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Mon 1st May 2000 - Headlines for the wrong reasons |
| April Headlines |
Not for the first time this season City's fans find themselves on the front pages as well as the back pages. I have included some of the reports from todays press. Report from The Mirror OnLine. Fighting broke out almost from the first whistle as Stoke fans clashed with stewards after taunting the travelling Welsh fans on a day of 38 arrests. But the sickening problems hotted up after half-time when several hundred Cardiff fans arrived late. Bare chested thugs immediately charged a thin line of stewards and hurled ripped up seats on to the pitch. Six stewards needed treatment. Police in riot gear responded by wading in with batons and six horses were brought into the Britannia Stadium in front of the stand housing Cardiff fans. At one point Cardiff's Andy Legg had to ask police horses to move so he could take a corner. Thordarson said: "This was a black day for us to see. Some of the people here were animals. "The majority of the Stoke fans are decent people but we have some bad apples and we have to sort it out." The trouble quietened until after the match when Stoke fans pulled down fences surrounding Cardiff fans' coaches. Hundreds of police officers were left fighting Stoke fans as they tried to keep rival supporters apart. But after clearing away the home hooligans, Cardiff yobs scrambled over wire barriers and attacked police officers in a pitched battle before order was eventually restored. Cardiff boss Billy Ayre also attacked the troublemakers that joined in the rioting which had been revved up by exchanges on the internet. He fumed: "I abhor the behaviour of these people and I don't think they were Cardiff fans at all. What went off was a disgrace. As a family man with my children in the stand I was very upset." Stoke defender Brynjar Gunnarsson admitted: "It was frightening to play because I thought the fans were going to invade the pitch." Stoke edged closer to the play-offs with their sixth successive win. Arnar Gunnlaugsson struck in the opening minutes and youngster James O'Connor stretched the Stoke lead before Scott Young gave Cardiff hope of earning a vital relegation point with a brave header. But City held out and are now level on points with sixth-placed Millwall with a game in hand. Headlines from The Telegraph. The Britannia Stadium resembled a battle ground in the second half when several hundred Cardiff late-comers - who had stopped off in Stafford for a drink in the knowledge that they would not be allowed one in Stoke - finally reached the scene of their club's crucial away game. Joining the early arrivals, their threatening behaviour provoked a section of home fans. The pitch was surrounded by stewards and 200 truncheon-wielding police in riot gear as Stoke manager Gudjon Thordarson appealed to his club's supporters for reason. Then he argued with his Cardiff counterpart, Billy Ayre, for acting as an additional ball-boy. Amid the bedlam the game carried on. "I abhor the behaviour of these people. I doubt if they're really Cardiff fans," Ayre said. Headlines from Sporting Life Trouble had been forecast beforehand and early in the second half about 300 visiting fans broke through security netting in the Britannia Stadium's South Stand. Police in riot gear and on horseback poured into the stadium to restore order. Seats were ripped up and thrown on to the pitch. Stoke won the contest 2-1 to boost their promotion prospects and worsen Cardiff's plight at the wrong end of the table. Report from TotalWales. More than 14,000 people turned up to watch promotion-chasing Stoke take on relegation-threatened Cardiff, but trouble broke out early in the second half as City fans tore down security fences and more than 300 of them charged towards Stoke fans. Policemen, ground stewards and fans were injured in the charge as City supporters broke seats and hurled coins and drinks containers at their Division Two rivals. Mounted police were called in to restore order and police wearing full riot gear drew their batons to keep the City fans in their designated area. At one stage during the match the police prevented Cardiff’s Andy Legg from taking a corner. Mounted police officers were in his way. The trouble lasted for about 15 minutes but at no stage did any fans make it on to the playing field. Trouble had begun at the train station when around 200 fans arrived late because of a cow on the line. The fans got off the train and smashed lights and damaged property at the station before being escorted to the ground by mounted police. The same fans had been thrown off coaches that had been organised to take them from the station to the ground after they kicked out the windows of the coaches, ripped out seats and hurled them through the open windows. They were herded into special holding areas in the car park and guarded by mounted police and police with dogs. The fans were let into the ground at half time, after which the trouble in the ground began. The City fans charged into an empty section of seating between rival fans that had been filled with several layers of security fencing and immediately began tearing up the fencing. Before the kick-off Staffordshire police arrested 20 City fans, mostly for alcohol-related offences. Searches of travelling fans’ coaches and at the Britannia Stadium turned up a circular saw and 100 craft-knife blades. Around 2,000 Cardiff fans travelled to the Potteries for the game but Staffordshire Police had warned anyone without a ticket to stay away as they mounted their biggest anti-hooligan operation for years. Superintendent Ian Ackerley described the match as “a large policing event”. He said the operation had been aimed at protecting genuine fans and it had been a tremendous success. There were nearly 600 police officers on duty, with 275 inside the ground and 300 outside. Supt Ackerley said, “The intention was to minimise the opportunity for disorder and when it occurred to resolve it effectively, with the minimum use of force and the minimum number of injuries.” There were no further incidents involving City fans after the game - which Stoke won 2-1 - as they were escorted to their coaches and to the train station but Stoke supporters continued to cause trouble into the late evening and police were called to several city-centre pubs to deal with the violence. City’s defeat leaves them needing at least four points from the last two games of the season to have a chance of survival. |
Copyright Michael Morris 2000.
