galatasaray leeds death

Early relaxation gave way to brutal battle as rivals taunted each other, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. 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. A group of rival fans gathered and jeers were exchanged. Youre a kid. 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. According to a waiter at a nearby restaurant, the Turkish club's fanatical fans had heard through the grapevine that trouble was brewing. If you're Leeds, you don't move to a direct rival, simple. [21] This lasted 20 minutes[19] before the Danish police attempted to break up the melee with dogs[22] and tear gas. It felt to me like the police were trying to frighten us, he says. It is part of Leeds Uniteds fabric and it will never disappear: the night when football became murder and so many lives were changed. [12] However, there were conflicting reports, with claims that some Galatasaray fans were instigating some of the violence. Phil grew up near Edinburgh in Scotland and is a staff writer for The Athletic, covering Leeds United. The brothers went to the British Embassy but, in Andys words, found them to be worse than useless. But it was common sense. 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. His financial record at Leeds was dismal and Leeds never forget about it. The loss ofKevin Speight and Christopher Loftus is still felt incredibly deeply and the feud between the clubs remains. Those killed were "attackers", it said. On each trip he would set up a desk in the corridor where the team were staying, a point of contact in case of any problems. There was no minutes silence or acknowledgement of the deaths. Gray, a Glaswegian, was in the Celtic end with his wife Linda on the day of the Ibrox disaster in 1971. At the time he said: 'It was a tragic thing in football but we can't live in the past. [18] Later, large numbers of Galatasaray fans congregated in Copenhagen's City Hall Square, raising the Turkish flag in the square. The images of that never grow old. The police did nothing, in fact they were helping them beat us up." But he was not and the atmosphere was initially warmer than normal. [23] The violence, which included fans from other English clubs[24] and Turks living in Denmark,[25] lasted for 45 minutes. Four men were arrested and charged with their murders. One Love was a controlled situation. The Turkish media blamed the Leeds fans. 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. 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. Hello Hell, We Are Leeds, read one banner carried by fans piling through Istanbul airport on Wednesday night. Holmes says Andy was the life and soul of the party before Istanbul but the impact of Chriss death was severe. A few hours later two Leeds supporters, Kevin Speight, 40, and Christopher Loftus, 37, were dead from stab wounds. He visited his fathers body in the chapel of rest across the road, bringing pictures he had drawn for him with felt tips. Forty Leeds fans arrested in the scuffles were released without charge. From my point of view I was only interested in getting that game over and done with as safely as possible. A fortnight ago, Ridsdale was voted onto the EFLs board. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk. At this juncture, it should be said that Kewell and Alioski were not identical. Some headed for the James Joyce pub 200 metres away and joined a sing-song against Galatasaray. My sympathy was with them. 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. Life is good. ", Get the FREE Mirror Football newsletter with the day's key headlines and transfer news straight into your inbox. The design of the place meant the Leeds players had to take a long walk to the tunnel, flanked by armed police. I didnt want to be standing there telling them what to do and I understood that they didnt want to hear it. I tried telling Galatasarays staff to get them out. Surprise me? For me, it didnt feel real. How can it be that two lads go to watch a football game and dont come back?. There was nothing you could say to him. I dont think, even to this day, that Galatasaray would see the amount of press coverage or criticism as being fairly labelled against them, Risdale says. It was our way of making sure the cameras and the world took notice of us.. The city centre was tense but, thanks to a massive police presence, mainly empty. 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. 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). 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. He was on the scene as the club grieved and as much as any other of David OLearys players, he was in a position to fully comprehend both the impact of the killings and Galatasarays response to them. This caused a severe riot in the city square, with several restaurant facilities used by fans to fight each other, with iron bars and knives also being used. We werent talking about Leeds General Infirmary. Speights treatment failed to save him. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. As chairman of Leeds, he told the UEFA official that it would make sense to postpone the first leg of the semi-final which Leeds and Galatasaray were about to play. [2] Ridsdale was told by staff at the hospital that Speight was in a critical condition and needed an urgent transfusion but that the blood had to be paid for. "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. The second leg was totally different. The police warned a postponement could cause more trouble. It triggered something and I ran into the ward. It makes me proud. Like his father, George has the nickname Spag. Who really cares?. I jumped in a taxi and went back to Taksim Square., He has no recollection of how he came to be at Taksim Hospital, only that he found himself there after being told that the fighting had been serious. UEFA also requested that fences be put up around the perimeter of the pitch. [28] In Turkey, nine people were accidentally shot and injured by Galatasaray fans firing guns in celebration despite police warning them not to. 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. You were dealing with young lads and the last thing you wanted to do was scare them.. I knew the ramifications would be life-long., (Photo: Phil Noble PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images), 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. No one meant for it to happen. "Most were kind, but there were five or six really crazy guys. For George, the clearest memories of his dad are few and slightly random. And I still blame myself a lot.. ', And: 'Alioski can f*** off, he obviously knows the history between the two clubs.'. [13], On the Wednesday at 1:00, Galatasaray fans attacked a bar in Strget in Copenhagen, where some Arsenal fans were located. Others that the Turks precipitated it by throwing chairs. 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. 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. A Galatasaray player who endorsed a set of knives as Leeds United paid tribute to fans fatally stabbed before a game against his club has apologised. It also contains a table with average age, cumulative market value and average market value for each player position and overall. Squad Galatasaray This page displays a detailed overview of the club's current squad. When they landed at Leeds-Bradford airport, a Leeds United club car was waiting to pick them up from the runaway, avoiding the cameras waiting inside. More importantly, we needed to find out what state the two lads were in and whether we could help them.. Phil grew up near Edinburgh in Scotland and is a staff writer for The Athletic, covering Leeds United. George is aware of some of the details but has tried not to dig too deeply. [15] In the fight, Paul Dineen, an Arsenal fan, was stabbed, leading to Arsenal offering fans refunds if they did not want to fly to the game. Send any friend a story. He had a passion for Lambretta scooters and spent his spare time fixing old models in his mothers garden. Galatasaray wanted me from the start. zhuri james net worth 2021 / low carb ground beef and spinach recipes / low carb ground beef and spinach recipes Istanbul was like no other event he has dealt with. Sneijder's tweet has since been deleted and the midfielder sent a tweet to an angry fan stating: "Very sorry. Bitexen Giresunspor 0 - 4 Galatasaray MORE. [42] Arsenal fans also criticised the police, claiming that they had been slow to intervene and were "too soft" on the hooligans. 11 Feb 02 | Europe Turkish justice moves slowly . [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. It was the same at the second leg when I had to stand and look after Galatasarays main man at Elland Road. Peter Ridsdale, the Leeds chairman, had been dining with directors from Galatasaray when reports of trouble came through. Without his help, my mum would have been a bit lost, George says. I knew the ramifications would be life-long.. Football is sport here and for many Istanbul residents Galatasaray - who won the league last Sunday - is football. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. 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. Its the most terrified Ive ever been, he says. The police claim he was punched. I feel everything: anger, sadness. Scuffles broke out but the police moved in and fans scattered. 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. Thats what they were, kids. Andys last memory of Chris is of him rolling his eyes sarcastically and ribbing him for leaving early, in brotherly style. [39] Later on, British media blame also transferred towards Galatasaray fans. 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. They have nothing but good words for Ridsdales conduct and nothing but gratitude for his support. The friend who arranged their trips abroad organised for them to fly home via Brussels. Gray, one of OLearys assistants, tried to focus his attention elsewhere. I cant explain it but I got this weird feeling, he says. The first the Leeds players heard of the incident in Taksim Square was when phone calls started reaching them in their hotel. [30] In total, nineteen people were injured and sixty people were arrested,[27] with 15 of the arrested being subsequently banned from attending Euro 2000. More than a dozen police watched but initially did not intervene. They ordered us to pump up the volume, so we did," said Mr Dedeler, 24. What they were seeing was pretty graphic so we said to them, Turn the tellies off, go to bed and wait for us to get some proper details. The footage was grainy and frightening, capturing a helpless Loftus with bloodstains on his shirt. The set of knives, emblazoned with Galatasaray's colours, are produced by Dutch firm Senvi and are available for 22. The road to justice for the Speight and Loftus families was long and demoralising. Loftuss brother Andy jokes that he had thicker hair back in the day. Then you get your head around whats actually happened. 12/02/2021 . At the hospital, Ridsdale encountered absolute chaos. (Top photo: Robbie Jay Barratt AMA/Getty Images). "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.". According to one witness, a Turkish man was pushed to the ground and smashed his teeth on the pavement. He wasnt one of them who tried to cause trouble. There was a sense of relief to be leaving, he says, but I knew that flying out of Istanbul wasnt the end of it. Speight was with a group of Leeds fans attacked by Turkish locals outside a bar by Istanbuls Taksim Square, sustaining a slash wound to his stomach. Ill hear them saying, Thats Kevin Speights lad and I like that. My mum just felt she had to move on. ', By The deaths led to an angry reaction in England with Galatasaray fans . Read about our approach to external linking. Welcome to Hell, Galatasaray liked to say. 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. CATEGORIES . 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. Ridsdale agreed to send his wife and other officials back but instructed a car to take him and Spencer to Taksim Hospital. British fans were outnumbered and chased up side streets. 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 morning after Loftus and Speight were killed, Fallows and Stokoe were asked by Ridsdale to visit every hotel where the clubs supporters were staying. Even now I get the feeling that people think we started it, Andy says. The interview included vague expressions of regret but no apology to Speight and Loftus or their relatives. I think you just go into a downward spiral. In the context of football, that era was phenomenally good: Leeds in Europe and another trip to the continent always waiting around the corner. Mr Loftus from a plunging wound to his heart; Mr Speight, a few hours later after receiving a wound the length of his stomach. [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. 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. His most recent role as a club manager was at English National League side Barnet, and he is currently a first team coach at Celtic.. As a player, Kewell represented Leeds United, Liverpool, Galatasaray, Melbourne Victory, Al-Gharafa and Melbourne Heart. And many have voiced their opinion on social media following a report by Football Insider that Alioski has agreed a pre-contract to join the rivals in the summer. I didnt catch everything but I heard enough. Following the two tragic deaths, local police arrested and charged four Galatasaray supporters with murder. And worse things too. But he didnt make much of it, like it was something of nothing. He previously worked for the Yorkshire Evening Post as its chief football writer. Read about our approach to external linking. Ali Sami Yen, the stadium was so overcrowded that he had Galatasaray fans in front of him literally sat on my feet. The next day, he and Leeds players and coaching staff reached the airport, climbed on a plane and flew home. Kevin Fallows was the clubs head of security and travelled with the players to all their fixtures in Europe. 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. But when it came to Istanbul, he and the club were remarkable in reacting quickly and with compassion. My mum flicked it straight off again. 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? The away crowd emptied after Rangers late equaliser without realising what had unfolded inside the ground. Leeds head of security at the game recalled police officers lining the corridors in Galatasarays ground as the players emerged from the dressing room; an attempt, in his eyes, to intimidate them as they prepared to go onto the pitch. The blood had to be sourced externally and to do that, someone had to pay. Past present or future..', A second added: 'Would much rather see one of the u23s get a chance at lb than Alioski for the rest of the season. It didnt sit right with me. "I haven't seen a single Englishman all day," said a newspaper vendor. You mention him over Farsley way and people respect him. At conservative gathering, Trump is still the favourite. One of 13 Turks arrested in Istanbul has confessed to stabbing Leeds United fan Christopher Loftus, whose body is expected . 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. Leeds Crown Court sentenced him to 12 months. on the 20th anniversary of the killings in Istanbul. Ill be honest, by the time we were kicking off I had no idea why we were playing. The complication here is that football has no right to dictate how people manage a grievance that goes so far beyond standard rivalry. He liked a drink and a laugh, simple as that, Andy says. Try a week on us. [16] Dineen was released from hospital later in the day and attended the match as a guest of the Arsenal directors. As. The police were knocking everyone about, says Paul Holmes, a friend of the Loftuses who was in Taksim Square when the violence broke out. [22] The riots did not spread to the stadium, although there was an attempt to pull down the fences by fans heading towards the Arsenal area of the stadium before police stopped them. He rushed to Taksim hospital, near where the men were stabbed. In Turkey, two supporters were murdered. 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We had a coach for the players and a coach for the directors, he says. It is his life and his career, much as the option of Galatasaray was incapable of arising without anyone passing comment. By the time the match kicked off, the ramifications of two fatal stabbings the previous evening were rapidly sinking in and for those who were closest to it, the images wont fade. A lot of what went on I dont want to know. They thought we were looking for a sporting advantage, which is just incredible. He previously worked for the Yorkshire Evening Post as its chief football writer. I stopped getting involved eventually, Andy says. 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 . [7] The ban was supported by UEFA and only 80 tickets were issued to Galatasaray for officials and representatives of the Turkish government.

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