Season 98/99

Millwall FC - Manchester City - 10/10/1998

Source: This is Local London

Fans `cowering' For Safety As Match Ends In Violence

A YOUNG woman was left cowering in a corner for safety as Millwall fans rampaged outside the ground.

New Cross resident Harriet Margolies, 24, had just enjoyed her first ever football match but was terrified when violence broke out around her as she tried to get home.

Bottles, bricks, coins and glasses were thrown by about 300 Millwall supporters, angry that two goals were disallowed during the 1-1 match against Manchester City.

Ms Margolies, of Erlanger Road, said: "I had a good time but it was mayhem coming out, there were all these people and I could hear bottles being smashed.

"You could see the riot horses recoiling and the police gearing up to move in - that was quite frightening," she added.

Prior to the game a bottle was thrown at the Manchester City supporters' coach and a window was broken.

During the match the pitch was invaded by angry children chanting "we want our goals back," and a fight broke out between two players.

Police estimate approximately eight people were arrested during the game - five for racist chanting and two for pitch invasions.

Fellow New Cross resident Kyle Fraser said: "It is a shame really because there is usually a really good family atmosphere at Millwall but this time it was totally different.

"There were thousands more fans and I don't think they were quite prepared for the numbers. The people causing trouble were not the regular fans."

After the match police fought battles with the home supporters while City fans were forced to wait more than an hour inside the ground until it was safe for them to go out.

Three police dog handlers came under attack and one of these officers was taken to hospital to be treated for a broken arm.

Police say a number of people were arrested for offences including racial chanting, breach of the peace, pitch invasion, threatening behaviour and violent disorder and one arrested for an assault on a police constable.

Leyton Pennant - Wealdstone - 27/03/1999

Source: This is Local London

Away Fans Bring Chaos To Pennant

ROWDY visiting fans were involved in some unsavoury scenes with Leyton Pennant players and officials at Wadham Lodge on Saturday.

A group of travelling fans had walked from Wealdstone in Essex for the Ryman League Division Two match to raise funds for a new home ground.

Upon early arrival for the game they made themselves at home in the club bar.

Pennant officials were abused by drunken fans before the game even started -- despite providing hospitality and laying on a spread of food.

The ill-feeling continued even once the game kicked off.

The Wealdstone contingent swelled the Pennant crowd to more than 200 but they made few friends.

Pennant boss Lyndon Lynch said: "Their fans definitely tried to intimidate our players but until the final few minutes I think we rose above it and just tried to get on with our football."

Several of the culprits have been banned from Wealdstone home games but they travel to away games.

Pennant press officer Andy Perkins said: "The behaviour of their supporters was disgusting. We hope this doesn't happen again."

Brighton & Hove Albion - Leyton Orient - 23/11/1998

Source: This is Local London

Fans On Rampage After Losing Match

BRIGHTON fans went on the rampage this weekend after their side was defeated by Leyton Orient at the Brisbane Road ground.

O's supporters have told the Guardian that they were confronted by an "angry mob" of Sea- gulls fans who were throwing cans, spitting and being threatening.

The trouble flared after the first round AXA FA Cup game which Orient won four-two.

During the angry scenes at Brisbane Road a man from West Sussex was arrested for punching a police officer in the stomach.

A steward also had to be taken to hospital suffering a head injury after he was set upon by a number of Brighton fans. The steward had closed one of the exit gates and the fans were trying to open it.

Orient fans have been critical of the way the police handled the crowds at Brisbane Road. They say that both sets of supporters shouldn't have been allowed to leave at the same time and there should have been more police overseeing the operation.

However, the number of police had been increased because football bosses feared that something like this would happen.

The animosity stems from an incident a couple of years ago when some Leyton players were attacked by Brighton fans while playing in Brighton.

O's supporter Leo Whitlock, who witnessed Saturday's drama, said: "The police let everybody out at the same time and Brighton ended up heading in the direction of Orient fans.

"We were confronted with an angry mob. They were spitting and throwing cans. They punched a fan. It never normally happens at Orient games."

And another regular, West-Sider Adele Krisman, of Lakeside Avenue, Redbridge, said: "Do you believe that in potentially explosive situations where there is bad feeling between opposing fans, that segregation is only necessary inside the ground and integration is to be encouraged in the surrounding streets?"

Chief Inspector Peter Howarth said:"We had a substantial number of police on duty -- far in excess of what we normally have.

"Because of the increased tension during the game, I asked for addtional officers to attend from other matches.''

He added that it was policy to let both sides out together as there are dangers of keeping fans in.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000.Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.

One critically wounded during Rotterdam soccer riot - 26/04/1999

Source: CNN

Rioting soccer fans may have returned fire at police during a clash in central Rotterdam Sunday night in which police shot into the crowd, wounding four people, Dutch officials said Monday.

One of four men shot by police during a riot by Feyenoord Rotterdam soccer fans was in a critical condition in a hospital, officials said.

Police, threatened by the rioters, fired several warning shots and were then forced to fire into the crowd, a spokesman said.

Sixteen people were injured, including four police, after celebrations for the local team's national championship turned violent. There were 80 arrests, a police spokesman said.

Hundreds of shop windows in the center of Rotterdam were smashed and the Hilton hotel came under attack. Guests in the lobby threw themselves to the floor as windows shattered.

Police were investigating reports that one pane had been splintered by a fan's bullet.

"That's one of the things we will be looking into, but we can't say for sure yet whether rioters fired weapons," a police spokesman said.

Earlier on Sunday evening, more than 200,000 people had crammed into the center of the port city to cheer the local team, Feyenoord Rotterdam, which had just won the Dutch league championship by tying their match against Breda.

As the crowd dispersed a group 80 or more began throwing stones and bottles at police.

Mounted police repeatedly charged rioters, and other police used water cannons to break up crowds, who left a trail of destruction in their wake in the central city.

"Countless shops have had their display windows smashed in and the contents looted and most of the parked cars have been vandalized," an eyewitness at the scene said.

He said rioters had torn up paving stones and dislodged rubbish bins to hurl at police. One policeman was said to have been injured after being hit in the neck by a stone.

A force of 750 riot police restored order at about midnight. Police said they believed the riots had been planned in advance.

Local and national authorities condemned the fans' behavior. Officials were holding a crisis meeting on Monday.

"This was totally unacceptable. It was supposed to be a celebration for everyone, but this is the picture that people will remember," Rotterdam Mayor Ivo Opstelten said.

The Dutch football association said it had asked the Rotterdam authorities for the names of those involved in the disturbances and was likely to ban them for two years from football matches.

Feyenoord fans have been involved in trouble in the past. Supporters battled police on a visit to Germany for a match in February.

Next year, the Dutch and Belgians co-host the European soccer championships, with Rotterdam as the chief city and location of the final.

Paris SG - Marseille - 08/05/1999

Source: Reuters

Thirteen fans were hurt after factions faught outside the Parc des Princes following the 2-1 defeat of Marseilles by Paris Saint Germain. OM fans clashed with Paris rivals and a coach was attacked after the game. The two clubs are traditional enemies in the French game and previous fixtures have been marred by trouble.
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Source: Soccer Fans


This is considered as the higher risk game in France. P.S.G. and Marseille fans have a great rivality since the early '90 already.
Usually at the Marseille-P.S.G. game, no serious troubles can happend, also because the reserved visitors fans area is well situated in the stadium. It is also known that the Marseille police is better organized as in Paris, and the visiting fans are much easier controlled.

Incidents occured in Paris already at the arrival of the Marseille fans, between P.S.G. fans and the C.R.S. (french police) who had to make several charges in order to disperse the crowd.
Marseille fans travelled with TGV's [french rapid direct train], and then were brought with special bus from the station until the stadium.

Inside the stadium, Marseille fans made a nice tifo show, like did P.S.G. too. Marseille first scored, but in the last minutes of the game, P.S.G. team returned the situation and finally won by 2-1. This had as immediate implication a pitch invasion of some P.S.G. fans, followed then by Marseille Ultras who used all kind of weapons to fight on the pitch. Incidents lasted for some moments on the pitch, and it was the first time that such troubles occured in Paris. A whole peloton of C.R.S. hurried into the pitch to re-establish the calm.
Incidents moved then outside the stadium, involving Marseille Ultras who damaged all their special bus. The TGV train that brought them back to Marseille was seriously damaged too.

Before the game, PSG from Auteuil vs. OM fans








At the same time, PSG HOOLIGANS vs. police





At the end of the game, supporters from Kop Of Boulogne invaded the pitch



After the game

Feyenoord Rotterdam - NAC Breda - 26/04/1999

Source: Soccer Age Website

At least 50 people were arrested and an unknown number injured in mass riots in central Rotterdam after celebrations to mark the league title win of local team Feyenoord turned violent late on Sunday, police said. They said hundreds of fans ran amok through the city after a
festive gathering in front of the city hall to pay tribute to Feyenoord, who clinched the Dutch championship earlier on Sunday when they drew 2-2 with NAC Breda.

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The celebrating Feyenoord fans who were celebrating winning their 14th league title, turned the celebrations into a riot as fighting broke out and over 150 fans attacked police with missiles and other weapons as well as damaging property and looting shops. Police eventually had to open fire on the fans to restore order but this resulted in four fans being shot and injured. There were over 80 arrests by police during the disturbances with follow up arrests expected to be made. The rioting fans did well over fl.10million of damage to property.

Dutch court denies bail in soccer hooligan case - 29/04/1999

Source: Soccer Age Website

Eight men accused of hooliganism and theft during post-soccer match riots on Sunday in Rotterdam were denied bail on Wednesday at an initial local court appearance. Seven more suspects facing similar charges were expected to appear in court on Thursday. All 15 are due to face a judge on May 6 when a verdict may be announced.
The Rotterdam authorities were believed to be concerned about possible flare ups of violence on Friday when the Dutch celebrate Queen's Day.

Raids on Birmingham City fans - 13/05/1999
Source: local press

Detectives have carried out a series of raids targeting suspected football hooligans in the Midlands. Three people have been arrested in what police say is the first in a wave of action to break up an organised group known as the Zulu Warriors. Teams of officers set out for addresses across Birmingham in the early hours of Thursday.
The move followed disturbances before and after the Birmingham City game against Wolverhampton Wanderers last month. The Zulu Warriors group is thought to have organised the violence.
Superintendent John Perkins, of West Midlands Police, said the group was using football as a "cover for their gratuitous violence. They don't commit the actual acts of violence in the ground necessarily - it's afterwards," he said.
"It's organised and sometimes at locations we don't become aware of until it's actually taken place. Somebody's going to get seriously hurt if this continues. We've got to stamp it out."
Although Wolverhampton won the Derby match against Birmingham City in April, it is Birmingham who are in the play-offs with a chance of promotion to the premier league.
There are fears that a hardcore of hooligans could use this as a showcase for their own ends.
Police have released pictures of three men they would like to question. They were captured on closed circuit or surveillance cameras after a police officer was kicked to ground and a missile thrown at a match official. The Zulus are not typical soccer thugs. Their uniform is made up of Burberry caps and expensive designer labels.
Detective Constable Ian McFadzean, of West Midlands Police, said: "They wear expensive baseball caps, Burberry tops, various types of designer labels costing several hundred pounds, and they all like to conform to a sort of a designer image.
"They're not down and outs who are hard up, they're people with a bit of money to spend."
While some Birmingham City fans have always had a reputation for violence, less and less trouble takes place within the ground, but club officials are determined to get rid of those responsible.
Alan Jones, of Birmingham City Football Club, said: "Anyone that is subject of a ban or a court order, or are found to be wrong-doing, will be banned by the club. We have the flexibility to ban for anything up to life."
The police say Thursday's arrests were the first in a series which will be carried out in an operation to target football violence.


BIRMINGHAM - wolves

Piacenza - Salernitana - 23/05/2006

Source: local press

A day of tragedy for Salernitana and Italian Football. The team lost to Piacenza, thus resulting in relegation to Serie B. Over 1500 Ultras from Salernitana mad the journey to Piacenza by train. The return journey was to be a nightmare, incidents kept breaking out aboard the train and the police were already trying to stop the train and transfer the Ultras to awaiting buses they had laid on but this police tactic failed. On arrival at Salerno station the Ultras set fire to a carriage of a their train, but tragically part of the train was still in a tunnel thus resulting in the deaths of 4 fans and a number of others being badly hurt.

Kickers Offenbach - Waldhof Mannheim - 13/05/1999

Source: ?

Around 4000 Mannheim made the trip to this crucial Regionaliga game with about 400 being hooligans. Offenbach had roughly 500 hooligans out for this one and were also boosted by a group from Leverkusen Young Boys.
Trouble erupted during the game as Offenbach fans tried to attack the Mannheim supporters resulting in the rival groups pelting each other with missiles. The police spent the rest of the game trying to keep the two rival factions apart.
After the game large scale disorder took place. The Offenbach hooligans attacked the Mannheim fans as they left the ground and the police had to use water cannons to separate the rival groups. Fights were breaking out in surrounding streets now and a police car was very badly damaged by fighting fans resulting in the police having to fire warning shots to scare the rioting fans. There was also large scale disorder at the railway station and more than 100 people were injured (25 police) during the disturbances and a police dog was killed. Police arrested 28 fans and described the days events as the worst German football has scene for many years.
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Source: Soccer Fans

A total of 3000 Mannheim supporters made the transfer (400 Hools).
Offenbach had about 500 Hools (with +- 90 from Leverkusen).
There was a 30. minute attack of Mannheim (they climbed on a closed stand). Both groups started throwing bottles, stones, wooden planks ...
The police tried to separate the groups all the rest of the game.
After the game heavy incidents occured. These were the most violent troubles of the season 98/99 in Germany.
The Offenbacher waited in front of the mannheim gate.
300 hools(OFC) attacked then the police who used a water canon and teargas.
After a while Mannheim managed to get out of stadium.
In a nearby forest a lot of fights started.
While a policecar was damaged two cops made a warning shot to save their life. All over the city of Offenbach there had been a lot of fights, especially arround the railway station.
More than 100 persons were wounded (27 policemen). One policedog was killed.
Windows have been smashed, cars damaged, and some public properties were set to fire.
The police arrested 28 fans, 15 of them will be followed by the justice.

Newcastle United - Middlesborough FC - 01/05/1999

Source: local press

Police received information that Carlisle and Middlesborough supporters would by drinking in Newcastle city centre. Carlisle ere playing at Hartlepool, and 30 of them arrived at 1030 hours. 50-60 Middlesborough arrived between 1100 and 1200 hours. 40 Newcastle were already drinking in the Gotham Town pub near the train station.
At 1940 hours a disturbance broke out between Newcastle and Carlisle outside the Lennons Bar on Newgate Street. Police arrived and the two groups dispersed and a number of arrests were made.
At 2010 hours fighting between all 3 groups was reported near the Train Station. Running battles ensued and more arrests were made. 25 arrested in total.

Glasgow Rangers - Aberdeen FC - 25/04/1999

Source: local press

This fixture is fast becoming a very high risk game. This match saw Aberdeen allocated 1200 tickets for this live televised match. Minutes before kick off an Aberdeen fan ran all the way from the Broomloan Stand behind the goal to the centre circle and assaulted a well know entertainer who Rangers had brought in to provide pre match entertainment and generate an atmosphere among the 50,000 home fans (see picture on left). After the game the police tried to keep the visiting Aberdeen fans in their section so they could clear the area outside their end of Rangers fans so they could escort the Aberdeen fans back to their buses without confrontation but the police made a mess of the operation and instead ended up holding the Aberdeen fans in the area outside their end which resulted in the two sets of rival fans trying to get at each, this was only averted by mounted police being on hand to restore order.

Norwich City - Ipswich Town - 11/04/1999

Source: local press

Norwich - ipswich
Police received information that Norwich fans had made petrol bombs for this derby fixture. A search of wasteland near the train station found two petrol bombs. A bomb disposal team was called to deal with the situation.

Huddersfield Town - Birmingham City - 20/03/1999

Source: local press

Serious disorder broke out between rival groups with running battles around the ground. Mounted police restored order and a number of arrests were made.

Coventry City - Blackburn Rovers - 13/03/1999

Source: ?

A Blackburn group numbering about 60 arrived in Coventry and made their way to a city centre bar. A Coventry group were also present and a number of fights broke out. After the match the Blackburn group were attacked by Coventry fans. Police noticed that before the first disturbance the Blackburn group had been very active on their mobile phones.

Barnsley - Tottenham Hotspur (FA Cup postponed) - 06/03/1999

Source: forum

150 Spurs made the trip by train only to discover on arrival the match was postponed. After drinking in Sheffield they travelled to Leicester where they were involved in serious disorder in the city centre. 2 arrests were made on the day.

Salernitana - Fiorentina - 28/02/1999

Source: forum

Another high risk match which saw 350 Fiorentina Ultras travel to this fixture by train. The police were prepared and stopped the train at a small local station before it could arrive at Salerno Central. They the put the Fiorentina fans on specially prepared buses and bus them straight to the stadium in Salerno to avoid any confrontation. The viola ultras were kept in the ground for over an hour after the game to avoid and trouble.

Sunderland - Wolverhampton Wanderers - 20/09/1998

Source: forum

At the end of this match Sunderland fans went to the visitors coach park and tried to attack their buses. The Sunderland fans then turned on the police. The police drew batons and eventually dispersed the group. 23 arrests were made.

Leeds United - Tottenham Hotspur - 13/02/1999

Source: forum

A mob of around 100 Spurs at this match. A mob of 150 Leeds were waiting in the city centre through police kept the two groups apart. After the match sporadic fighting took place. A group of 50 Spurs attacked a group of Leeds. A mob of 300 Leeds tried to ambush Spurs supporters after the match. 23 arrests were made.

Huddersfield Town - Derby County - 13/02/1999

Source: forum

The second half of this FA Cup match was the scene of some of the worst trouble seen at a Huddersfield match. Trouble broke out after Derby took a 2-1 lead when Police entered part of the stand occupied by Huddersfield's mob, the HYC, to eject some supporters. The fans then turned on the police as the police drew there batons, a number of arrests were made and a number of police were injured during the trouble, 1 quite badly. Huddersfield's mob was boosted for the day by the presence of 8 Aberdeen lads.

Chelsea FC - Southampton FC - 06/02/1999

Source: View from the Terrace website

After this match there was serious disorder at the Elusive Camel Pub in Victoria when Chelsea and Birmingham fans clashed. 3 arrests were made.

Sheffield Wednesday - Derby County - 30/01/1999

Source: View from the Terrace

Before the match 150 Derby were involved in skirmishes near the ground. After the match there was a confrontation between 30 Sheffield United and a group of Wednesday fans at the Tin Pan Alley Pub.

Bayer Leverkusen - Feyenoord Rotterdam - 30/01/1999

Source: forums

Nearly 2000 Feyenoord travelled to this friendly game taking the police by total surprise as they had not expected anywhere near as many fans as that. During the trouble the Feyenoord fans set fire to part of the stadium. Before the game there had been a number of incidents in the city centre. Police had to turn a a water cannon on the Feyenoord fans to stop then from trying to break away from police after the game. More police were drafted in as well as a helicopter from Holland and a number of Feyenoord fans were arrested and a number of police injured during the disturbances.

FC Bruges - RSC Anderlecht - 29/01/1999

Source: belgian press

This was another high risk game that marked the opening of the new third tribune at the Brugge Stadium. There had been some minor incidents before the game outside the ground. During the game Anderlecht fans broke seats in the new tribune and threw them onto the pitch holding the game up for 15 minutes and causing 3 million Belgian Francs worth of damage. After the game the police sent in mounted police to clear the streets.

Portsmouth FC - Leeds United - 23/01/1999

Source: View from the Terrace website

At the end of the match a mob of 200 Portsmouth attempted to attack the Leeds support. The Portsmouth group charged the police cordon keeping the fans apart. Bottles and bricks were thrown. 14 people charged with violent disorder.