Four men were arrested and charged with their murders. Galatasaray advance to Ziraat Trkiye Kupas . Fatih Terim, Galatasaray's coach, had whipped up his side's supporters. Speight and Loftus were not close friends but knew each other in passing, as travelling football fans do. I could see in their faces how much they were raging, Fallows says. ", Get the FREE Mirror Football newsletter with the day's key headlines and transfer news straight into your inbox. 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. It was totally deliberate. Both had numerous other wounds. In 2014 he was spoken to by a Turkish website, a free man again. She knows who he was but its not the same.. I like that they remember him. He was seven when Speight died, his sister Holly two. 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. 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. [18] Later, large numbers of Galatasaray fans congregated in Copenhagen's City Hall Square, raising the Turkish flag in the square. Some claimed the English sparked it by throwing beer glasses at passing women pedestrians. 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. Acquittal plea in soccer death trial. Galatasaray away on April 6, 2000; a huge occasion for the club in a football sense, Ridsdale says. I think you just go into a downward spiral. 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]. The road to justice for the Speight and Loftus families was long and demoralising. 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. [17] This came after Arsenal had warned the police before the final that there could be hooligans travelling to Copenhagen. After taking stock, he got involved with the cancer charity Candlelighters and helped raise almost 150,000 for local hospital facilities. Our Daz was there and he told me the full story. Alioski was not part of that history but the history exists and the real story here far more significant than Alioski or any other footballer per se is the absence of any reconciliation over a night which feels as raw to those who witnessed it now as it did two decades ago; the lasting bitterness produced by a vacuum of empathy. [21] This lasted 20 minutes[19] before the Danish police attempted to break up the melee with dogs[22] and tear gas. Galatasaray away on April 6, 2000; "a huge occasion for the club in a football sense," Ridsdale says. How the violence started is unclear. The plaque on the wall by Elland Roads East Stand says Never Forgotten and Leeds United swore themselves to those words. As a family, I dont know how you come to terms with that., Inside the Ali Sami Yen, hundreds of Leeds supporters attended the first leg as planned and were housed in a small section of yellow seats. Arsenal qualified for the final by defeating French club Lens in their semi-final. They didnt care., The Speights were different and left the criminal cases alone. 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. 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. [25] The British fans were later released without charge but were forbidden from returning to Denmark. 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.". A lot of what the police were doing was pure intimidation, Fallows says. [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. 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. But eventually the issue of what to do about the game had to be addressed. 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. People speak well of him. The connection was not comparable to Kewells. I can only go on what my mum said, but my dad was nothing like that. Even now I get the feeling that people think we started it, Andy says. 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. The police warned a postponement could cause more trouble. [44], In the United Kingdom, the Daily Mirror newspaper printed pictures of Arsenal fans alleged to have been part of the violence. The police did nothing, in fact they were helping them beat us up." 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. 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. The cause of the fighting which broke out after dark in Istanbul was a subject of fierce contention in the weeks after the stabbings. 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. Twenty Leeds fans, witnesses to the fight, were interviewed. I stopped getting involved eventually, Andy says. 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. Has to be the biggest DO NOT for any Leeds player!! 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. One of 13 Turks arrested in Istanbul has confessed to stabbing Leeds United fan Christopher Loftus, whose body is expected . The design of the place meant the Leeds players had to take a long walk to the tunnel, flanked by armed police. 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. Gala is an awful football club and Alioski is an awful footballer. He visited his fathers body in the chapel of rest across the road, bringing pictures he had drawn for him with felt tips. [42] Arsenal fans also criticised the police, claiming that they had been slow to intervene and were "too soft" on the hooligans. Ali Sami Yen was in a league of its own in atmosphere terms, aggressive and ferocious for visiting sides. They know what he did for us.. Confusion reigned. 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. The pair were met by angry, upset and bewildered groups. 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. When they came back to Elland Road they thought our request for no away fans was inappropriate. For a couple of days afterwards you run on adrenaline, he says. Andy Loftus had flown to watch the match with his brother. "I haven't seen a single Englishman all day," said a newspaper vendor. It was obvious that Galatasaray were making no concession for what had taken place, so that was our form of protest. No one meant for it to happen. Four men were arrested and charged with their murders. Absolutely amazed and totally stunned. Then a good mate of mine appeared and said thered been a bit of trouble. 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. His financial record at Leeds was dismal and Leeds never forget about it. [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. [29], In all, four people were stabbed during the riots: two English, one Turkish and one Dutch fan. Its funny what sticks in your head, he says. 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 Ali Sami Yen was in a league of its own in atmosphere terms, aggressive and ferocious for visiting sides. There was a sense of relief to be leaving, he says, but I knew that flying out of Istanbul wasnt the end of it. I looked at Eddie, he looked at me, we smiled a nervous smile and both said the same thing: Lets go.. British fans were outnumbered and chased up side streets. The police were doing nothing to stop them. Football is sport here and for many Istanbul residents Galatasaray - who won the league last Sunday - is football. 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. [19] The Danish police then moved in to separate the fans, and moved the Galatasaray fans back towards the square. zhuri james net worth 2021 / low carb ground beef and spinach recipes / low carb ground beef and spinach recipes The Football Associations David Davies said playing the game was the least worst option. Hed just met a girl. He described the Turkish policing as diabolical and out of control. (Main photo of Kevin Speight with his son George and daughter Holly). 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. I went for some counselling and didnt go through with all of it but the charity work helped. I stood there with Eddie Gray, Fallows says. We looked up the steps and all you could see at the top was the dark sky and riot shields around the entrance to the pitch. Youre a kid. 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. "We did amazing business in one hour. 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. The Football Associations David Davies said playing the game was the least worst option. But he was not and the atmosphere was initially warmer than normal. The away crowd emptied after Rangers late equaliser without realising what had unfolded inside the ground. 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. [10] It was reported that members of Leeds United's Leeds United Service Crew[11] and Chelsea's Chelsea Headhunters, along with hooligans supporting Rangers, Cardiff City and Swansea City all travelled to Denmark to join Arsenal fans in attacks on Galatasaray fans. It makes me proud. Like his father, George has the nickname Spag. There isnt much that unnerves me but that was quite a scary moment. A fortnight ago, Ridsdale was voted onto the EFLs board. Four men were arrested and charged with their murders. At the hospital, Ridsdale encountered absolute chaos.