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A poco più di un anno di distanza dai fatti sono finiti davanti alle corti di giustizia gli ultimi soggetti imputati dei fatti violenti accaduti prima del match tra Coventry e Leicester dello scorso campionato (foto). Gli episodi coinvolsero un numero rilevante di persone in quello che sembra essere stato uno scontro preparato a tavolino, come lascerebbero presupporre telefonate fra esponenti delle due “firms”. Sono stati individuati trentasei soggetti coinvolti negli scontri che durarono quasi cinque minuti prima di essere sedati dall’ intervento degli agenti di polizia. Fanno discutere anche le gesta delle nuove leve, i cosiddetti “under 5′”, del Lincoln ma ancora di più le mezze verità e gli oscuri giochi di potere  sulle competenze e sulla gestione dei “budgets” anti-hooligans Queste “guerre intestine” ai soggetti preposti avrebbero consentito a frange della tifoseria  del Lincoln di agire in situazioni di superficiale controllo dell’ ordine pubblico in un quadro in cui non mancherebbero superficialità e dichiarazioni di comodo. Quello che emerge riusulta un contesto a dire poco imbarazzante.

How Earlsdon erupted in violence
Coventry Telegraph
07 April 2009
By Emma Stone

“The CCTV images of Coventry football hooligans clashing with Leicester fans, in Earlsdon, have been released by West Midlands Police to the Telegraph after the last of the supporters appeared before the courts.
Up to 100 men were seen chanting, fighting and throwing missiles at each other, as the rival gangs clashed in Earlsdon Avenue South on February 23 last year.
The violent crowd armed themselves with pool cues and balls and road signs, as they squared up to each other, forcing innocent bystanders to flee into shops and a nearby church.
A city mother also told police how she pulled her two young children to safety behind a parked car to escape the baying mob of football hooligans on the rampage.
The young family were forced to watch on in horror as Coventry and Leicester fans fought just yards away from them.
The hooligans clashed for four and a half minutes before they were tackled by riot police arriving on the scene.
Police based at Chace Avenue police station in Willenhall launched Operation Net News – which resulted in the largest number of people ever convicted in the city for one incident of football-related violence.
The police investigation led to 36 people, including four juveniles, being put before the courts. The final three appeared at Coventry Crown Court on Friday to plead guilty to their involvement in the violence. Detective Constable Paul Parnum, based at Chace Avenue police station, spent 23 weeks trawling CCTV footage of the violent clash and soon the day’s events became clear to the investigating officers.
Captured by the 24 cameras inside the City Arms pub, Leicester City supporters were seen arriving from 9.55am.
Meanwhile a contingent of Coventry fans began congregating at the Spencer Sports and Social Club in Albany Road, just yards away.
By the time two police officers entered the City Arms on routine patrols, just before 11.30am, there were already a large number of Leicester fans inside the pub.
Detective Sergeant Stu Grundy, of Chace Avenue police station, said: “There was a uniformed sergeant on football spotting duties. He is doing his rounds at various licensed premises. At one location in Earlsdon he saw the Coventry supporters. His next port of call was the City Arms.
“When he went in there he saw 80 faces he doesn’t recognise. He came out of the pub and got on the radio but the 80-strong crowd follow him outside.”
The men were then captured on camera using their mobile phones. It is believed they were contacting the Coventry mob and telling them they have been noticed by the police, and the clash needed to happen right away. They are then seen putting on hats and scarves before leaving the pub.
Soon after the Leicester men are seen filing out of the pub, while the Coventry mob are seen walking along Albany Road and through the Earlsdon back streets towards the City Arms, prompting numerous calls to 999 from nearby residents.
Seeing the Coventry fans were not in position, many of the Leicester group walked backed inside the pub to wait – showing their faces to the pub’s CCTV cameras and providing the police with some of their best CCTV evidence.
After identifying the men inside the pub officers were then able to track the individuals through the melee and establish the parts they played.
Once back outside the pub, the clash began on the streets and the two officers – who had been in the area beforehand – were forced to wait until back-up arrived.
Some arrests were made on the day and those near the pub at the time of the clash were videoed and their details taken.
An incident room was opened at Chace Avenue police station and officers began the mammoth task of analysing CCTV footage from the scene.Det Con Parnum said: “The floor was littered with glass, pool cues and pool balls.
“There was a family with two children walking up the street. They had to go onto a private drive and hide behind a car to get away from it.”
Det Con Parnum spent 23 weeks analysing the CCTV footage frame by frame.
Preparing a case for each of the defendants, a red circle was drawn around an individual and then they were tracked throughout the brawl.
Det Sgt Grundy said: “It’s fair to say, even some of the defence solicitors have commented on the professional quality of the CCTV evidence.”
As well as collecting evidence through CCTV footage, officers also began questioning witnesses, compiling more than 300 statements.
Three months after the incident, the Coventry officers had collected enough evidence to execute a series of co-ordinated dawn raids across Coventry and Leicester.
The raids impacted the force as a whole, with a total of 130 officers from stations across the West Midlands being drafted into assist in the swoops on 20 houses.
Further arrests were also made after CCTV footage was published in the Telegraph, showing some of the offenders.
Det Sgt Grundy said: “If you compare this to a murder incident room it is totally different.
“With a murder there is a lot of information to work on at an early stage. With this you started with virtually nothing and you have to generate evidence by making arrests.”
It is believed the violence was pre-planned, most notably because there had never been a clash of that type in Earlsdon before, the City Arms pub lies just outside the four-mile radius from the Ricoh Arena – the normal distance that must be adhered to in football banning orders and the time of day the clash took place.
Det Sgt Grundy added: “This has wiped out a core element, which will prevent violence in the future.
“This will act as a deterrent to others.”

The Storm Arrives!
Vital Football
07 April 2009

A Humberside police officer has revealed the truth behind the banning order attempt that failed in the recent match between Grimsby and Lincoln on March 7th 2009.While at the time not many people were aware of a huge political game that was being played between GTFC and Humberside Police.

The reason’s we can reveal – which we are sure we shouldn’t but due to a source close to the club who has revealed these figures- are due to Humberside police charging GTFC around £60,000 a year in policing costs which does not include fee’s added on for the police entering the ground to help with any crowd trouble, unless previously agreed.
While not many will know much about the policing cost’s the reason GTFC are so unhappy about this is, down the a46 Lincoln City club are charged only £20,000 a year + added cost’s no where near the amount of GTFC even though Lincolnshire Police force are the most under-budgeted force in the country.
The police not only applied for the banning order because of GTFC refusing to allow the game at 12pm as police wanted it was due to the Money and in the words of the police officer ‘the under 5 element’.
The Humberside police officer revealed that Lincoln’s Under 5’s – Trouble makers under or around 18 were some of the worst in the league and had on several occasions previously in the season been at the centre of trouble, with Lincolnshire police having to CS gas them and batter them with batons one example of this was Lincoln Vs Rotherham on Feb 28th and violence at another previous game was vs Kettering when Lincoln were knocked out of the cup by the Conference side.
This will come as a shock to most as a police statement at the time, said that the banning order was made for public safety – would alot of overdressed in fake designer gear really cause that much trouble – the answer NO.
There was one ‘flashpoint’ according to this officer and this was away from the ground and was delt with efficiently and quickly.
Humberside police do have the powers to turn away fans who they believe will cause trouble and they had information who was due to cause the trouble so the question is: Why were this allowed to travel to Grimsby when they were fully aware of their intent? Why weren’t they turned around under police section 27?
This officer revealed many have been given banning orders from GTFC this season and while we have to agree with their efforts why can they not issue the same people ASBO’s banning them from hanging in groups of more than 3 on match day’s?
The police have all these power’s surely its about time they used them to the better, instead of constantly targeting those who are law-abiding citizen’s who just want to watch their football team playing.
The day in question was marked as a success with hardly any arrests being made – the officer in question refused to release details – not a first for Humberside Police- but would only say it was a ‘minimum’.
The day was also a huge success when fans from both clubs came together in an attempt to show the police, and the locals that football violence isnt wanted and isnt the answer, they held a charity football game and had an amazing day with a return match now being arranged.
A few weeks later, Aldershot Town came to Grimsby in a crunch match in which one unsavioury incident dented the whole day.
Time for the truth on this matter.
The coach was NOT attacked by football fan’s.
The coaches were all told to stop and wait for a police escort, and told to keep all passengers on board, one coach allowed two passenger’s to leave the coach and cause trouble with local people – in which the police have said are not football fans, nor do they go to the matches – meanwhile the other two coaches IGNORED the police request for them to wait and left without a escort.
The police then pulled the coaches over and told them to stop for the second time, this is when they were escorted by the police.
While this was happening, a group of youth’s from the local area, attacked one ARB coach with stones and rubble and this is when the window was smashed, the police while accept there was problems, think this is a isolated incident and was mainly down to a few idiotic Aldershot fan’s causing trouble with local chav’s.
The police have said the coaches could face losing their licence due to failing to comply with police order’s regarding the escort.”