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Dopo il pareggio di Lione, con i “Reds” raggiunti allo scadere, l’ allenatore del Liverpool Rafa Benitez ha dichiarato di nutrire ancora speranze che la propria squadra possa raggiungere il turno successivo di “Champions’ League”. E’ , invece, buona la posizione di classifica delle altre tre inglesi ( Chelsea, Man U e Arsenal ) nei rispettivi gruppi.Le tifoserie di Glasgow sono al centro dell’ attenzione dopo gli incidenti di ieri a Bucarest tra tifosi dei Rangers e personale di sicurezza in servizio allo stadio. Le scarse condizioni dell’ impianto avrebbero giocato un ruolo importante, scatenando la reazione dei supporters dei “Gers” costretti a lunghe file per accedere agli spalti. La polizia avrebbe reagito, secondo le indiscrezioni, con cariche ed utilizzo di gas agli sfondamenti effettuati dai tifosi ospiti che dentro lo stadio hanno proseguito la loro battaglia venendo a contatto con gli stewards in servizio e sradicando e lanciando seggiolini. La società di “Ibrox” ha anticipato un rapporto all’ UEFA dove, insieme alla condanna degli scontri, si accuserà l’inadeguatezza dell’ impianto e si criticherà l’ utilizzo di lacrimogeni da parte degli agenti. Preoccupa anche l’ ordine pubblico in vista di Amburgo- Celtic alla luce degli incidenti nella partita di andata; infatti i sostenitori anseatici sono gemellati con quelli dei Rangers mentre i biancoverdi sono amici di quelli del St.Pauli, l’altra squadra di Amburgo. Due tifosi del Sunderland, infine, sono stati diffidati per incidenti occorsi in Olanda nel precampionato. Proponiamo, infine, un interessante articolo circa la rivalità tra le tifoserie di Cardiff e Swansea, i due clubs gallesi più rinomati e seguiti.
Benitez retains qualifying hope
Benitez saw his Reds denied a win by a late Lyon goal
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Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez refused to concede his side’s hopes of reaching the last 16 of the Champions League were over after a 1-1 draw at Lyon.
The Reds need to beat Debrecen and hope Fiorentina fail to beat Lyon in the next round of group games to stay in the competition.”It is difficult for us to qualify, but not impossible,” said Benitez.
(BBC Sport )
ROMANIACS ( (“The Sun” )
Chaotic scenes were broadcast by Sky Sports as the mob ripped up plastic chairs in the stands and hurled them at stewards.And last night, Gers follower Gordon Hadey, 18, told how innocent fans were forced to flee from cops armed with batons and CS gas as trouble flared.He said: “It was terrifying – the police treated us like animals.”They were attacking the fans at the front for no reason, hitting them with batons and spraying them with gas.”Then they started to come up the stairs towards us, doing the same things. Men were running away from them with huge cuts in their heads, with blood pouring out of them.”It was claimed trouble flared at half-time after a Gers fan was smacked by an official during the 1-1 draw with Unirea Urziceni.Some fans could then be seen goading stadium staff in bright yellow bibs in the stand-off.The stewards tried to push the mob back – but violence erupted again just a few minutes later.One fan was caught on camera wearing a plastic bag over his face to escape the choking spray.An announcement was made over the tannoy warning fans that the game would be suspended if the trouble continued.Sky Sports broadcast pictures of Scots doused by CS gas or pepper spray, as the commentator said: “It doesn’t look good, does it?”Tempers were already running high over rumours that hundreds of fans had been unable to get into the ground.Joiner Gordon, of Larkhall, Lanarkshire, who travelled with 25 pals, said: “Too many Rangers fans were at one door.”They were pushing and pushing and the police were getting angrier.They started spraying the gas at people before they had even got through the doors. People were panicking then.”Ibrox chief executive Martin Bain said: “I am obviously concerned with the scenes from some of the supporters within the stadium.”But he hit out at just two turnstiles being open for fans.He said: “With that being the case there was a surge from the fans to try and get into the game on time, and CS gas was sprayed into the faces as they tried to access the turnstiles.”That therefore led to tension inside the stadium which I find it totally unacceptable, and I will make representation to UEFA.”Last night’s ugly scenes were reminiscent of the UEFA Cup Final in Manchester 18 months ago, when 42 Rangers fans were arrested after clashes with riot police.
Bucharest trouble disappoints Bain
Rangers chief executive Martin Bain has condemned the “unacceptable” behaviour of some of the Glasgow club’s travelling fans in Bucharest.
However Bain was also critical of the Romanian police tactics and poor organisation during Wednesday night’s Champions League match against Unirea Urziceni at the Steaua Stadium.There was unrest as Rangers fans attempted to enter the stadium before kick-off, while reports suggested some away supporters ripped up seats during the match.Bain claimed a promise that four turnstiles would be open for visiting fans was not kept, causing problems which were compounded, he claimed, by police using CS gas against angered Light Blues’ supporters.Bain said on Rangers’ official website: “Obviously the behaviour of some of the fans inside the stadium was unacceptable and no-one likes to see that.”However, what was equally unacceptable was the fact that Rangers came to this stadium with representatives from UEFA and Unirea a number of weeks ago and arranged for the four turnstiles to be open to give access to our supporters.”When they arrived this evening, there were only two turnstiles open which caused difficulty gaining access and fans then to be sprayed with CS gas is totally unacceptable.”I will now make representation to UEFA in their behalf.”Trouble at the match was described as a “minor incident” by Andy Kerr, president of the Rangers Supporters Assembly.Kerr told Sky Sports News: “There was a bit of pressure at the front. Spray was used, which was used before the start of the match, and I think people reacted to that.”I wouldn’t say the Rangers fans did anything wrong. The organisation was very poor.”(Before the match) they had two cordons of barriers to let people through. They used the spray there on more than one occasion and people were quite distressed by that.”Kerr did not see any fans ripping up seats, but stressed such behaviour was unacceptable.“We don’t condone it, we don’t want to see it, but the vast majority of people behaved impeccably,” he said.”In the big scheme of things, (it’s) a minor incident.”Kerr recalled a similar incident at an away game in 2005.”The last incident I could remember was in Bratislava when we played Artmedia,” he said.”They almost seem surprised that we all turn up about a half hour before the game.”
( “Teamtalk” )
Celtic have police in tow with violence threat to tie
The Times
05 November 2009
Graham Spiers
Strathclyde Police sending larger than normal contingent of officers to Germany after intelligence reports predicts trouble
Celtic go into their Europa League group C game against Hamburg in Germany this evening with a threat of crowd trouble hanging over the fixture, according to police intelligence.Strathclyde Police confirmed yesterday that a larger than normal contingent of officers had travelled to Hamburg in order to go undercover at the game. The Old Firm routinely take police officers with them on their travels for security, but a number of tip-offs have led to a belief that the match tonight in the Nordbank Arena might require special vigilance.Over the years, Hamburg fans have built up an alliance with Rangers, in part a reaction to a longstanding relationship between Celtic and St Pauli, Hamburg’s city rivals. There was violence in Glasgow two weeks ago after the Celtic-Hamburg game that the German side won 1-0.“We still hope that the game will pass without incident,” one Scottish police officer who arrived with the Celtic party said yesterday.All this is even before Tony Mowbray tries to resolve his problems on the pitch. Mowbray presided over a 3-0 win for his team over Kilmarnock in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League on Saturday, but knows that tonight will be a different proposition.Celtic are unlikely to play a fit-again Marc-Antoine Fortuné from the start, although Glenn Loovens looks likely to remain in defence at the expense of Stephen McManus, the club captain.“Hamburg will be very much on the front foot — they will come and try to break us down, so that will be the test for us,” Mowbray said. “I said before our games against Arsenal [in the Champions League play-off] that you can’t take on a team of that quality with open, expansive football, because they’d go and beat you. I think that also applies to Hamburg. They might not be of the quality of Arsenal, but they’ve got some very talented players.”Mowbray, who has had a recent altercation with the Scottish media and was in a subdued mood yesterday, reacted disconsolately to a query put to him about a recent Uefa statistic that, having had just 13 shots on target in three Europa League games so far, Celtic were the most shot-shy team in the competition.Mowbray’s men have accrued just one point from their opening three matches against Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Rapid Vienna and Hamburg.“I’m not interested in that,” the Celtic manager said. “Someone told me on the flight coming over here that Juventus have scored three goals in their four [Champions League] matches and have got eight points. So it’s all about results, really.”
Sunderland fans banned after Holland clash
Sunderland Echo
04 November 2009
Two Sunderland fans have been handed football banning orders after trouble on the Black Cats’ pre-season visit to Holland.
Steven Ross, 19, and Derek Grieveson, 44, were among supporters who travelled to the Netherlands for the four-team Amsterdam Tournament, Newcastle magistrates were told.Both men were among a group involved in trouble in the Dutch capital on July 25.Grieveson had approached a team of undercover police, who he believed to be Ajax fans, in “an aggressive and confrontational manner”. He had been arrested and fined.Ross had been involved in “violent and disorderly behaviour” that culminated in him assaulting a Dutch policeman.”He was filmed kicking the officer in the face,” said Mr Heron.Ross had not been arrested at the time and had managed to leave the country.Both men had been in trouble before. Grieveson was classed as a “risk supporter”, having been convicted of affray in July 2004 and serving a previous football banning order.In June this year, he was convicted of causing disorder on the railway after being arrested on a train while returning from Sunderland’s Premier League clash with West Ham in April.Ross had no previous convictions, but had received a final warning from police for being drunk and disorderly after an incident involving youths fighting with sticks in August 2006.He had also been part of a group of fans on the train from the West Ham game when Grieveson was arrested.Mr Heron told magistrates a banning order did not have to be imposed in connection with any specific offence, but could be made if magistrates were satisfied it was in the public interest to do so.”You should make an order if the court is satisfied that making an order would help to prevent violence or disorder at, or in connection with, any registered football match,” he said.”If you accept these conditions are made out by the facts, then the court must make a banning order.”Neither Grieveson, of Mariville West, Ryhope, nor Ross, of Galashiels Road, Grindon, contested the application for an order.Both men were made subject to three-year banning orders.
No thaw in relations as time fails to heal bitterness
Irish Times
04 November 2009
Damian Cullen
DERBY DAYS: SOCCER ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIP Swansea City v Cardiff City : Over the years the clashes of these Welsh giants came with a health warning as rival supporters seemed permanently fixed on settling old scoresWHEN ANY sporting encounter becomes known as “The Battle of . . .” there can only be two explanations – either a momentously entertaining match has occurred or a terrible moment for sport. The December, 1993, meeting of the Welsh entrants to the football league in England is commonly recalled as “The Battle of Ninian Park” .By the early 1990s, despite several fixtures throughout Britain causing major headaches for the authorities – both in the football associations and the police forces – the meetings of Swansea City and Cardiff City managed to regularly muscle in on the limelight, usually for incidents such as the day when a dart was thrown at a policeman’s head.The tie in Cardiff in late 1993 was initially delayed due to the late arrival of a thousand Swansea fans, who were then placed in the grandstand – a major mistake.There had already been trouble outside the ground and, when the home side scored, the away fans invaded, closely followed by the home support, with many of those remaining in the stands taking the opportunity to rip up seats to use as missiles.The incidents put Welsh soccer on the map, though not exactly how the FAW had envisaged, and, subsequently, away fans were banned from the fixture for several years – the first fixture in Britain to have this imposed.Possibly more than any other derby in Britain, the South Wales Derby has been constantly marred by violence.The rivalry began in 1912 and, apparently, for several decades it was not unusual for Welsh people to support both clubs as they toiled against the might of England. Those days, however, are a world away now.At the conclusion of the 1998/99 season, Cardiff City were promoted from the basement of the football league. Swansea made the play-offs, but missed out.There was much rejoicing – not just in Cardiff bars, but also by the over-worked South Wales police. To them, it was a result. The derby with one of the worst reputations in Britain was on hold.The following season, Cardiff went straight back down, passing the promoted Swansea.And, a year later, Cardiff went back up. Swansea went down.Conspiracy theorists might have been tempted to point at the chuckling coming from the police stations in Wales’ two big cities.Swansea struggled to get out of the lowest division until the 2005/06 season, but by that stage Cardiff had already left the third tier and were now seconded in the Championship. So the derby had to wait until Swansea City won the League One title in 2007/08.And then, well it’s always the way isn’t it, you wait for one for nine years, and then three come at once – the sides were also drawn to meet in the League Cup.It was soon apparent, that a rivalry that had been on ice, had not thaweA calm build-up to the first derby in almost a decade was urged – fixed for September 23rd, 2008 at Liberty Stadium. Cardiff City midfielder Joe Ledley, though, was apparently left out of the loop, commenting before the game that, “hopefully the first tackle I’ll win the ball and take someone out as well.”Moving 1,300 Cardiff fans 34 miles down the M4 and home again was a military operation – but a successful one, at least inside the ground, with the hostile atmosphere limited to home chants of Stand Up If You Hate Cardiff and Swim Away a reference to an incident when Swansea supporters chased Cardiff fans all the way into the sea, before the police waded in.The League Cup tie was settled by a second-half strike by Jordi Gomez, but as the 17,000-strong crowd dispersed trouble flared outside the ground – with rumours and counter-rumours spreading through the crowds.Riot police successfully kept the rival supporters apart, but in doing so took much of the flak themselves – with bottles, stones and bricks raining down.New era, old problems.It was a flash-back to the many confrontations which it was hoped were long forgotten, and sparked much debate before the November league tie at the same venue as to whether a return to the ban on visiting fans may be the best form of defence.In the end, most of the fiery encounters in the Championship clash were confined to the pitch, with what was a terrific advertisement for the game resulting in a 2-2 draw, with Stephen McPhail one of two players to see red during the action-packed tie.In fact, there is likely to be a strong Irish presence on the field this weekend, with McPhail – the Cardiff City vice-captain – likely be joined in midfield by Mark Kennedy, while Swansea may hand a starting position to midfielder Thomas Butler.The third instalment of the recent-revived rivalry, however, ruined all hopes that the south Wales derbies would become known for the quality of entertainment on the pitch, rather than the circus that has historically accompanied each clash.While the game last April – which kicked off at 11am in a desperate attempt to take the sting out of the tie – witnessed another quality 2-2 tie, it will be remembered for an incident in the first half when referee Mike Dean was struck by a coin thrown from the crowd.It was not confined to just one idiot in the crowd. “I could have picked £250 up at the end to be honest,” said Swansea goalkeeper Dorus de Vries afterwards.The clashes after the match between supporters and police only sealed the view that the fixture had simply hibernated – rather than caught up with the modern age.For clubs that not so long ago languished at the bottom of the English Football League, both clubs now view a Premier League place as a realistic target.For most of the supporters on both sides, that is the only target worth aiming for. For some, however, no matter how high their club climbs, one eye seems permanently fixed on settling old scores.