I stopped getting involved eventually, Andy says. Galatasaray beat English team Leeds United but their matches were marred by violence: two Leeds United fans were stabbed to death before their semi-final first leg at Galatasaray's Ali Sami Yen Stadium in Istanbul on 6 April 2000. Staff said many fans were drunk by 10pm, intimidating Turkish families drinking in the lounge. The manager of Leeds, David O'Leary, had voiced fears of being met at the airport by "a 100-strong rentamob". They thought we were looking for a sporting advantage, which is just incredible. There was the time when the pub opened its doors early to allow the locals to catch an early kick-off between Leeds and Manchester United. Within an hour of the stabbings in central Istanbul, some of David OLearys squad emerged to speak to him. Asked shortly afterwards whether he thought the tie would still go ahead, Mr Ridsdale said: "It's too early to say. Turkish police, according to British of ficials, appeared to be taking the killings as seriously as they would hope. Acquittal plea in soccer death trial. Scuffles broke out but the police moved in and fans scattered. A group of rival fans gathered and jeers were exchanged. My mum just felt she had to move on. Leeds' bitter hatred towards the Turkish side is no secret after two of their supporters, Chris Loftus and Kevin Speight, were stabbed to death by Galatasaray fans prior to the UEFA Cup. Andy is one of six siblings, two sisters and four brothers, and all of the boys Phil, Chris, Darren and Andy made the trip to Turkey. By that stage he was exhausted. But he didnt make much of it, like it was something of nothing. There was a sense of relief to be leaving, he says, but I knew that flying out of Istanbul wasnt the end of it. Demir lost his last appeal in 2010 and was jailed for six years and eight months. Uefa, after consultation with the clubs and the Turkish authorities, wavered but eventually decided to go ahead. The design of the place meant the Leeds players had to take a long walk to the tunnel, flanked by armed police. At this juncture, it should be said that Kewell and Alioski were not identical. Mr Loftus from a plunging wound to his heart; Mr Speight, a few hours later after receiving a wound the length of his stomach. I went for some counselling and didnt go through with all of it but the charity work helped. lisa left eye zodiac sign Search. At the hotel, Phil went up to his room. He had been up all night receiving news of the stabbings, inflicted during violence which broke out on the eve of a UEFA Cup tie between Leeds and Galatasaray. ", Get the FREE Mirror Football newsletter with the day's key headlines and transfer news straight into your inbox. Whether this should dictate a transfer like the one Alioski was asked to ponder is a matter of opinion. They then broke into an apartment building to threaten Kosovan refugees with a knife, mistakenly believing them to be Turkish. No one meant for it to happen. I didn't know this and deleted our promotion for the merchandise kitchen item #respect. 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Gala is an awful football club and Alioski is an awful footballer. They know what he did for us.. [35] In response, Prime Minister Tony Blair stated: Hopefully this threat will bring to their senses anyone tempted to continue the mindless thuggery that had brought such shame to the country.[35]. Try a week on us. [5] As a result of the stabbings, Leeds United banned Galatasaray fans from attending the second leg at Elland Road, claiming that the safety of fans could not be guaranteed. When youre seven you cant process something like that, can you? When the second leg came round, in the dressing room we were trying to say, Come on, lets get stuck into them. But in the back of your mind youre putting football aside. The way the police and the authorities were with us. "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. Fri 7 Apr 2000 20.36 EDT. Over a coffee in Starbucks, George Speight finds a way to be philosophical about his fathers death. Chelsea 1-0 Leeds LIVE: Blues finally find the breakthrough as Wesley Fofana heads home the opener in the second half in a game Graham Potter really needs to win as Brighton and Aston Villa . Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? The 2000 UEFA Cup Final Riots, also known as the Battle of Copenhagen,[1] were a series of riots in City Hall Square, Copenhagen, Denmark between fans of English football team Arsenal and Turkish team Galatasaray around the 2000 UEFA Cup Final on 17 May 2000. Within minutes, a pitched battle erupted. She remarried and shes carried on with her life but its still there, every time you come up to my dads birthday or the anniversary. The slit-throat gestures from fans as we arrived on the bus. Both had numerous other wounds. 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. According to a waiter at a nearby restaurant, the Turkish club's fanatical fans had heard through the grapevine that trouble was brewing. 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. Jesus. Theyd turned on their tellies and it was all over the Turkish news, Fallows says. "We did amazing business in one hour. And there was the time when Speight took him to Elland Road and George, in his infancy, mistakenly cheered when the opposition scored. Loftus, 35, was a telephone engineer and an easy-going lad. The atmosphere was electric like, scarily electric. "They were using very bad language," said Abdul Garlad, a manager. They had been a couple since their teens. There was no minutes silence or acknowledgement of the deaths. His financial record at Leeds was dismal and Leeds never forget about it. His brother was following behind us and, quite understandably, he lost it. [2] The events happened at 22:00 in Istanbul's Taksim Square during a fight between Leeds fans and Galatasaray fans. He had been involved in the plane crash which Leeds players and coaches escaped from on the way home from a Premier League game at West Ham United in 1998. The authorities imposed sentences on some of those who had originally escaped justice with Suleyman Gokhan Guven, Ali Baydar and Yilmaz Tutus given ten, six and five years in prison respectively. "Maybe they thought they were being funny but to Turks who do not speak good English, it was very offensive.". It was a load of shit. It was horrible. In its opinion, contesting the game was the least worst option. There was the time when he was caught stealing two pounds from the pub till and sent by Speight to sit in the office until Susan came home to read the riot act. Two lives lost and two lives wasted, for nothing. Association with the tragedy can be difficult. The first time he went inside to be present, he sat with friends and cried. Gray, a Glaswegian, was in the Celtic end with his wife Linda on the day of the Ibrox disaster in 1971. Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The away crowd emptied after Rangers late equaliser without realising what had unfolded inside the ground. Bitexen Giresunspor 0 - 4 Galatasaray MORE. Both had numerous other wounds. I genuinely feared for our lives. [12] However, there were conflicting reports, with claims that some Galatasaray fans were instigating some of the violence. The Turkish police didnt give a shit about us. "It's just a bit of a rollercoaster ride really but we get by," he said. They just looked at me like I was stupid.. Four people were stabbed in the scuffles, which also involved fans from other clubs and were viewed by the media as part of a retaliation for the killing of two Leeds United fans by Galatasaray supporters the month before. Every year, the families of Kevin Speight and Chris Loftus place wreathes at the plaque and go together for a drink, to catch up and reflect. The Loftus family gave up on campaigning for justice in Turkey because they did not think the system cared about them. They just looked at me like I was stupid.. Thats just how the system worked. Susan chose not to take the children to Speights funeral. In the weeks after the deaths, he offered them emotional and financial assistance (the family declined to take any money) and would phone Susan regularly to keep in touch. "When you see a man having to identify the body of his brother with a massive stab wound in his chest it just isn't what you'd associate with football.". Football authorities condemned the riots and threatened to expel national football teams from European competition if such events happened again. At a local police station, at around 4am on April 6, Ridsdale was given a stark message by the UEFA representative who turned up there: play the game, or forfeit it and incur an automatic 3-0 defeat. For me, it didnt feel real. Arsenal qualified for the final by defeating French club Lens in their semi-final. Galatasaray 2 - 1 Fraport TAV Antalyaspor MORE. 11 Feb 02 | Europe Turkish justice moves slowly . The cause of the fighting which broke out after dark in Istanbul was a subject of fierce contention in the weeks after the stabbings. [14] The Arsenal fans left the bar to confront the Galatasaray fans, which led to a fight lasting for an hour before riot police managed to control it and arrested four Britons and four Turks. Several fans offered to foot the bill. [3] Leeds fans had been drinking in bars reportedly taunting local people and Turkish police intervened to stop fights breaking out. I was so pleased to get on the plane out of Turkey but once I got back and thought about things, the reality of two lads dying out there got to me. Early relaxation gave way to brutal battle as rivals taunted each other, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. They ploughed on regardless, much like UEFA, and left Ridsdale thinking that their directors were more worried about distancing themselves from the stabbings than helping Leeds cope with them. [26] There were further clashes at the airport the day after the game. The Turkish media tried to blame English fans for provoking the violence by being drunk and disrespecting the Turkish flag. 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 . [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. It didnt sit right with me. Leeds supporters who were present denied causing trouble and the UK coroner who presided over the inquest, David Hinchliff, stated in unequivocal terms that Speight and Loftus were the innocent victims of a deliberate ambush. We had hundreds of fans in Turkey, some in the air and another plane due to fly the following morning (the morning flight out from Leeds-Bradford Airport was rapidly cancelled). By then, you knew exactly what had gone on and you knew the severity of it. There were a few Turkish fans outside the bars we started drinking in but we didnt think much of it. I knew the ramifications would be life-long.. It wasnt a proper A&E unit. The routine for Andy and others who went abroad with Leeds was always the same: straight to the hotel, straight into town, straight on the beer. Some claimed the English sparked it by throwing beer glasses at passing women pedestrians. They felt we were overreacting. In all the many layers of anger, that was one of them; the apparent inability to adopt some common decency. They will never be forgotten.. Even then, it was meant to be closed to the press but loads of them were there and they were being really intrusive, Fallows says. 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. I make no secret of that., Leeds were beaten 2-0 in Istanbul and lost over two legs after a 2-2 draw at home. [21] This lasted 20 minutes[19] before the Danish police attempted to break up the melee with dogs[22] and tear gas. Former Leeds United Chairman Peter Ridsdale said: "The lasting impact has been to see the devastating effect it's had on Christopher and Kevin's families. Loftus had already been pronounced dead and in the melee, hospital staff mistakenly assumed Ridsdale was a relative and took him downstairs to the mortuary. pleasant grove high school / staff directory; dr omar suleiman wife esraa; ontario road trip summer; song baseball apple; waltham athletic club tennis schedule; galatasaray leeds death. [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. My mum struggled massively with it all and she still does now, George says. Harry Kewell (born 22 September 1978) is an Australian association football coach, manager and former player. It was a lad from Shipley who I knew, Andy says. There isnt much that unnerves me but that was quite a scary moment. As kick-off drew near, the drums and the noise from the stadium filtered down to the Ali Sami Yens subterranean dressing rooms. But where Galatasaray failed, and where Ridsdale specifically felt resentment, was in grasping the scale of the tragedy and in refusing to accept that violence on the streets and a UEFA Cup tie could not be classed as unrelated events once the worst had happened. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. It is 10 years since he last went to the grave. Friends and family of Speight and Loftus had congregated there and other Leeds fans were waiting with more minor injuries, some of them slash wounds. [17] This came after Arsenal had warned the police before the final that there could be hooligans travelling to Copenhagen. Chris Loftus and Kevin Speight were stabbed in Istanbul on the eve of. The connection was not comparable to Kewells. "They were screaming all sorts of things. [38] The photos led to some postmen working for Royal Mail losing their jobs because they had been seen in the photos and in television coverage,[46] even though they had not been arrested. [42] Arsenal fans also criticised the police, claiming that they had been slow to intervene and were "too soft" on the hooligans. It was our way of making sure the cameras and the world took notice of us.. He previously worked for the Yorkshire Evening Post as its chief football writer. Leeds supporters in Istanbul were told to stay in their hotels. Forty Leeds fans arrested in the scuffles were released without charge. 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. Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. He rushed to Taksim hospital, near where the men were stabbed. UEFA also requested that fences be put up around the perimeter of the pitch. Their policing of City Hall Square in the days running up to the final was described as "non-existent" by Dineen. Last year, on the 20th anniversary of the killings in Istanbul, The Athletic spoke to some of the people closest to the tragedy and some of the people most affected by it. He died in an operating theatre in the early hours of the morning, despite Leeds United paying for blood supplies to be rushed to him. The English FA followed the line of least resistance. Witnesses said he had been bludgeoned by police as he cradled a dying Chris in the street. galatasaray leeds death. Gray remembers OLeary going out of the team hotel to visit a barbers for a shave beforehand. Leeds always kept records of who was travelling and which hotels they were using. Leeds fans have reacted furiously to reports that Ezgjan Alioski has agreed to move to Galatasaray. He had travelled to the hospital where injured fans were being treated and arranged payment for a blood transfusion for Kevin Speight, one of the two who died. It was obvious that Galatasaray were making no concession for what had taken place, so that was our form of protest. The deaths led to an angry reaction in England with Galatasaray fans being banned from attending the second leg in England. US-made cheese can be called 'gruyere' - court, AOC under investigation for Met Gala dress, Canadian grandma helps police snag phone scammer, The children left behind in Cuba's exodus. I was totally speechless, totally shocked. At least nine other people, including six Leeds fans, were injured. Ali Sami Yen stadium should even go ahead. Because I was so young and the memories arent clear, I get times when I ask myself if it really happened. Holly, as a two-year-old, was left with no memories at all. "There was nothing in the days running up to this match to suggest there would be this level of violence," Mr Hunt said. Another supporter who tried to resuscitate Chris was hit with batons. Thats what they were, kids. Hello Hell, We Are Leeds, read one banner carried by fans piling through Istanbul airport on Wednesday night. Its a strange thing but its important to me. 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. Andy has paid for the plaque to be cleaned a couple of times and it could do with another polish now. There were reports that a Galatasaray fan had run to a telephone to call for support when he saw Leeds fans arriving. Fans in nearby bars remained unaware of the violence. As injured and angry Leeds fans came through, he did what he could. I am not sure if the first few expected fighting but I saw one guy running to a telephone to call his friends after he saw the English. He visited his fathers body in the chapel of rest across the road, bringing pictures he had drawn for him with felt tips. Speights son, George, is no longer the cheeky kid with floppy hair smiling brightly in the photograph of his father he digs out. Convention required the directors of the clubs involved in a European tie to share a meal with UEFA delegates the night before the game and Galatasaray arranged the gathering, not far from the Kempinski Hotel where Leedss players and directors were staying.
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