence relating to football hooliganism.

"A man of his age ought to know better", he said.

Passing sentence Judge Philip Statman told Everest: "Riot is the gravest of all public order offences.

"You are the oldest of all those arrested. You have shown from start to finish no remorse.

"You have brought shame on your family and on the club you purport to support."

Everest was also banned from all football grounds in England and Wales for the next eight years.