Season 05/06 - April

Pompey - Millwall Riots ? - 10/04/2006

Source : VitalFootball

On the 24th of April, Pompey will take a sell out crowd to the Valley in what will be a crucial away fixture. Many fans will get the coach, many will drive and many will get the train to the Valley.

There won’t be any violence on the coaches, maybe a few in the car but the train is a definite no no IF you don’t like violence.

The reason for this is that Portsmouth fans will travel to London Bridge and then change trains for Charlton. Millwall fans will also be boarding the train at London Bridge to head off to Southampton.

If you ask me (I know you didn’t) I think that this was a bit careless of the police. I have to say despite the warning of the riots unless you are ridiculously earlier (12-1) you won’t see any Millwall fans at all, seeing as any Millwall fan who is still at London Bridge come 2 O’clock will be late!

It wouldn’t surprise me that many Pompey fans do travel down early (pub). This could see repeats of the extreme violence in previous fixtures.

The backlash from Pompey fans could be seen when Millwall came to Portsmouth last time as there was thousands of Pompey fans waiting for Millwall after the game at the station. The main reason for this backlash was video footage showing some Millwall fans randomly attacking an innocent Pompey fan heading back to his car.

Although Millwall no longer contains so many football hooligans it is still possible that things could kick off a London Bridge.

This article is NOT to be mistaken for an article tying to stir up trouble but an article to warn people that may be considering travelling early that there may be violence.

Soccer bigots create climate of hate in France - 12/04/2006

Source : AP

Warming up on the sideline, a black player jogs toward fans at the Parc des Princes soccer stadium. As he gets closer, a barrage of monkey chants explodes - "OOOH! OOOH! OOOH!"- and racist insults fill the air.

Such scenes are increasingly common at the home stadium of Paris Saint-Germain, or PSG, one of France's top soccer teams. And they stain elite soccer leagues elsewhere in Europe, raising fears a global sport that calls itself "the beautiful game" is getting uglier.
Many of the fans yelling insults are members of white hooligan gangs that prowl the stadium grounds on game day, looking for a rumble with black and Arab members of a multiethnic rival gang.
Interviews with gang members and repeated visits to PSG games found that racist hooligans operate openly and with almost total impunity at the 43,000-seat stadium on the western outskirts of Paris.
Soccer, with its many black stars, should be a showcase of multiracial harmony - especially in France, which draws heavily on talent from its former African colonies.
Instead, brawling soccer fans have emerged as the extreme fringe of a deeply troubled France - one whose problems include grappling with stiffening resistance to immigration. After the riots that engulfed immigrant-dominated French suburbs last fall, beer-fueled racism in soccer has taken on an even more menacing tinge.
Unlike soccer hooliganism elsewhere, in which the antagonists are fans of rival teams, the clashes outside Parc des Princes are largely between fans rooting for the same team - PSG.
PSG supporters in the bleachers divide along racial lines in two opposing sections of stands – the Kop of Boulogne behind one goal, and the Tribune d'Auteuil behind the other.
Boulogne is nearly entirely Caucasian; Auteuil is multiracial, including whites.
Two all-white groups – the Independents and the Casual Firm - have fought with increasing ferocity in recent months with multiracial Tigris Mystic. (The English-language names of the white groups reflect the influence English soccer hooliganism has had in Europe.)
The race issue comes out clearly in interviews with gang members on both sides, none of whom agreed to be identified by name because they have police records and fear more trouble with the authorities.
One leading member of the Independents, dressed in a designer overcoat and proudly showing off a finger that got bent out of shape in a fan skirmish, said his gang is out to rid the suburbs of blacks and Arabs.
A high-ranking Tigris Mystic man said his group is fighting back against such "fascist" views.
"We've had enough of being knocked around," said the 23-year-old man of North African descent.
Tigris Mystic is based in the Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis, one of the centers of last fall's riots. Casual Firm hooligans wielding iron bars vandalized its headquarters in October, just days before the violence broke out.
On Feb. 25, Tigris Mystic members, some allegedly armed with machetes and nail-studded planks of wood, ambushed 20 Independents at a highway gas station on their way back from a match. Five people were injured.
PSG, where George Weah of Liberia and Ronaldinho of Brazil once displayed their magic, is not alone in facing racist outrages.
In Spain, Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon threatened to walk off the field after Zaragoza fans subjected him to monkey chants in February. In Italy, right-wing fans have displayed Nazi and fascist symbols and anti-Semitic banners at Rome's Stadio Olimpico.
But some black players say the atmosphere at Parc des Princes has become intolerable.
"I'd have to think twice before setting foot there again," Senegal-born Patrick Vieira, a midfielder for the French national team, told The Associated Press.
During one match, a fan yelled at PSG midfielder Vikash Dhorasoo, a France international midfielder of Indian origin, "Go sell peanuts in the metro." It was among the least offensive shout in a tirade of vulgar epithets for blacks.
PSG officials insist racists are a minority among the fans, and that their powers to combat such racists are limited - even with 102 cameras inside the stadium.
"Understand one thing: PSG has no police authority or lawmaking power," the club's director of communications, Jean-Philippe d'Halliville, said in an interview. "You can't ask PSG to arrest and judge people. Things don't work that way in France."
Yet, former hooligans have been hired as stadium ushers. At a recent match, some on them were on first-name terms with known troublemakers and were letting them in without tickets or a search.
When told of this, d'Halliville appeared surprised and said only that he would "make some calls." However, he did not condemn the presence of former hooligans acting as ushers.
"Even if there are former hooligans who work in the security services, are you not allowed a second chance?" he asked. "Should they bear a cross all their lives?"
"That's just passing the buck," said Piara Power, director of the British-based Kick It Out anti-racism campaign. "Denial is a big thing among football administrators. Unfortunately, turning the other cheek is easier."
Ushers did just that before a PSG game against Sochaux on Jan. 4. Two Arab youths were punched and kicked by white fans outside the entrance to the Kop de Boulogne. Ushers, all white, stood chatting and did not intervene.
Interior Minister and presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy has promised to rid PSG of troublesome fans. He wants them banned from matches and has championed anti-terrorism legislation that would boost video surveillance at stadiums.
On March 7, a Paris court convicted three PSG supporters of unfurling a racist banner at a February 2005 match held in support of an anti-racism campaign. The court banned the fans from the stadium for three years, ordering them to report to police during matches, and fined them up to $1,200.
But that was a minor success in the fight against racist hooligans. And now a fresh cloud looms - this summer's World Cup tournament in Germany, which many fear will be a magnet for hooligans.


the Independents PSG

Radnicki - Red Star Beograd - CUP - 11/04/2006

Source : DELIJE website

Jail for travel ban soccer yob - 12/04/2006

Source : Manchester Evening News

A HIGH-PROFILE football hooligan ended in jail after being caught trying to defy an order banning him from matches for seven years.

Tony O'Neill was hauled before a court yesterday after being arrested as he was about to board a flight to Paris before United's Champions League clash with Lille last October.

O'Neill, 47, who has co-written two books on his time as one of Manchester's most feared football hooligans, says he is now a reformed character. He now runs Champions Sports Travel, a travel agency for United fans who want to travel to games abroad.

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His lawyers claimed he had been forced to breach his travel ban to look after customers.

The seven-year ban bars him from most football matches and requires him to hand in his passport before games abroad, including United and England matches.

Exemption

It can be varied for business reasons. The court heard O'Neill had been granted an exemption to travel to Spain to bring a plane-load of United fans to the Villareal game.

When he applied for a second exemption for the game in Paris in October, there was a 90-minute stand-off at Stockport police station, and he claimed he was "bundled" out of the door after officers refused to look into his request as required under the law, David Abbott, defending, told Trafford magistrates.

O'Neill told police he would travel to Paris anyway. He was arrested before he boarded a plane he had chartered for more than 100 fans at Manchester Airport, the court heard.

"There was absolutely no intention for Mr O'Neill to attend the game," said Mr Abbott. "I think it's fair to say he is known to all football intelligence officers who attend games.

"His intention was to travel as far as Paris on the charter flight he had arranged for all his customers so he could satisfy himself they were all on the coach and were going to get to the hotel and match. His wife was originally going to take them, but she was unwell.

"There's no suggestion that at any time during the football banning order Mr O'Neill attended a match he cannot attend."

O'Neill spent two weeks on remand in custody before a judge released him on bail. He admitted a breach, including failing to hand in his passport, and was fined £150.

Mr Abbott expressed concern about how police handled football banning orders, crucial in keeping hooligans away from matches.

He said Judge Andrew Lowcock, who heard the bail application, and a district judge, during a preliminary hearing, had "similar" concerns about the readiness of the British police to stop hooligans travelling to the World Cup in Germany this summer.

Decision

Passing sentence yesterday, District Judge Victoria Rose told O'Neill that, even if the police had not acted properly, she would have expected him to seek legal advice rather than defy the football banning order.

"You made a decision. It was, you now accept, the wrong decision," added Mrs Rose, noting he had served the equivalent of a month in prison while on remand."

She told O'Neill that, because it was his first breach, she could treat him leniently, and fined him £150 plus £150 costs.

Outside court, O'Neill told the M.E.N: "When a man can't go to work there's something wrong in this country. They forced me to commit that offence when they had no right to. I'm the only man in the country who runs a travel agency with a banning order. I have no intention of going to matches."

O'Neill was jailed for three years and nine months in 2002 for violent disorder before an England game in Manchester. He was also handed a seven-year football banning order.

Zagłębie Sosnowiec - Widzew Łódź - 11/04/2006

Source : FORUM KIBICE

Jesolo - Pergocrema - 15/04/2006

Source: Ansa

Riots occured at the end of this C2 italian game.
A Pergocrema fan was arrested and about 10 policemen were injured.
About 60 Pergo fans were controlled by police.

Empoli - Siena - 15/04/2006

Source: Ansa

Some Siena fans, at the end of this derby game, threw bricks at vehicles.
Prior to the game this same fans tried to confront locals but police forces made an intervention.
Three fans were arrested.

IFK Goteborg - Helsinborg IF - 15/04/2006

Source: post

50 Gothenburg against 30 Helsingborg clash some 50 km outside Gothenburg on a camping site in the beautiful archipelago of the Swedish west coast prior to the game which was played in Gothenburg.

The 2 groups arrive in cars just before noon and Gothenburg (dressed in black) run over Helsingborg (dressed in white) after a minute of fighting or so. Helsingborg lads regroup but Gothenburg are too strong and too many.

1 Helsingborg lad is chased out in to the icy water and gets to take the first swim of the year...

Both groups take off in cars and when Police arrive there isn't a trace of the groups. Police were totally fooled.

Good effort by the lads!

Vestel Manisaspor - Fenerbahce - 15/04/2006

Source: Hurriyet

Severe riots erupted, opposing Fenerbahce fans to police forces.
These riots occured at the end of the game when local speaker said Fenerbhace will lost the championship due to its defeat at this place.
Ten people were injured, including 4 policemen.



















VIDEO: http://rapidshare.de/files/18116292/OlaylarManisaFbDevelideportivoWmv.wmv

Paris SG - Lyon - 16/04/2006

Source: forum

A toe-to-toe erupted, opposing about 80 locals to about 50 Lyon lads who camed without escort and requested an off.
A few punches were exchanged but finally Lyon mob had to retreat.
It must be noticed that Lyon lads are the ones for a while who requested something in Paris.

Police urge rival fans to play fair - 14/04/2006

Source : icNewcastle

Tight security will surround Newcastle's derby day clash with Sunderland on Easter Monday. Police plan to throw a ring of steel around the Stadium of Light to guard against violence erupting.
And extra officers will be on duty on the Metro system as thousands of the Toon Army make the trip from Tyneside to Wearside.
The move comes as the Magpies' announced extra buses will be laid on to transport supporters from St James' Park to Sunderland.
Chief Inspector Mick Lillico, of the Newcastle Football Intelligence Unit, said: "There's going to be bona fide, ordinary decent people travelling to this match.
"The reason we will have a heightened police presence is to ensure that if there is any trouble, we are there to deal with it.
"But there is no intelligence to suggest there will be any organised violence at this stage.
"It's a normal derby game, that we have planned for and catered for.
"In terms of how many people travel on the buses, that's a matter for the club.
"There will be more people using the Metro because of the fixture and because of how close the clubs are to each other.
"We will have an increased presence to make sure people do not feel frightened or intimidated."
Metro operators Nexus have also put in place special measures to deal with the matchday crowds.
St Peter's Metro station in Sunderland will be closed for just over an hour after the 3pm kick-off game.
The closure, in force from 4.45pm to 6pm, is for operational reasons as fans leave the area surrounding the ground. The station's car park will be closed throughout the day and will re-open at 6.30pm.
Sunderland fans using the system to get home after the game are advised to use the Stadium of Light Station to board trains.
A Nexus spokesman said: "The decision shut St Peter's station for the derby game was agreed in conjunction with Nexus, Northumbria Police and the British Transport Police.
"Throughout the day on Easter Monday Metro services will run on a normal Sunday timetable.
"There will be a significant police presence at Monday's game and additional Nexus staff will be on duty at stations in Sunderland to cope with the extra influx of passengers."
Metro director Ken Mackay said: "When Sunderland and Newcastle play each other we always work closely with Northumbria Police and its Metro Unit to ensure there's no disruption on the Metro."

Slavia Sofia - Botev Plovdiv - 16/04/2006

Source: Reuters

Team gets police escort

Bulgaria's Botev Plovdiv needed police escort on their way back from Saturday's Premier league match in Sofia on Saturday to escape from angry supporters.

Botev players were booed by their own fans during 2-1 defeat at Slavia Sofia which increased relegation fears. Most of travelling Plovdiv-based club supporters did not wait the final whistle and gathered outside stadium to ask for poor display.

After some emotional chat team staff finally got into the club bus but two players showed distinctive finger gesture to the fans and this initiated a crazy Hollywood-style highway-race.

Some 30 cars started to pursue the vehicle while police escort multiplied after every kilometre. Police escorted the club bus to their stadium as some fans were ready to take the law into their own hands.

"We took firmly measures of precautions and avoided more serious clashes between fans and players," Plovdiv police official told Reuters on Sunday.

Botev are 13th in the standings with 17 points from 20 matches and is above the relegation zone only because of superior goal difference.

Germans fear soccer hooligans - 17/04/2006

Source : UPI

Germany is beefing up security as it expects an invasion of Eastern European hooligans for this summer`s FIFA Soccer World Cup.

In a forest in Brandenburg, just outside Berlin, 100 Polish and German hooligans met up last November for a mass brawl; when the Berlin police arrived on the `battlefield,` the Polish men had already defeated the Germans.

The incident documents what some hooliganism experts have warned of since several months: Hooliganism is becoming international -- the men, equipped with baseball bats, knives and even chain saws, meet up on a short-term basis via a cell phone short message. And the Eastern European hooligan scene appears to be more ruthless and better prepared than any other, because it hasn`t been met appropriately.

Germany has taken several measures to contain its domestic hooligan scene, which is most active in former East Germany. Over 9,500 German hooligans have been registered in a federal information file; among them, some 3,000 are likely to look for violent confrontations.

They will be closely monitored during the tournament; some of them may have to remain in their hometown during the World Cup, banned from travel.

Thomas Model, Hamburg`s police official in charge of security during the tournament, said the Eastern European hooligan scene remains a grey area because officials there lack real data. For Poland, estimates go up to 20,000 hooligans.

Of those, several may flock into Germany this summer; the country hosts the World Cup from June 9 to July 9; more than 1.5 million fans are expected to travel to the 12 World Cup venues top see the games in a stadium or at the many public viewing events.

Officials are not worried about arena security during a game -- it will be virtually impossible for a hooligan to obtain a ticket -- you have to register in advance with your passport, and no one with a violent past will get one.

British officials are imposing travel bans on its hooligans for the tournament, and Britain, the Netherlands and Germany have for long shared information on their respective scenes.

Officials are also worried by a European-wide rise in soccer-related racism, especially in France and in Italy, where fans portray anti-Semitic banners and wave swastika flags.

As much as 250,000 police will be on duty during the World Cup; as for the foreign hooligan scene, any country of concern will deploy domestic officers to the World Cup venues. There will be Carabinieri where the Italians play, and Britain will send nearly 50 uniformed officers.

'This really helps,' Andreas Morbach, the deputy head of a federal agency ZIS, which co-ordinates measures to prevent hooliganism during the tournament, told the foreign press corps in Berlin. 'The British or the Italian officer knows his respective individuals best. He is also a de-escalating force and can best address them in their own language.'

The past soccer tournaments have seen some nasty scenes. At the Euro 2000, the European equivalent of the World Cup, co-hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands, nearly 1,000 British hooligans were arrested, almost leading to the expulsion of the British national team. At the 1998 World Cup in France, German hooligans beat and kicked French policeman Daniel Nivel nearly to death.

During the last World Cup, hooliganism was absent; but that was no surprise as it took place in South Korea and Japan. However, this year, the tournament is in the heart of Europe -- and there is a whole new threat that officials have to prepare for.

Each World Cup venue hosts a `Fan Fest,` where people without a ticket can meet on large public spaces to watch the games on giant screens. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to flock to Berlin alone, where there are several of this public viewing places.

Berlin has quite an active hooligan scene itself, and officials fear mass stand-offs like the one in the Brandenburg forest.

Polish soccer fans have no choice but to come to Germany, as Poland has not acquired any TV rights to show the games. Some 300,000 Poles -- the large majority of them peaceful soccer fans -- may plan to come to Germany, with which it shares a border just east of Berlin.

Morbach said his agency is in close contact with police from all over Europe, including Poland, and said that cooperation was fine.

He said he wouldn`t want to confirm the threat of Eastern European hooligans coming to Germany in the masses.

'We really can only say that shortly before the tournament,' he said. 'But I`m not worried about Poland more than any other country.'

Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, of Angela Merkel`s conservatives, has announced he would reintroduce sporadic border controls during the tournament. Experts expect those controls to be most frequent at Germany`s borders with the Czech Republic and Poland.

Wisła Płock - Legia Warszawa - 15/04/2006

Source : LEGIA LIVE

Jesolo - Pergocrema - 15/04/2006

Source : ANSA

After the game, fights erruptded between both sides, police had to intervened. One fan from Pergocrema was arrested and 10 cops were injured.

Djurgårdens IF - Hammarby - 10/04/2006

Source : sthlm-sodra website

Young Boys - FC Sion - Cupfinal - 17/04/2006

Source : TSR

CSKA Sofia close section of ground after abusive chants-18/04/2006

Source:Reuters

Bulgarian champions CSKA Sofia have shut one end of their ground following abusive chants aimed at the club's owner and officials.
"We will not allow fans in the stand because we do not want to tolerate a small group of instigators who claim to be CSKA supporters," CSKA said in a statement.
The stand, which holds about 5,000 people, will be empty when CSKA host Marek Dupnica on Wednesday. CSKA are level on points with leaders Levski Sofia after a 2-0 home win against relegation-threatened Pirin 1922 on Saturday.
CSKA owner Vasil Bozhkov, considered the richest man in the Balkan country, was the target of angry chants during Saturday's game.
Bozhkov angered CSKA supporters by sacking Serbian coach Miodrag Yesic two weeks ago. Yesic was a big fan favourite despite allowing bitter rivals Levski to wipe out CSKA's seven-point lead.
"It is absurd," said the chairman of CSKA fan club, Dimitar Angelov. "They can kick us out of the stands but they cannot shut us up.
"They can not force us to stop supporting the team. We will go everywhere with the team and we will continue to support the players."
Another CSKA supporter said: "This is madness. Can you imagine Liverpool closing the Kop? It's really inexplicable."

UEFA appeal Rangers verdict over fans' chanting-18/04/2006

Source:Reuters

UEFA has appealed against its disciplinary body's decision to find Rangers fans not guilty of discriminatory chanting in both legs of their Champions League tie with Villarreal. European soccer's governing body said on Tuesday it was appealing against Thursday's decision by its disciplinary body. The body said the nature of the chanting "related to a social problem in Scotland".

It said the sectarian chant "Billy Boys" had been sung for years without Scottish football or government authorities being able to intervene and had somehow become tolerated.

Rangers have a large Protestant following. UEFA has the power to appeal against decisions taken by its disciplinary body.

Korona Kielce - Górnik Zabrze - 15/04/2006

Source : mks korona kielce website

AC MILAN - FC BARCELONA - 18/04/2006

Source : AP


A fan, center, is blocked by Italian Policemen after he tried to invade the pitch at the end of a Champions League, first leg, semifinal soccer match between AC Milan and Barcelona

Hooligan raids: 10 held - 20/04/2006

Source : icLiverpool

SUSPECTED football hooligans were arrested by police during dawn raids across Merseyside today.

Officers swooped on addresses in Liverpool, Wirral, Knowsley and Sefton to find men wanted for violence at this year's Liverpool-Manchester United FA Cup match.

Ten men are being questioned at police stations across the region on suspicion of violent disorder. One man was arrested in Coventry.

Police also released pictures of three further suspected hooligans they want to speak to.

Trouble flared on February 18 when a mob turned on a police cordon attempting to keep apart fans, hurling concrete slabs and bricks at officers.

Police officers had feared clashes between rival fans before and after the match and put contingency plans into operation.

United fans were escorted from the city to Anfield before the game without incident.

It was as 1,000 United fans were being led away from the ground that the violence began.

Officers came under fire from a group of 150 yobs who waited on Walton Lane, Kirkdale, for the escort to pass.

The group hurled missiles before officers from Merseyside police's Matrix team moved in to disperse the crowd. The fans were kept apart.

Chief Inspector Jon Roy said: "These men were associated with Liverpool or Everton FC, but I don't think of them as fans.

"This was thuggery, not just throwing a stone at police.

"It affects communities where the disorder took place and tens of thousands of genuine fans. It is not acceptable and we will not tolerate it."

Members of the force football intelligence unit have been viewing CCTV of the incident to try to identify the offenders and this morning made their first arrests.

Nine men aged between 22 and 43 were arrested at 7am at homes across the region including Birken-head, Kirkby, Croxteth and Waterloo.

Officers recovered a hydroponic system, cannabis plants and ecstasy tablets at one address.

West Midlands police also arrested a man, 28, from Coventry and handed him to Merseyside officers for questioning.

The February match was plagued by animosity with Liverpool and United fans hurling coins and bottles at each other.

Yobs even attacked an ambulance trying to take United midfielder Alan Smith to hospital after the 25-year-old England international suffered a broken leg.
Members of the force football intelligence unit have been viewing CCTV of the incident to try to identify the offenders and this morning made their first arrests.

Nine men aged between 22 and 43 were arrested at 7am at homes across the region including Birken-head, Kirkby, Croxteth and Waterloo.

Officers recovered a hydroponic system, cannabis plants and ecstasy tablets at one address.

West Midlands police also arrested a man, 28, from Coventry and handed him to Merseyside officers for questioning.

The February match was plagued by animosity with Liverpool and United fans hurling coins and bottles at each other.

Yobs even attacked an ambulance trying to take United midfielder Alan Smith to hospital after the 25-year-old England international suffered a broken leg.

Football hooliganism suspected in station brawl - 20/04/2006

Source : Manchester Evening News

A LARGE-scale brawl at a Wigan railway station may have been caused by football hooligans, police have said.

The clash at Wigan Wallgate station happened after Wigan football fans, travelling back after the side's away match against Newcastle United, clashed with another gang who got on the same train at Bolton.

Trouble flared on the train then fighting broke out on the platform as the train stopped, with bottles thrown and a booking office window smashed.

One man in his 30s received a serious eye injury and was taken to Wigan Royal Infirmary. A number of other men received minor injuries.

Police are now looking at CCTV evidence to find out who was responsible for the trouble, which happened at around 10.30pm on April 14.

Polish hooligans plan violent campaign - 19/04/2006

Source : ITV

An investigation has revealed that Polish football hooligans are heading to the World Cup in Germany this summer, intent on causing violence.

The organised groups of youths say they plan to target British and German football fans, and some also appear to have a grudge against the Turks.

Although Turkey did not qualify for the competition, the areas where the games will be staged have a large Turkish ex-pat community.

German police fear they will not be able to prevent the Polish neo-Nazi hooligans from attending the games.

One hooligan interviewed, Peter from Warsaw, said he would be part of a 60-strong gang who would be heading across the border to Germany in less than two months time.

He said the groups of young men were heading to the competition to prove on the world stage, that they could fight with notoriously violent British fans.