Try a week on us. [32] The rest were fined an equivalent of $500 and banned from Denmark for a year.[33]. Twenty years on from Istanbul: the night when football became murder The manager of Leeds, David O'Leary, had voiced fears of being met at the airport by "a 100-strong rentamob". Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight were stabbed during street clashes the night before Leeds played Turkey's Galatasaray in the second leg of the Uefa Cup semi-finals in April 2000. We catch up at the cafe in an Asda store near his home in Killingbeck and he speaks bravely but reluctantly; not because he wants to but because he thinks he should, for the sake of his brother Chriss memory. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk. galatasaray leeds death - Sercano TV [8], The stabbings caused anger throughout the United Kingdom, and subsequently members of Arsenal's hooligan firms The Herd and The Gooners,[9] wanted to avenge the deaths of the Leeds fans, and telephoned other British hooligan firms, inviting them to join them in Copenhagen to attack Galatasaray fans. He was taken to identify the other, Chris Loftus, in the morgue after doctors mistook him for a family member. Sneijder's tweet has since been deleted and the midfielder sent a tweet to an angry fan stating: "Very sorry. In contrast, what Leeds saw in Galatasaray was a baffling lack of sympathy. Ridsdale can visualise it all 21 years on: the lay-out of the hospital, the chaos inside, the panicked confusion. But from 10.30pm local time, any sense of complacency seemed tragically misplaced, as a brutal battle began between Leeds supporters and a group of Turks, with running fights in the streets. They felt we were overreacting and on the day of the game in Istanbul there was no attempt to make sure the match passed off safely or securely, not that I could see. Read about our approach to external linking. Outside, Leeds fans reportedly taunted Turkish men. Loftus had been stabbed five times and Speight twice. Leeds Crown Court sentenced him to 12 months. In fact, the Leeds United supporters, arriving for the first leg of their Uefa Cup semi-final with Galatasaray, were at first greeted in a way which mostly belied the Welcome to Hell banners which have traditionally greeted English teams there. He had been in touch with the Turkish authorities, and with Chief Superintendent Steve Matthews from West Yorkshire police, who travels abroad with Leeds fans on away trips, and his team of three or four officers acting as "spotters". For me, it didnt feel real. The first I knew of it was when they came out to tell me. Loftus, 35, was a telephone engineer and an easy-going lad. A lot of what the police were doing was pure intimidation, Fallows says. When the press came round, me and my cousin would bounce on my bed to try and get in the photos and in the papers. Even so, the counterargument holds water. "Kevin had two young children. sauce pizza and wine mac and cheese. ", "They came to kill; Turk fans arm for war", "Arsenal worried about hooligans at UEFA Cup", "First class thugs; Postmen are caught in Copenhagen football rampage", "Post Office refuses to reinstate worker", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2000_UEFA_Cup_Final_riots&oldid=1113653919, Pages containing links to subscription-only content, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 2 October 2022, at 15:57. Ali Sami Yen was in a league of its own in atmosphere terms, aggressive and ferocious for visiting sides. Acquittal plea in soccer death trial. Ill be careful here but I have to say that I felt uncomfortable welcoming Galatasarays delegates to Elland Road. How can it be that two lads go to watch a football game and dont come back?. [36], In August 2000, Arsenal banned thirty-seven people involved in the Copenhagen riot from Arsenal's Highbury stadium. It is part of Leeds Uniteds fabric and it will never disappear: the night when football became murder and so many lives were changed. The interview included vague expressions of regret but no apology to Speight and Loftus or their relatives. Chris Loftus and Kevin Speight were stabbed in Istanbul on the eve of Leeds' Uefa Cup semi-final tie against Galatasaray in April 2000. The Football Associations David Davies said playing the game was the least worst option. Its completely different. I like that they remember him. But he was not and the atmosphere was initially warmer than normal. He wasnt one of them who tried to cause trouble. By the time the match kicked off, the ramifications of two fatal stabbings the previous. Fallows is a security guard with ample experience. It takes a certain amount of nerve to put a foot in both camps, which is doubtless why Harry Kewell was able to do so in 2008 when he left Liverpool for the Ali Sami Yen. On the 21st anniversary of Kevin Speight and Christopher Loftus' deaths on April 5 2000, Martyn also recalls the immediate reaction of the Leeds squad . You dont get it.. Wed spoken about doing something beforehand, he says. The man named as the prime suspect in the killings, a cafe owner named Ali Umit Demir, was arrested by Turkish police within days and he and three other Turks were later convicted in court. I dont know why.. Peter Ridsdale, the chairman who guided Leeds through the tragedy, is approaching 70. [30] A Danish police officer[22] and a Turkish cameraman were also injured in the riots. [47] Michael Doherty, the chairman of the Communication Workers Union, and his brother Tom took Royal Mail to an Employment Tribunal for unfair dismissal claiming they had been acting in self-defence. He has a busy job as an electrician and a twinkle in his eye. The 2000 UEFA Cup semi-final violence in Istanbul, Turkey, between fans of English football team Leeds United and Turkish team Galatasaray before the first match of the UEFA Cup semi-final on 5 April 2000, led to two Leeds fans being stabbed to death by Galatasaray fans. Leeds had worries on several fronts: maintaining the safety of other fans in the city, helping the relatives of Speight and Loftus in Turkey and at home, and deciding whether the game at the Ali Sami Yen stadium should even go ahead. On April 5 2000 two Leeds fans, Kevin Speight and Christopher Loftus, were stabbed to death before the 2000 Uefa Cup semi-final first leg against Galatasaray in Taksim Square, Istanbul. At this juncture, it should be said that Kewell and Alioski were not identical. [12] However, there were conflicting reports, with claims that some Galatasaray fans were instigating some of the violence. Andy Loftus had flown to watch the match with his brother. Tuesday 5th April 2022 marks 22 years since two loyal Leeds United supporters, Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight, travelled to Turkey to watch their beloved team in action but tragically never returned home. Further information on the Istanbul violence: "Tragedy that awaited two fans on a journey to hell", "16 Hardcore Hooligan Firms, Ultras Groups We Wouldn't Want to Mess with", "Soldiers join hooligans to attack Turks in Cup clash", "Town in fear as drunken English pour in", "Arsenal-Galatasaray, sous le signe de la violence", "English, Turkish fans clash on eve final", "Copenhagen police overrun as soccer fans cause mayhem", "Folkefest endte i vold og masseslagsml", "Surprise attack by Arsenal fans seeking revenge sparked battle", "Violence erupts again as English and Turkish football fans riot in Copenhagen", "Danish police fear more brawls after European soccer final", "Violence overshadows historic soccer victory", "Charleroi lobby yet to learn lessons of Heysel", "Turkish and English fans clash at airport", "Galatasaray Wins UEFA Cup After Day of Rioting by Fans", "England told: more rioting and you're out", "Piers Morgan On Arsenal, Foreign Ownership and Twitter Rants", "SPORTS - The shadow on the UEFA Cup triumph", "How long until Turk fans cause another death on the pitch? It was a lad from Shipley who I knew, Andy says. galatasaray leeds death 2000 fights between English and Turkish football fans. My sympathy was with them. It's a fantastic city and I'm willing to learn. Chris & Kevin - Never Forgotten - Leeds United For players and supporters alike, this has become one of the most fraught and difficult venues in Europe. That deal took Kewell back to a stadium where he and Leeds once needed protection with riot shields. Speight arrived soon after and was seen chatting to midfielder Alan Smith as they walked through the breezy foyer at Ataturk Airport. A lot of what went on I dont want to know. Alioski defended amid Leeds fans' fury over Galatasaray transfer links Looking at it from where the fans were standing, Id have been as angry as them. But it was common sense. [2] The day after the riots, FA Executive Director David Davies, issued an apology for the violence. Around them, riot police are standing with shields in the air, protecting the players from what Fallows says was all sorts of things smashing off them. The families of the victims will tell you that. CATEGORIES . I tried telling Galatasarays staff to get them out. One wrote: 'If Alioski goes there, his high regard and reputation with Leeds fans is destroyed!! The loss ofKevin Speight and Christopher Loftus is still felt incredibly deeply and the feud between the clubs remains. Leeds fans RAGING at Ezgjan Alioski transfer links to Galatasaray That is true. Leeds will on Saturday afternoon mark 15 years since the deaths of supporters Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight, who were stabbed by a Galatasaray fan in April 2000. According to a waiter at a nearby restaurant, the Turkish club's fanatical fans had heard through the grapevine that trouble was brewing. Chris and Kevin were brutally murdered in Istanbul on the eve of our UEFA Cup semi-final fixture with Galatasaray in 2000. Harry Kewell - Wikipedia [41] It was noted by Turkish newspaper, Radikal that cannabis was being freely traded in the city square during the time before the riots, and the police did nothing about it. Andys last memory of Chris is of him rolling his eyes sarcastically and ribbing him for leaving early, in brotherly style. David Davies, the Football Association's executive director, called it "frankly, the least worst option". Some claimed the English sparked it by throwing beer glasses at passing women pedestrians. The deaths of Kevin Speight and Chris Loftus on the night before Leeds played their Uefa Cup semi-final first leg with Galatasaray - 20 years ago yesterday - represent one of the darkest and. galatasaray leeds death He was with Darren Loftus, Christopher's brother who had travelled with him, to identify his body. Galatasaray 2-1 Trabzonspor MORE. He rushed to Taksim hospital, near where the men were stabbed. The Ibrox disaster was a tragedy, an accident, he says. The problem shouldn't have been Alioski or his next club, it's how Galatasaray dealt with that tragedy By Phil Hay Jul 24, 2021 In the early hours of the morning after the death of two Leeds. Phil grew up near Edinburgh in Scotland and is a staff writer for The Athletic, covering Leeds United. We had to say to them as clearly as we could, If you go into the streets, if you go out drinking, we cant tell you how dangerous itll be. "We came out of a bar and there were 100 people waiting for us with machetes, knives, bits of chair and table legs and they just attacked us. Harry Kewell is in front of him, carrying a ball and looking bewildered. Nicolo Zaniolo signed on a permanent deal MORE. "They came into town to see. I heard the rumours that some Leeds fan wiped his arse with a Turkey flag and things like that but people tell me none of its true. Christopher's brother was there [at the time of the incident] and I think that the impact on those two families can never be underestimated.". Me and the security team tried to create a bit of a cushion between them so the players werent worried about getting batoned, Fallows says. In Turkey, two supporters were murdered. We could only do what we thought was best at that moment. The journey to the stadium prior to kick-off made him wish he had forfeited it and taken the consequences. Something went wrong, please try again later. Through different eyes and different viewpoints, a picture built up of the disregard and indifference with which they had been treated by those they looked to for help. [10][12] This led to the final being considered "high risk"; 2,000 members of the Danish police were assigned to the game, with assistance from members of British and Turkish police forces. You got paid each month and you did this, Andy says, gesturing as if to push a wad of banknotes into a drawer. It is wrong to presume to tell those who were affected by the events in Istanbul how to feel or how to react to a player taking Galatasarays money. Jesus. All he recalls about the incident was being woken up by Susan the following morning and told, as softly as it could be broken, that Speight had died. He must have been off his head., Ian Harte, the left-back, is more vivid in describing it. SOCCER; Amid Heightened Security, Galatasaray Defeats Leeds [23] The violence, which included fans from other English clubs[24] and Turks living in Denmark,[25] lasted for 45 minutes. galatasaray leeds deathashtoreth worship practices. It felt to me like the police were trying to frighten us, he says. Gjanni Alioski Leeds to Galatasaray transfer talks end for - TEAMtalk Galatasaray.org Manchester United and Chelsea had contested European ties at the Ali Sami Yen previously and voiced complaints about their treatment, so Fallows increased the size of Leedss usual security detail from three to five as a precaution. Leeds and Galatasaray fans clashed in violent scenes in April 2000 at 21:00 in Istanbul's Taksim Square Following the two tragic deaths, local police arrested and charged four Galatasaray. 12/02/2021 . The only thing I could compare it to is the One Love concert in Manchester (held after the terrorist bombing at the Manchester Arena in 2017) and thats purely because of how difficult the logistics of One Love were, he says. More than a dozen police watched but initially did not intervene. This led to 19 injuries, including 4 stabbings, and 60 arrests with similar events occurring in England and Turkey in the aftermath of the riots. Gray remembers OLeary going out of the team hotel to visit a barbers for a shave beforehand. Give our social media channels a follow . junio 12, 2022. abc news anchors female philadelphia . The Turkish police didnt give a shit about us. Gray, one of OLearys assistants, tried to focus his attention elsewhere. In the case of Loftus brother Andy, he prefers not to make a big deal of his surname for fear of the questions that might follow; the feeling of being always on show. Ali Umit . Youre a kid. It was our way of making sure the cameras and the world took notice of us.. There isnt much that unnerves me but that was quite a scary moment. [17] This came after Arsenal had warned the police before the final that there could be hooligans travelling to Copenhagen. "Their chanting should make Ali Sami Yen [the Galatasaray stadium] hell for Leeds United.". The deaths led to an angry reaction in England with Galatasaray fans being banned from attending the second leg in England. One minute youre coming out of a bar, the next youve got people running to attack you. By last night's kick-off, the pools of blood, shattered glass and debris had been cleared away. Whether this should dictate a transfer like the one Alioski was asked to ponder is a matter of opinion. The images of that never grow old. Then you turn around and Kevin and Chris are lying there., In the hospitals waiting area, Andy overheard a voice saying that one of the fatalities was one of the four brothers. I prefer to remember that way. George is a regular at Leeds games but until his teens he would wait outside the stadium at the home fixture closest to the April 5 anniversary while a minutes applause played out. [13], On the Wednesday at 1:00, Galatasaray fans attacked a bar in Strget in Copenhagen, where some Arsenal fans were located. on the 20th anniversary of the killings in Istanbul. I had joked with him and said, At least youll be safe. He gave me a look and said, Or maybe not., The attitude as far as I could see was, Lets intimidate these lads and see what happens. Leeds back then had a lot of kids in their squad. OFFICIAL DONATION CAMPAIGN FOR THE VICTIMS OF EARTHQUAKE MORE. They reported that as one of them tried to give the kiss of life to Mr Loftus, he was set upon. The police claim he was punched. Will Griffee For Mailonline According to one witness, a Turkish man was pushed to the ground and smashed his teeth on the pavement. The potential for trouble was as high as anything Id been involved in.
David Elkind Imaginary Audience And Personal Fable, 3 Bedroom Houses For Rent In Milan, Tn, Articles G