An English football fan has been stabbed as running battles between Galatasaray and Arsenal fans erupted on the streets of Copenhagen, less than 24 hours before the two clubs meet in the UEFA Cup Final.

The stabbed fan, a man thought to be in his late 20s or early 30s, was attacked outside a pub in the busy square.

It was not known whether a knife or bottle was used but the injured man slumped to the ground as rival fans fought a running battle.

Arsenal fans rushed to help the bloodstained man, using their own shirts to staunch the wound as police officers in riot gear summoned an ambulance.

Supporters complained that paramedics took some 20 minutes to reach the scene and take the stab victim who was bleeding heavily to hospital.

The man's wounds are not now thought to be life threatening.

Meanwhile Danish police fought to gain control as as bottles and glasses were thrown and traffic stopped as fans chased each other around the streets of the historic Danish capital.

There were injuries and arrests as the situation escalated out of control after Turkish fans had repeatedly attacked bars with a British or Irish connection.

A mob of Arsenal supporters led resistance to the Turkish attacks and chaos erupted around the Radhuspladsen square.

The trouble had begun late in the evening when a mob surrounded a disco bar called the Absalom in a side-street leading off the square.

Riot police moved in quickly, trapping the Arsenal fans in the bar and driving back the Turks.

Their aggression then switched to the other side of the large square as they attacked a bar called the Scottish Pub, and one fan hurled a glass at its doors as police again quickly intervened.

There followed a further attack on the Absalom, and with the situation still unresolved a gang of 40 Arsenal fans advanced towards their Turkish rivals and a confrontation quickly broke out.

The fans chased each other across the centre of the square and an attack broke out on a bar and restaurant called Rosie McGee's.

All hell broke loose as missiles of all kinds were thrown by Turks at the bar and returned by the English who had rushed to its doors.

Bottles, glasses and bicycles flew through the night air as the battle raged.

Again police were quickly on the scene, and officers in full riot gear interposed themselves between the warring factions and officers with dogs finally brought the fighting to an end.

Police in Copenhagen said that, so far, they knew of six or seven arrests and five or six people taken to hospital but they could give no breakdown by nationality.

A spokesman said that the stabbed English fan had a wound to his back or a leg but early indications were that he was comfortable in hospital.

He added: 'We had hoped this would not happen but are not shocked that it has, because it was something we had expected more or less. 'We hope for the best later today.'

Supt Andy Smith, who travelled with the Arsenal fans from north London, said: 'I am very sad and distressed to hear of this incident. It has spoiled what had been up until now a very relaxed and good atmosphere.'

Two Leeds United fans were stabbed to death in Istanbul last month on the eve of the first-leg of the semi-final with Galatasaray.

English hooligans have been terrorizing European cities for years and now that you've gotten a taste of your own medicine you have the nerve to go and portray others as vicious animals?? The stabbings are horrible and should never happen, but now you know how it feels.

yes those poor innocent english football fans... just minding their own business ... get mindlessly loaded ... harrassing passersby... provoking fistfights ... urinating in public fountains ... smashing windows ... insulting people who don't look like them

you made your bed...

Wow this just shakes heads.I've said this repeadily,fighting over soccer games just shouldn't happen.What does it accomplish?

do yourself a favor and read "among the thugs" to get a little perspective.

as an american i love to watch international football but the violence and hatred associated with the sport is mind-boggling.

of course in europe you have replaced centuries of warfare with football violence. in the end you guys all hate each other and the new outlet is hooliganism.

europe is racist and xenophobic. in america we love our sports but it is in better perspective. sports violence is rare here. 50,000 fans can hang out here without chasing each other or being babysat by a legion of machine-gun wielding soldiers, and without hearing racial epithets like "wogs out" or monkey noises whenever a black player touches a ball.

europe is an amazing place but this tradition of football violence is a disgrace. and to hear british fans act holier than thou is just too ironic.

but what the hell, if you guys are going to kill each other over a f*cking game, i'm fascinated to watch it.

rdcalderon

"and to hear british fans act holier than thou is just too ironic."

I believe they are English fans not British. There is a difference!!

thanks for the correction mark

sorry about that

Untill they get on to the field I think this hole thing has nothing to do with soccer. It has to do with to different races colliding. And we have found the simple excuse that football does this to people. Yes violence does exist in soccer and it should radicaly be elliminated.

[This message has been edited by Kostas 7 (edited 05-16-2000).]

rdcalderon,

No worries!

rcalderon and Kill4benficas comments at the beginning of this thread are pathetic and cowardly.
Also the title of the topic is pathetic and cowardly.
Any excuse to take a cheap shot at anyone from any country huh?
Someone got stabbed. Our game has a disgraceful element to it.

RCalderon

You are one stupid F*ck. I just love the way you generalize and try to pass off American sports as innocent and pure.

Oh it's only the Europeans that are indecent and cause chaos in the courts and in the stands right ?

What about fighting basketball players like Charles Barkley and Rodman >? What about baseball players charging the mound ? What about riots in the baseball fields ? Last night Dodgers players fought with fans because one of them got his hat takena way !!! Remember when disco albums were burnt in a baseball fields in the early eighties ? What about Bobby Knight ??? A coach that is insulting, instigative and indecent ???!!!
Don't tell me that hockey is so peaceful and cooperative. There are always fights and violence. Even videos are marketed of riots and fights in the stadiums in the U.S.

You are one stupid @ss. Don't you dare stigmatize our game with your generalized and idiotic comments. Kocklicker. You make me laugh.

TeKNoS

RDCaleron - Europe is "racist and xenophobic" and America isn't - don't make me laugh. The place where Black families in middle class neighbourhoods have crosses placed on their lawns (source : Panarama). A society which was bult on slavery, a place where 50 years ago certain groups couldn't vote, a society intolerate of new immigrants, where 45% of black children live below the poverty line compared to 10% of white children, where blacks and hispanics make up 22% of the population but have NOT ONE senator, where in California illegal immigrants were denied healthcare, where their children were denied access to schools, where there is strong anti-hispanic feeling in many southern states - and we're racist? Get a grip - we're an entire continent not just one country, and as such you can't define us as racist. Don't get me wrong, I love the states and I'm not implying that RDCalderon is racist. I'm just pointing out that all countries have shortcomings, many of them involving race. OK so Britain isn't great, but neither is the USA.
What we have here is a disgrace which should shock everyone here - be there Tuirkish, British, American whatever. The first thing to note is that the title of this topic is ridiculous as it makes the Turks seem like killers. To those who call the Turks a violent race - what evidence have you? The actions of a small group in Istanbul and one or two idiots in Denmark. And please note - our fans (by that I mean English fans) have been a disgrace over the years. They shame Britain, and are not helped by stupid tabloids like The Sun giving one sided arguments which always make our fans seem perfect.
However the most important thing to note is that hooligans are a small minority of fans - in both sides. I think both would be there to watch the game. Thank you for reading this, don't hesitate to reply, and RD - sorry if I sounded a bit annoyed in the first part of this post - no offence, eh?

The difference between Europe and USA is there are no youth gangs organized under pretext of being a sports supporters clubs. In USA gangs are too busy doing things like dealing drugs and robbing people to care about sports.

schumacher...

i did not mean to understate social problems in the united states... yes we have them. we have more crime than europe and we struggle to be more inclusive in our society. minorities do not get a fair shake in america. we have our share of racist idiots.

But i have been to europe plenty of times, and although i love it, europeans in general tend to be intensely nationalistic and although they all get along for the most part, deep seated, centuries old national rivalries emerge in the arena of soccer. now there are plenty of europeans who dislike football (maybe a majority) so this obviously does not apply to them or to those who simply love the sport but love mankind also. nevertheless many football fans behave in a disgusting manner that is racist and nationalist.

when i went to a bar in nyc to watch the uefa cup final there were turks and english cheering their teams on. i really couldn't understand what the turks were saying but they just seemed to be having fun, singing that gala song, cimbombom. but some of the arsenal fans were chanting some sick things... "you are sh*t" and stuff like that.

now i am not saying that there are no fights in american sports... of course there are... but cmon you can see an obvious difference between football hooligans and a batter charging a pitcher in a baseball game. if there was just an occasional fight between 2 football players i don't think anyone would consider it a problem. it is the fact that racist idiots are travelling long distances to vent suppressed national hatreds... thats a problem. when the ny yankees go to boston to play the red sox a crowd of fans dont go running through boston market smashing windows and beating opposing fans with chairs.

anyway enough of that

congrats to galatasaray ... they played better (even if the british press doesn't think so) and they deserved to win.



[This message has been edited by rdcalderon (edited 05-17-2000).]

How can kill4Benfica and RDCalderon justify their comments? It's true a small minority of English fans do spoil it for others, just as a small minority from any nation do, but trouble seems to follow Galatasaray.

"You made your bed" said one of you, does this mean that as a loyal Newcastle supporter, when I go abroad to watch my team play (as I have done, and seen no trouble in Barcelona or Eindhoven) I can expect to be stabbed for "being English". This is an awful generalisation, there is no excuse for stabbing, which is attempted murder, by the way.

Think about it, folks

I'm with you - Gala deserved it and the people causing violence should just get a life and find something infinitely more interesting to do. I'm off to watch the England-Zimbabwe test match which should hopefully be England-defeat and hooligan free http://www.soccergaming.com/ubb/smile.gif

RDCalderon - Point taken. I have to admit I would think twice before taking anybody under the age of 15 with me to a football match here - the last one I was at not only featured racial abuse against black players on the other team, but threats to the opposition fans and bad language. This was all bravado, but it would still be scary for the person hearing it for the first time.
The fact that fans travel miles just to cause trouble is stupid, as are national rivalries (ie England and Scotland, even though they're the same country!). So point taken, soccer in Europe has a lot of racial and violent problems.
Also agree with you on the point of Gala playing better. I thought they should have won it in normal time, and when Hagi was sent off they were holding on. As for today - Come on England!!!

7-1 and Cad****'s broken through http://www.soccergaming.com/ubb/smile.gif

lmao

Thats CADD|CK. http://www.soccergaming.com/ubb/smile.gif

I saw live coverage from Copenhagan the day before the game...the turkish fans started it and when the english fans tried to stop they started it again...

Ban Galatasary (ar any turkish fans) from going abroad and ban foreign fans from turkey for their own good

Why have it lately English being always being stabbed by the Turkish??? just wondering.....

Banning any Club from competions because of crowd violence may sound like a good idea but it's not the solution. Most of these thugs are not football fans but merely rentamob idiots whose only goal in life is to cause trouble. They are probably not even season ticket holders and couldn't tell you the names of the players in "their" team if you asked them.
Most of the older members of this forum from the UK may remember the "football casuals" of the late 70's and early 80's. They were just ****heads who liked getting into fights on a Saturday afternoon, they never wore colours (hence the name), and sometimes didn't even go to the match, just waiting outside or near the grounds to ambush anyone they thought they'd like to beat up.
Liverpool were banned after Hiesel which did no good at all and just hurt the true supporters of the Club.
This is my opinion, it may not be yours, but hey, that's life.

Just though i would throw my two bits in on two fronts:

1. I am getting a little tired of the history of English hooliganism being brought to bear as some sort of defense against the violence which has surrounded Gala's European ties. The casuals of the '70's and '80's were a horrible problem which needed to be dealt with, and English clubs were punished severely (and deservedly). I am sure I will receive a lot of heat for this (from some I REALLY RESPECT ON THIS FORUM, LIKE POLISH POWER,) but I think if the Istanbul incident had occured in England, and English fans were to blame, UEFA would have been much more severe in punishing an English club.

I am not in denial of continued fan violence which plagues football in England. On the contrary I read British press, and I find it to be incredibly self-critical and grave on current issues of hooliganism in England. So I just don't understand why the same issue cannot be broached concerning Turkish fans. People that are condemning all Turks as "animals" or whatever - well, they are just completely moronic fools and I want no part of that rubbish.

My point is simple: England has a hooligan problem, Holland has a hooligan problem, Germany has a hooligan problem. Isn't it possible that Turkey may have a problem as well?

2. My second "front" may seem partisan considering part one, so please don't read it as such. But I am really astonished at the overwhelming number of people who are saying that Gala dominated that final. (And I am not the British press - just an ignorant American.) Did you all watch the same game I did? The countless Arsenal chances pulled wide of Gala's goal? The faboulous saves made by Taffarel? The unbelievable man-marking that Keown did on Sukur? Hagi orchestrated some beautiful moves, but Ovemars was devestating down the left flank early on and Henry, well, pretty much the whole game.

What Gala did, was play brilliant tactically, especially after Hagi was (unjustly) sent off. They played for PK's and it worked. Everyone knows if it goes to PK's an English team is done.

In closing my insomniac rant, I would actually like to congratulate Galatasary. I realized after the game that the cup means so much more to Gala's fans and Turkey as a whole. Arsenal's fans (and Lee Dixon!) would probably still see it as a second rate, "didn't get it done in the Champions League", consolation prize.

it was clear from the beginning that Gala were defending,they wanted to stay back and take their chances on the break,they defended well,and werelucky to have Taffarel of it'd have been done early,Arsenal are guilty of not attacking eith unough power,they were always 2 or 3 players from Arsenal against 6 or 7 Gala Players and they were still Dangerous!
Arsenal's style was idel only if they were 1-0 up!
cheers

I thought Gala dominated the game. They hit the post, and Arsenal only came into it in the last 20 minutes or so of normal time.

I just heard 8 Turks died in Turkey after some "celebrations".Gun shots were fired and a 2 year old was shot.Maybe some of our Turkish fans can tell us if thats true??

PS I'm not being sarcastic,I am really wondering.