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. He has never spoken about his memories of Turkey before but, like Andy Loftus, says he wants to reflect 20 years on. For long periods, none of those found guilty spent time behind bars. Susan chose not to take the children to Speights funeral. It felt to me like the police were trying to frighten us, he says. 11 Feb 02 | Europe Turkish justice moves slowly . Our Daz was there and he told me the full story. I didnt catch everything but I heard enough. I dont know why.. I was amazed, he says. He rushed to Taksim hospital, near where the men were stabbed. Chris Loftus and Kevin Speight were stabbed in Istanbul on the eve of. By last night's kick-off, the pools of blood, shattered glass and debris had been cleared away. I got a lot of abuse for that and no wonder. Two lives lost and two lives wasted, for nothing. But in the light of day, the sun hits it and the sparkle lingers. The deaths led to an angry reaction in England with Galatasaray fans . , updated Its completely different. Scuffles broke out but the police moved in and fans scattered. 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. Follow Phil on Twitter @PhilHay_, George and Holly Speight with Peter Ridsdale after their fathers death. They knocked back as much Elfe (lager), Jack Daniels and Bacardi as I could pour.". 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? George is aware of some of the details but has tried not to dig too deeply. There is very little about the football which Ridsdale cares to remember and at the 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. My dad is ex-World Cup star and BBC pundit but I want glory in a Wed heard that Istanbul could be a bit dangerous but we never thought anything of it, Andy says. Gray, a Glaswegian, was in the Celtic end with his wife Linda on the day of the Ibrox disaster in 1971. You ask them one by one if 20 years have helped them process what happened. Ridsdale is someone the Speights hold in high regard. [38], In 2013, Arsenal invited Galatasaray to compete at their annual Emirates Cup tournament. The city centre was tense but, thanks to a massive police presence, mainly empty. [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. We tried to keep a lot of the information about what had happened [to Speight and Loftus] from them, rightly or wrongly. My mum struggled massively with it all and she still does now, George says. galatasaray leeds death 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. "We did amazing business in one hour. Leeds fans RAGING at Ezgjan Alioski transfer links to Galatasaray junio 12, 2022. abc news anchors female philadelphia . [30] A Danish police officer[22] and a Turkish cameraman were also injured in the riots. Leeds fans RAGING at Ezgjan Alioski transfer links to Galatasaray [17] This came after Arsenal had warned the police before the final that there could be hooligans travelling to Copenhagen. Some Arsenal fans reacted negatively to the news, claiming that there was still bad blood between the two sets of supporters and were concerned that there would be a resumption of hostilities between them.[51]. Harry Kewell is in front of him, carrying a ball and looking bewildered. They carried beer glasses outside, we couldn't stop them, and others followed." "They were screaming all sorts of things. When youre seven you cant process something like that, can you? The families of the victims will tell you that. As. Istanbul was like no other event he has dealt with. 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 spent the whole night thinking, What are we doing here? And when the Leeds fans turned their backs to the pitch, total respect to them because the football meant nothing. 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. 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. Ali Sami Yen was in a league of its own in atmosphere terms, aggressive and ferocious for visiting sides. I can only go on what my mum said, but my dad was nothing like that. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. When he arrived at the hospital, Darren was in a bed with head injuries. Within an hour of the stabbings in central Istanbul, some of David OLearys squad emerged to speak to him. Wesley Sneijder, a Dutch international who . According to one witness, a Turkish man was pushed to the ground and smashed his teeth on the pavement. Can you list the top facts and stats about 2000 UEFA Cup semi-final violence? Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? But it was common sense. [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. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. The connection was not comparable to Kewells. Trust us, this is only going to get worse., It didnt go down well, and I got that. Within a year, however, Demir, following an appeal, was a free man after his conviction was quashed and a re-trial ordered. 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. 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. Try a week on us. 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One of 13 Turks arrested in Istanbul has confessed to stabbing Leeds United fan Christopher Loftus, whose body is expected . Ill be honest, by the time we were kicking off I had no idea why we were playing. The fan responded: "If you did not know then fair enough but your club certainly did and they should be ashamed of themselves. 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. CATEGORIES . Theyd turned on their tellies and it was all over the Turkish news, Fallows says. Mr Loftus's brother Andy said: "I know it may seem a long time but it's still very much like yesterday really.". It sounds daft but I dont think I knew how to react. At the time he said: 'It was a tragic thing in football but we can't live in the past. British fans were outnumbered and chased up side streets. Eddie Gray is crouching down as he runs up from underground and into the open air. 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. The passing of time is there in all of them. As a Turkish man is found guilty in Istanbul of murdering two Leeds United fans, the BBC gauges the reaction of local people. Turk admits stabbing murdered Leeds fan | Soccer | The Guardian Fans in nearby bars remained unaware of the violence. Leeds have never forgiven Eric Cantona for . Even now I get the feeling that people think we started it, Andy says. [37] Leeds United also banned three of their fans from Elland Road after they had been identified in pictures of the riots. [25] The British fans were later released without charge but were forbidden from returning to Denmark. The plaque on the wall by Elland Roads East Stand says Never Forgotten and Leeds United swore themselves to those words. They didnt care., The Speights were different and left the criminal cases alone. 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. Theyd been seeing each other for about six months.. It might be fair to say that the events of 2000 are a reason to dissuade a footballer with ties to Leeds from engaging with Galatasaray but not necessarily to prohibit him from signing, especially as time goes by. When we got to the bottom of the stairs they pulled out a drawer, a bit like a filing cabinet, and Christophers body was there. So Leeds did. 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. Its a game. 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. They will never be forgotten.. Galatasaray player apologises to Leeds fans for knife tweet I dont know if the club encouraged them to do that but you were well aware of objects hitting the shields. Galatasaray 3-2 HangiKredi mraniyespor MORE. Its the most terrified Ive ever been, he says. Those April nights were as close as Leeds will get to it. ", "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. I tried telling Galatasarays staff to get them out. A few hours later two Leeds supporters, Kevin Speight, 40, and Christopher Loftus, 37, were dead from stab wounds. Over a coffee in Starbucks, George Speight finds a way to be philosophical about his fathers death. Life is good. Sneijder's tweet has since been deleted and the midfielder sent a tweet to an angry fan stating: "Very sorry. Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. I dont think a single one of the lads wanted to play that night.. Gray, one of OLearys assistants, tried to focus his attention elsewhere. galatasaray leeds death The story goes that he and his wife Susan got together after he offered her a lift on the back of one. He previously worked for the Yorkshire Evening Post as its chief football writer. Holmes was there and witnessed the entire away end turning their backs to the pitch with arms raised, an act of silent defiance and dissent. Phil grew up near Edinburgh in Scotland and is a staff writer for The Athletic, covering Leeds United. Youre a kid. 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. Some headed for the James Joyce pub 200 metres away and joined a sing-song against Galatasaray. 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. Ridsdale and Leedss operations director, David Spencer, were at a floating restaurant on the Bosphorus when they were phoned to tell them trouble in the centre of Istanbul had resulted in at least two fans being hospitalised. The pair were met by angry, upset and bewildered groups. 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. In contrast, what Leeds saw in Galatasaray was a baffling lack of sympathy. [4] Police arrested Ali Umit Demir and three other men for the stabbings. It was only when Gray arrived home that his parents asked if he was OK and told him about the many Rangers fans who had died. Read about our approach to external linking. 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. They all say no. This led to the two Leeds fans being stabbed. 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. The friend who arranged their trips abroad organised for them to fly home via Brussels. There was no minutes silence or acknowledgement of the deaths. The Turkish media tried to blame English fans for provoking the violence by being drunk and disrespecting the Turkish flag. The Loftuses fought for justice for as long as they could. Will Griffee For Mailonline She knows who he was but its not the same.. And worse things too. The police told us themselves that the shoe-shine boys had been trailing us for a while, waiting to see when some of us had split away from the main group.. The potential for trouble was as high as anything Id been involved in. I was totally speechless, totally shocked. 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 . Andy was jailed in 2013 for his part in a fight between Leeds and Tottenham Hotspur fans in which a Spurs supporter was knocked unconscious. We had a coach for the players and a coach for the directors, he says. In its opinion, contesting the game was the least worst option. lisa left eye zodiac sign Search. The police did nothing, in fact they were helping them beat us up." [44], In the United Kingdom, the Daily Mirror newspaper printed pictures of Arsenal fans alleged to have been part of the violence. [21] This lasted 20 minutes[19] before the Danish police attempted to break up the melee with dogs[22] and tear gas.
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