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Una voce si è levata in Scozia a favore della libera vendita di alcool in occasione di incontri di calcio. L’ imprevista quanto gradita iniziativa è di Archie Mac Pherson, divenuto celebre per avere commentato in tv i gravissimi disordini di una vecchia sfida ad “Hampden Park” tra Rangers e Celtic. La sua opinione è che, a distanza di tanti anni, ai tifosi dovrebbero essere nuovamente concesse maggiori opportunità, ivi compresa quella di sorseggiare qualche pinta (foto). La violenza dagli stadi del Regno Unito, tuttavia, non è certo sparita come testimoniano i guai giudiziari di sei tifosi in occasione di una gara tra Huddersfield e Leicester e di altri quattro in relazione a scontri in stazione a margine di un match dell’ Aldershot. E’ andata meglio, invece,ad un sostenitore del Barrow che ha evitato un “banning order”. Infine la polizia sta cercando di identificare almeno una cinquantina di fans del Chelsea che avrebbero intonato cori antisemiti rivolti alla tifoseria del Tottenham. Il club ha promesso agli investigatori la massima collaborazione; il presidente dei “Blues” Abramovich, fra l’ altro, è di religione ebraica.
Time to allow alcohol at Scottish football matches – and prove fans can be trusted, says Archie MacPherson
Scottish Daily Record
06 October 2009
ARCHIE Macpherson once commentated on a full-scale drink fuelled riot between Old Firm fans at the end of a Scottish Cup Final at Hampden.
Now the man who provided one ofTV’s most memorable soundbites when he said “Let’s never forget these people hate each other” is advocating the return of alcohol at Scotland’s football grounds.The pitch battle in 1980 that saw mounted police baton-charge the brawling fans who had spilled on to the field after Celtic’s extra time win over Rangers brought government legislation into being.The Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act took carry-outs away from those only interested in a carry on.Archie watched the Old Firm battle it out at Ibrox on Sunday as agitated fans attempted to get on to the park. It would have convinced a traumatised neutral observer the game’s version of prohibition should remain firmly in place.But Macpherson is convinced it’s time to trust the fans after 30 years of abstinence. He said: “The game needs a lift. If I’m being honest I’m pessimistic about the immediate future. But pessimism isn’t the same thing as throwing in the towel.”I don’t go on about the good old days when the Old Firm were a force to be reckoned with in Europeì.”That’s a negative contribution to make and does no one any good. I want to think of things that will help supporters develop a stronger bond with the game.”There’s no way out of Scottish football for Celtic and Rangers. The SPL don’t want to see it happen and the clubs have exhausted every avenue in a failed attempt to make it happen.”What we need to do now is understand the Old Firm give Scottish football its identity. They draw out the fans of other clubs who go to their team’s games in the hope they can put one over on the Big Two.”We need to appreciate what the pair of them have brought to the game in a positive sense and free their fans, and everybody else, from the alcohol ban as part of a marketing ploy.”I meant it when I said the supporters hated each other at Hampden in 1980. That moment of live TV gave me the chance to vent my feelings on the subject o sectarianism and bigotry. I think I enjoyed the battle more than the game.”But now the rivalry the Old Firm supporters have is a lot more easily managed than it once was.Things are better to the extent it’s time to show the Celtic and Rangers fans have a greater maturity.”If alcohol was allowed back inside grounds it would show fans are more mature than they were three decades ago. I’d have bars inside, anything to help the SPL get more people back in.”Archie sees few things that build a bridge between the past and present but Rangers’ manager Walter Smith is one of them.He said: “I came up in the era of Jock Stein and Willie Waddell. They were giants of the game born into the wrong age because we could do with their wisdom now. But there are still respected figures today and I count Walter among them for his longevity, dignity and perseverance.”People like him are needed when the game is under great pressure. Scottish football needs a masterplan and the right people to implement it.”Football has given me a good living over five decades in the media and I want to continue my love affair with the game.”I like to watch this terrific young Motherwell side. Hibs have re-emerged thanks to talents like Liam Miller. I want to see the SPL find a decent third-placed side.”The Old Firm’s dominance will never be questioned but a credible third force would be nice.”Archie the TV icon made it to the silver screen when his description of Archie Gemmill’s historic goal against Holland in the 1978 World Cup finals appeared in the Trainspotting movie.He said: “Big Jock Stein said when Archie picked up the ball I sounded like a man at a funeral but as Gemmill weaved in and out of player after player I went from the funeral to a birthday party then on to ‘whooping it up at a waddin’ ‘.”I commentated on the Tartan Army as they tore down the goals and ripped up the pitch atWembley.”I was surrounded by indignant Englishmen on the TV gantry and tried to introduce some sedate words to the occasion. All the time I was dying to be out there swinging from a crossbar.”You could have a carry-out and a carry-on in those days. It’s time to bring them back.”
Jail threat for yobs after Huddersfield Town v Leicester City clashes
Huddersfield Examiner
06 October 2009
by Roy Wright
SOCCER yobs have been warned they could be jailed.
Six men who have admitted being involved in town centre violence following Huddersfield Town’s match with Leicester City a year ago are to be sentenced next month.
And they were released on bail with a judge warning that custody was an option.It is also thought that police will be seeking to have football banning orders imposed on the men, stopping them from going to any football matches at home or abroad.Thomas Wilson, 29, of Leeds Road, Huddersfield, and 20-year-old Kierran Kavanagh, of Armitage Bridge House, Huddersfield, had been due to stand trial on an allegation of affray yesterday.But their guilty pleas to the lesser charge of threatening behaviour were accepted by the prosecution at Bradford Crown Court.A third defendant 23-year-old Michael McCabe, of Lipscombe Street, Huddersfield, was also due to stand trial at Bradford Crown Court, but a not guilty verdict was recorded in his case and he was bound over in the sum of £250 to keep the peace for the next 12 months.Prosecutor Andrew Kershaw told Recorder Paul Sloan QC that McCabe had been on the fringes of the disorder on October 4 last year, but he only began misbehaving after “some slightly rough treatment” at the hands of the police.“He has indicated his willingness to be bound over,” said Mr Kershaw.Recorder Sloan was told that four other men were already awaiting sentence after pleading guilty to affray and he agreed to grant Wilson and Kavanagh bail while pre-sentence reports are prepared on them.But he warned the duo that all options, including custody, would be available to the judge who deals with the case on November 13.It is expected that the hearing for the six defendants could last half a day because video footage of the violence will be shown to the judge and the prosecution will also be making applications for football banning orders.The trouble flared in the town centre after Leicester had won the match 3-2 on October 4 last year.The game attracted a crowd of 16,212 to the Galpharm Stadium – the third highest of the season.
Football hooligans sentenced for train clash
Get Hampshire
06 October 2009
By Nicola Hudson
FOUR football hooligans have been sentenced for taking part in a confrontation at Ash Vale railway station after an Aldershot Town match.
On October 18 last year, Mark Purcell, 41, Darren Payne, 24, Christopher Peirce, 37, and 20-year-old Benjamin Smith joined a 20-strong group at the station to confront Brentford supporters.On Monday, the men pleaded guilty to public order offences at Guildford Magistrates’ Court.District Judge Lewis handed down sentences to each of them on Tuesday, condemning their actions in what he described as a mock violent incident.He said: “You were no doubt looking forward to a fight, which would have been terrifying to the passengers on the train and could have done serious damage, not to mention serious harm.”“I accept that none of you have been shown to be an organiser or even one of those who drove to the station for the fight.“You can have had little doubt about what you were joining and the fact that this incident was dispersed without any great harm being done is of great credit to the swift action of police officers.”Purcell, of Keith Lucas Road in Farnborough, was sentenced to carry out 200 hours of community work and was banned from attending football matches for three years.Payne, of Guildford Road, Aldershot, and Peirce, of Station Road, Aldershot, were given 12-week prison sentences, suspended for two years, and each ordered to do 220 hours of unpaid work. They also received four-year football bans.Smith, of Manor Road in Ash, was given a 100-hour community order and a three-year football ban.The banning orders also mean all four men are forbidden from travelling on any train or underground network four hours before and after an Aldershot Town match.They must each pay £250 costs.Liam Stone, 21, of Denmark Square, Aldershot, and Darren Lawrence, 37, of Gloucester Road, Aldershot, also pleaded guilty to the public order offences.They will be sentenced at a later date.
A BARROW AFC fan escaped a football banning order after being found guilty of punching a police officer at Holker Street.
Paul Darren Christian, of Duddon Drive, Walney, was instead placed under a three-month curfew with tagging.The case arose from a melee following Barrow’s home Easter Monday game against York when a group of AFC supporters shouted abuse at rival fans and police.
Christian, 42, pleaded not guilty to assaulting Colin Dunne, a constable in the execution of his duty, when he appeared before Furness magistrates.But he was found guilty after a day-long trial.Christian – who denied the allegation of punching the officer – was ordered to remain at home on Friday, Saturday and Sundays between noon and midnight until December 28.He is to be electronically monitored and was also ordered to pay £125 costs to the Crown Prosecution Service.The prosecution had sought a banning order but the court was not satisfied that it would help to prevent violence or disorder at or in connection with any regulated football matches.Magistrates accepted that it was an isolated incident and that Christian had no history of football-related violence.Defence barrister Mr James Haworth said it was ‘atypical’ behaviour by his client who had been an AFC supporter for 32 years without previous incident.Four other fans – including the defendant’s 18-year-old son Jamie Mease-Christian – were dealt with in Furness Magistrates’ Court earlier last week after admitting public order offences at the same game.And as a result, one of them – 47-year-old Stephen McCormick – became the fourth Bluebirds supporter in three months to be barred from every football ground in England and Wales.
Police study Chelsea fans’ racist chants
The Times
07 October 2009
Footage of West London club’s followers singing racist and anti-semitic songs provokes official complaint from rivals
Tottenham Hotspur have made a complaint to Chelsea after about 50 of the West London club’s fans were filmed making racist and anti-Semitic chants before their 2-1 victory away to Stoke City last month.
Chelsea have said that the footage, which shows only the faces of a handful of supporters, has been passed on to police and they have confirmed that they will ban any supporter who can be identified and is found guilty.Clips of the incident were posted on the YouTube website. They show a group of Chelsea fans chanting anti-Semitic songs while standing on the concourse of the Britannia Stadium.There has been a storm of protest from Tottenham supporters to their club, Chelsea and the FA, the last of which has launched a crackdown on the behaviour of supporters after several ugly incidents this season. The FA could request that Stoke City make available all CCTV footage of the incident.Chelsea, whose owner, Roman Abramovich, is Jewish, said that they have previously banned some fans from Stamford Bridge for singing anti-Semitic songs. “Chelsea utterly condemns all forms of discrimination, including anti-Semitic chanting, as we are sure do the vast majority of our fans,” the club said in a statement.“If we are provided with evidence that season ticket-holders or members have engaged in such activity we will take the strongest possible action, including supporting criminal prosecution.”The club said that there was increased police surveillance for the home 3-0 victory over Tottenham last month, when they made special mention of the issue in the match programme. “Anti-Semitism is unacceptable, shames the club and the vast majority of our very well-behaved fans and jeopardises what coming to Stamford Bridge should be about,” the club said at the time.Edward Ashwell, the Chelsea head of security, replied to one Spurs fan who made a complaint after viewing the footage. “Thank you for the information, we were already aware of it and it is being investigated by the police,” he said.Eleven Tottenham fans were arrested for shouting homophobic abuse at Sol Campbell, the former Portsmouth defender, during a match at Fratton Park last season. Four men pleaded guilty to the offence in January and each was sentenced to a three-year football banning order and a fine. Three men and two 15-year-old boys were given police cautions. Two, who had pleaded not guilty, had convictions overturned on appeal last month.