The police were doing nothing to stop them. Spencer stepped in and paid with his personal credit card. Kewell grew up in Leeds academy and was in the starting line-up for both legs against Galatasaray. My dad is ex-World Cup star and BBC pundit but I want glory in a As kick-off drew near, the drums and the noise from the stadium filtered down to the Ali Sami Yens subterranean dressing rooms. 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. When they came back to Elland Road they thought our request for no away fans was inappropriate. They thought we were looking for a sporting advantage, which is just incredible. Turk admits stabbing murdered Leeds fan | Soccer | The Guardian The Galatasaray fans were later attacked from behind by members of British hooligan firms seeking revenge for the Istanbul stabbings. Chris Loftus and Kevin Speight were stabbed in Istanbul on the eve of. The problem shouldn't have been Alioski or his next club, it's how galatasaray leeds death. [40], The Danish police were also criticised for their handling of the riots. Who really cares?. Football riots in City Hall Square, Copenhagen, Denmark (May 2000). 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. I feel sorry for her, George says. He said getting involved in charity work and fundraisers, including running half-marathons in memory of his brother, had helped him to deal with his sibling's death. Though the versions of Leeds fans and Turkish witnesses are almost entirely at odds, it appears the trouble started in the city's entertainment district outside the Riddim reggae bar in Buyuk Parmakkapi Street. He can picture the facade as he entered and the floorplan of the area where other injured Leeds fans had congregated; where Speight lay on an operating table, desperate for surgery. 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. He was showered with stickers and sweets gifts from friends who lived locally and Ridsdale, who supported both families throughout, delivered Easter eggs to the house for him and Holly. 13:02 EST 23 Mar 2021 Try a week on us. [32] The rest were fined an equivalent of $500 and banned from Denmark for a year.[33]. Turkish Prime Minister Blent Ecevit also made a call for fans to avoid violence after the riots, stating: Sports should be an initiative for friendship, not for fighting. Why Alex Murdaugh was spared the death penalty, Why Trudeau is facing calls for a public inquiry, The shocking legacy of the Dutch 'Hunger Winter'. They just looked at me like I was stupid.. 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. It was totally deliberate. Fans in nearby bars remained unaware of the violence. 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. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? SOCCER; Amid Heightened Security, Galatasaray Defeats Leeds By that stage he was exhausted. Ridsdale agreed to send his wife and other officials back but instructed a car to take him and Spencer to Taksim Hospital. "Kevin had two young children. Ridsdale can visualise it all 21 years on: the lay-out of the hospital, the chaos inside, the panicked confusion. Galatasaray accused him of trying to gain an unfair sporting advantage. "I haven't seen a single Englishman all day," said a newspaper vendor. Galatasaray.org The 45-year-old was an unused sub when Leeds were defeated by Galatasaray in an infamous 1999-00 Uefa Cup semi-finals - a match that was overshadowed by the death of two Yorkshire fans in the . [24] It was claimed that the police failed to control the riots,[43] and that they had been undermanned and outmaneuvered, to which Mogens Lauridsen, the police chief in Copenhagen admitted that the police had been "under-prepared". Leeds United fans' deaths in Turkey 20 years ago 'feels like - BBC Galatasaray wanted me from the start. The first I knew of it was when they came out to tell me. [31] Nineteen of the arrested were British, thirty-six were Turkish and the rest of the arrested included people from Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands. David Davies, the Football Association's executive director, called it "frankly, the least worst option". He visited his fathers body in the chapel of rest across the road, bringing pictures he had drawn for him with felt tips. They have nothing but good words for Ridsdales conduct and nothing but gratitude for his support. At the time he said: 'It was a tragic thing in football but we can't live in the past. By 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? Leeds fans had planned to honour the memories of Speight and Loftus this weekend by holding up photos of the two murdered men at the home game with Blackburn Rovers. Any time I think about what happened, I ask the same question. The police warned a postponement could cause more trouble. Leeds supporters in Istanbul were told to stay in their hotels. [36], In August 2000, Arsenal banned thirty-seven people involved in the Copenhagen riot from Arsenal's Highbury stadium. Will Griffee For Mailonline 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. This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. ", Jack Connolly added: "That Wesley Sneijder knife launch is disgusting, scum of the earth.". Association with the tragedy can be difficult. galatasaray leeds death They knocked back as much Elfe (lager), Jack Daniels and Bacardi as I could pour.". Hed just met a girl. galatasaray leeds death - Sercano TV 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. [19] The Danish police then moved in to separate the fans, and moved the Galatasaray fans back towards the square. 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. Bits of Istanbul werent in control. That decision drew much criticism, as well it might. CATEGORIES . When the Turkish club flew over for the return leg two weeks later, an occasion as venomous and bitter as any Elland Road has hosted, they railed against Ridsdales request that their fans be banned from travelling. Galatasaray's Wesley Sneijder launches knife range - mirror Kewell was quoted after joining Galatasaray as saying that to blame Galatasaray for the tragedy in Istanbul is simply wrong and discriminatory. Gray remembers OLeary going out of the team hotel to visit a barbers for a shave beforehand. They carried beer glasses outside, we couldn't stop them, and others followed." [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]. 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. Within minutes, a pitched battle erupted. [20], After the match, which Galatasaray won 41 on penalties, approximately 300 Arsenal fans in the Finsbury Park area of Islington in London attacked Turkish restaurants and businesses, with bottles being used to break windows. One of 13 Turks arrested in Istanbul has confessed to stabbing Leeds United fan Christopher Loftus, whose body is expected . Man United respond to Leeds hostility with thrilling win as Harry In its opinion, contesting the game was the least worst option. Grieving Leeds Faces Galatasaray Rematch : It Is a Matter of Life Or (Main photo of Kevin Speight with his son George and daughter Holly). UEFA, after a week of consideration, agreed with Leeds. Absolutely amazed and totally stunned. Thats what they were, kids. They knew there had been trouble but the club made an effort to hold back some detail on the basis that if the game went ahead, they would need to concentrate on it. The set of knives, emblazoned with Galatasaray's colours, are produced by Dutch firm Senvi and are available for 22. Galatasaray supporters, despite everything that had gone on, were pelting the buses and trying to smash the windows. He started shouting for Christopher to wake up. "It's just a bit of a rollercoaster ride really but we get by," he said. "They were using very bad language," said Abdul Garlad, a manager. The images are so vivid in Peter Ridsdales mind that he can describe every aspect of the hospital where Speight and Loftus were taken after they were attacked. In the context of football, that era was phenomenally good: Leeds in Europe and another trip to the continent always waiting around the corner. 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 Send any friend a story. Uefa, after consultation with the clubs and the Turkish authorities, wavered but eventually decided to go ahead. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. The facilities are great. Given that context and these examples only really scratch the surface of everything that happened in April 2000 there was no way in which a player like Gjanni Alioski could consider leaving Leeds and joining Galatasaray, as he did for many months, without bracing himself for a tense political path and the objection he encountered online. 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. galatasaray leeds death Theyd been seeing each other for about six months.. I dont think, even to this day, that Galatasaray would see the amount of press coverage or criticism as being fairly labelled against them, Ridsdale said last year. UEFA also requested that fences be put up around the perimeter of the pitch. Arsenal qualified for the final by defeating French club Lens in their semi-final. The Loftus family gave up on campaigning for justice in Turkey because they did not think the system cared about them. Peter Ridsdale, the Leeds chairman, had been dining with directors from Galatasaray when reports of trouble came through. [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. His financial record at Leeds was dismal and Leeds never forget about it. Asked shortly afterwards whether he thought the tie would still go ahead, Mr Ridsdale said: "It's too early to say. The Turkish media blamed the Leeds fans. Bitexen Giresunspor 0 - 4 Galatasaray MORE. He has a busy job as an electrician and a twinkle in his eye. Everything was muddled. "Once more English hooligans, once more, blood," said the mainstream Hurriyet newspaper. He was eight when the deaths occurred and he was 25 when he came to England as a professional. The stadium is stuck in a state of eerie silence but this Sunday it will do what it always does on April 5 by standing in salute to the two who were lost. [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. The fan responded: "If you did not know then fair enough but your club certainly did and they should be ashamed of themselves. They reported that as one of them tried to give the kiss of life to Mr Loftus, he was set upon. They didnt care., The Speights were different and left the criminal cases alone. More importantly, we needed to find out what state the two lads were in and whether we could help them.. The city centre was tense but, thanks to a massive police presence, mainly empty. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. I dont know if the club encouraged them to do that but you were well aware of objects hitting the shields. After travelling to the Turkish capital to follow the club, Mr Speight and Mr Loftus were attacked with machetes when a row broke out between rival fans. Give our social media channels a follow . Amid the fall-out and a world of shock in Leeds, Ridsdale suggested that the second leg at Elland Road would be safer without away fans. In May 2002 Demir, who admitted the stabbings, was sentenced to 15 years in prison with four other men imprisoned for three months each. Forty Leeds fans arrested in the scuffles were released without charge. Four men were arrested and charged with their murders. Following the two tragic deaths, local police arrested and charged four Galatasaray supporters with murder. 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. 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. The police claim he was punched. It was horrible. He described the Turkish policing as diabolical and out of control. 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. [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. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Bowyer leads out the Leeds team as the first leg went ahead (Photo: Steve Mitchell/EMPICS via Getty Images), A minutes silence is observed before the return leg at Elland Road (Photo: Steve Mitchell/EMPICS via Getty Images). We werent talking about Leeds General Infirmary. Speights treatment failed to save him. Read about our approach to external linking. Football authorities condemned the riots and threatened to expel national football teams from European competition if such events happened again. Summarize this article for a 10 years old. The Loftuses had travelled to Turkey on the same flight as David OLearys players. ", "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. The police did nothing, in fact they were helping them beat us up." The cause of the fighting which broke out after dark in Istanbul was a subject of fierce contention in the weeks after the stabbings. [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.
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