So Leeds did. Fallows is a security guard with ample experience. 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. Read about our approach to external linking. There was nothing you could say to him. Andy has paid for the plaque to be cleaned a couple of times and it could do with another polish now. The driver said hed turn it off but I wanted to listen to it. The Turkish side are hated by those at Elland Road after two travelling fans were stabbed to death by Galatasaray supporters prior to the UEFA Cup semi-final in 2000. Tributes began to cover the gates and the Billy Bremner Statue at Elland Road. The Turkish media tried to blame English fans for provoking the violence by being drunk and disrespecting the Turkish flag. If someone could have shown me those levels of intimidation, Id have refused to play the game unhesitatingly. From 5pm local time more than 100 Leeds fans had arrived shouting, singing and demanding beer, according to Batu Dedeler, the bar owner. Thats just how the system worked. [42] Arsenal fans also criticised the police, claiming that they had been slow to intervene and were "too soft" on the hooligans. The plaque on the wall by Elland Roads East Stand says Never Forgotten and Leeds United swore themselves to those words. Some headed for the James Joyce pub 200 metres away and joined a sing-song against Galatasaray. Everything happened in a flash. He started shouting for Christopher to wake up. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. But it had to be done., In the circumstances, did it surprise Fallows that the game in Istanbul went ahead? [47] Michael Doherty, the chairman of the Communication Workers Union, and his brother Tom took Royal Mail to an Employment Tribunal for unfair dismissal claiming they had been acting in self-defence. He just happened to run into some tossers with knives., George was so young that the aftermath almost strayed into boyhood adventure. [12] However, there were conflicting reports, with claims that some Galatasaray fans were instigating some of the violence. The set of knives, emblazoned with Galatasaray's colours, are produced by Dutch firm Senvi and are available for 22. The potential for trouble was as high as anything Id been involved in. Speight arrived soon after and was seen chatting to midfielder Alan Smith as they walked through the breezy foyer at Ataturk Airport. A lot of what the police were doing was pure intimidation, Fallows says. 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? And worse things too. It didnt sit right with me. They thought we were looking for a sporting advantage, which is just incredible. Spencer stepped in and paid with his personal credit card. Football and Leedss financial collapse made Ridsdale persona non grata at Elland Road but George says his mums face lit up when she heard that he was being interviewed for this article. The atmosphere was electric like, scarily electric. According to a waiter at a nearby restaurant, the Turkish club's fanatical fans had heard through the grapevine that trouble was brewing. By the time the match kicked off, the ramifications of two fatal stabbings the previous. [38] In Turkey, the media portrayed Galatasaray fans as acting in self-defence, with criticism directed at the British fans for allegedly attacking members of the press. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Last year, on the 20th anniversary of the killings in Istanbul, The Athletic spoke to some of the people closest to the tragedy and some of the people most affected by it. The brothers went to the British Embassy but, in Andys words, found them to be worse than useless. 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. Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. I cant explain it but I got this weird feeling, he says. Jesus. 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. 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. 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. ", Get the FREE Mirror Football newsletter with the day's key headlines and transfer news straight into your inbox. 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. For players and supporters alike, this has become one of the most fraught and difficult venues in Europe. [37] Leeds United also banned three of their fans from Elland Road after they had been identified in pictures of the riots. 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. 13:02 EST 23 Mar 2021 The brother of one of two Leeds United fans killed in Turkey 20 years ago says his death is "still fresh in my memory". The passing of time is there in all of them. It makes me proud. Like his father, George has the nickname Spag. By 10.30pm some of the rowdiest fans left the James Joyce and joined a crowd outside McDonalds just off Taksim Square. The first the Leeds players heard of the incident in Taksim Square was when phone calls started reaching them in their hotel. 12/02/2021 . After a while, Andys eldest brother Phil complained of feeling ill and the two of them decided to go back to their hotel. One Love was a controlled situation. [44], In the United Kingdom, the Daily Mirror newspaper printed pictures of Arsenal fans alleged to have been part of the violence. A week or so later, we lost 4-0 to Arsenal. I tried telling Galatasarays staff to get them out. Four people were stabbed in the scuffles, which also involved fans from other clubs and were viewed by the media as part of a retaliation for the killing of two Leeds United fans by Galatasaray supporters the month before. UEFA also requested that fences be put up around the perimeter of the pitch. I feel everything: anger, sadness. 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. I am happy and I hope everyone else can be too. The security guard who was in Turkey with the clubs players and directors is into his 50s and taking it easy after neck surgery. 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. Alioski had less of a cross to bear. Soon, they arrived at a flight of steps and a spot which would generate one of the lasting images of the entire tragedy. People speak well of him. [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. Right up to the attack, I didnt see any trouble. Other fans in Istanbul spoke of isolated incidents here and there but nothing serious. We tried to keep a lot of the information about what had happened [to Speight and Loftus] from them, rightly or wrongly. [41] It was noted by Turkish newspaper, Radikal that cannabis was being freely traded in the city square during the time before the riots, and the police did nothing about it. junio 12, 2022. abc news anchors female philadelphia . Kevin Fallows was the clubs head of security and travelled with the players to all their fixtures in Europe. Anger: Leeds fans are angry that Galatasaray's Wesley Sneijder has announced a new knife range on the 15th anniversary of the stabbing of two fans in Istanbul, Violence: An injured fan is taken away after riots between Leeds and Galatasaray fans before match in Turkey, Horror: A fan is escorted away from the violence by a police officer after riots between Leeds and Galatasaray fans. [19] The Danish police then moved in to separate the fans, and moved the Galatasaray fans back towards the square. For George, the clearest memories of his dad are few and slightly random. He was taken to identify the other, Chris Loftus, in the morgue after doctors mistook him for a family member. Andys last memory of Chris is of him rolling his eyes sarcastically and ribbing him for leaving early, in brotherly style. My instinct was that we had to know what was happening, Ridsdale says. Galatasaray accused him of trying to gain an unfair sporting advantage. Staff said many fans were drunk by 10pm, intimidating Turkish families drinking in the lounge. [34] The Copenhagen riots followed a long line of similar events involving English football fans, and in June, UEFA's executive committee listed the Heysel Stadium disaster, disorders in Charleroi and Brussels, the killing of the two Leeds fans in Istanbul, and the Copenhagen riots and warned the British government that if there was any more rioting then England would be expelled from Euro 2000. Leeds will on Saturday afternoon mark 15 years since the deaths of supporters Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight, who were stabbed by a Galatasaray fan in April 2000.