The security guard who was in Turkey with the clubs players and directors is into his 50s and taking it easy after neck surgery. Those April nights were as close as Leeds will get to it. The plaque on the wall by Elland Roads East Stand says Never Forgotten and Leeds United swore themselves to those words. He was on the scene as the club grieved and as much as any other of David OLearys players, he was in a position to fully comprehend both the impact of the killings and Galatasarays response to them. The 2000 UEFA Cup semi-final violence in Istanbul, Turkey, between fans of English football team Leeds United and Turkish team Galatasaray before the first match of the UEFA Cup semi-final on 5 April 2000, led to two Leeds fans being stabbed to death by Galatasaray fans. He previously worked for the Yorkshire Evening Post as its chief football writer. It triggered something and I ran into the ward. The away crowd emptied after Rangers late equaliser without realising what had unfolded inside the ground. In the circumstances, it was a total irrelevance and too highly-charged. By the time the match kicked off, the ramifications of two fatal stabbings the previous. At conservative gathering, Trump is still the favourite. Your mind was elsewhere., Harte also felt a delayed reaction. Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. There was the time when the pub opened its doors early to allow the locals to catch an early kick-off between Leeds and Manchester United. Peter Hunt, the British consul general in Istanbul, had been prepared for potential trouble, as are all consuls and embassies when English fans travel abroad. When the press came round, me and my cousin would bounce on my bed to try and get in the photos and in the papers. Their policing of City Hall Square in the days running up to the final was described as "non-existent" by Dineen. The police did nothing, in fact they were helping them beat us up." The Turkish side are hated by those at Elland Road after two travelling fans were stabbed to. By the time the match kicked off, the ramifications of two fatal stabbings the previous evening were rapidly sinking in and for those who were closest to it, the images wont fade. Early relaxation gave way to brutal battle as rivals taunted each other, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Bowyer leads out the Leeds team as the first leg went ahead (Photo: Steve Mitchell/EMPICS via Getty Images), A minutes silence is observed before the return leg at Elland Road (Photo: Steve Mitchell/EMPICS via Getty Images). Leeds had taken over an entire corridor at the five-star Kempinski and the squad were in their rooms, ready to sleep ahead of the game the next night. There isnt much that unnerves me but that was quite a scary moment. How can it be that two lads go to watch a football game and dont come back?. [28] In Turkey, nine people were accidentally shot and injured by Galatasaray fans firing guns in celebration despite police warning them not to. They had no direct contact with Galatasarays security officials but Fallows and Harry Stokoe, Leedss stadium manager, were able to visit the Ali Sami Yen the day before the game to map the venue out. The road to justice for the Speight and Loftus families was long and demoralising. Galatasaray 3-2 HangiKredi mraniyespor MORE. Galatasaray football player Wesley Sneijder has released a commemorative knife set - on the 15th anniversary of the fatal stabbing of two Leeds fans by Turkish supporters. There were reports that a Galatasaray fan had run to a telephone to call for support when he saw Leeds fans arriving. But eventually the issue of what to do about the game had to be addressed. He was eight when the deaths occurred and he was 25 when he came to England as a professional. Its the most terrified Ive ever been, he says. 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. Grieving Leeds Faces Galatasaray Rematch : It Is a Matter of Life Or Death, Sometimes. I feel sorry for her, George says. My mum always says the same: Hed gone out there for the football, nothing else. Who really cares?. My mum struggled massively with it all and she still does now, George says. Leeds and Galatasaray fans clashed in violent scenes 21 years agoat 21:00 in Istanbul's Taksim Square. Arsenal qualified for the final by defeating French club Lens in their semi-final. The brother of one of two Leeds United fans killed in Turkey 20 years ago says his death is "still fresh in my memory". It is his life and his career, much as the option of Galatasaray was incapable of arising without anyone passing comment. [25] The British fans were later released without charge but were forbidden from returning to Denmark. In Turkey, two supporters were murdered. Others that the Turks precipitated it by throwing chairs. I dont know if the club encouraged them to do that but you were well aware of objects hitting the shields. The away supporters responded with songs about two Leeds fans who were stabbed to death in Istanbul prior to a fixture against Galatasaray in 2000. . 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. It was a load of shit. For a couple of days afterwards you run on adrenaline, he says. He has never spoken about his memories of Turkey before but, like Andy Loftus, says he wants to reflect 20 years on. Later in the evening, a group of around 20 Leeds supporters broke off and found their way to the Riddim bar near Taksim Square, the huge expanse in the centre of Istanbul which was filled with places to eat and drink. "There was nothing in the days running up to this match to suggest there would be this level of violence," Mr Hunt said. It wasnt a proper A&E unit. As a family, I dont know how you come to terms with that., Inside the Ali Sami Yen, hundreds of Leeds supporters attended the first leg as planned and were housed in a small section of yellow seats. He visited his fathers body in the chapel of rest across the road, bringing pictures he had drawn for him with felt tips. Demir lost his last appeal in 2010 and was jailed for six years and eight months. Ali Sami Yen was in a league of its own in atmosphere terms, aggressive and ferocious for visiting sides. Hello Hell, We Are Leeds, read one banner carried by fans piling through Istanbul airport on Wednesday night. [8], The stabbings caused anger throughout the United Kingdom, and subsequently members of Arsenal's hooligan firms The Herd and The Gooners,[9] wanted to avenge the deaths of the Leeds fans, and telephoned other British hooligan firms, inviting them to join them in Copenhagen to attack Galatasaray fans. It was how away days in Europe played out. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. The Galatasaray fans were later attacked from behind by members of British hooligan firms seeking revenge for the Istanbul stabbings. Kewell was quoted after joining Galatasaray as saying that to blame Galatasaray for the tragedy in Istanbul is simply wrong and discriminatory. A lot of what went on I dont want to know. Leeds Crown Court sentenced him to 12 months. The events of the day started early in the morning when skirmishes broke out in a bar, which led to an Arsenal fan being stabbed. The first the Leeds players heard of the incident in Taksim Square was when phone calls started reaching them in their hotel. The loss ofKevin Speight and Christopher Loftus is still felt incredibly deeply and the feud between the clubs remains. I knew the ramifications would be life-long.. Even then, it was meant to be closed to the press but loads of them were there and they were being really intrusive, Fallows says. ', And: 'Alioski can f*** off, he obviously knows the history between the two clubs.'. I knew the ramifications would be life-long., (Photo: Phil Noble PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images), Ali Sami Yen previously and voiced complaints about their treatment, so Fallows increased the size of Leedss usual security detail from three to five as a precaution. 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. Then a good mate of mine appeared and said thered been a bit of trouble. Leeds always kept records of who was travelling and which hotels they were using. Ali Umit Demir, was arrested by Turkish police within days and he and three other Turks were later convicted in court. 11 Feb 02 | Europe Turkish justice moves slowly . The first time he went inside to be present, he sat with friends and cried. One of our security lads had to go with the bus to a compound, some sort of a lock-up. One Love was a controlled situation. The 45-year-old was an unused sub when Leeds were defeated by Galatasaray in an infamous 1999-00 Uefa Cup semi-finals - a match that was overshadowed by the death of two Yorkshire fans in the . As chairman of Leeds, he told the UEFA official that it would make sense to postpone the first leg of the semi-final which Leeds and Galatasaray were about to play. He just happened to run into some tossers with knives., George was so young that the aftermath almost strayed into boyhood adventure. How the violence started is unclear. More importantly, we needed to find out what state the two lads were in and whether we could help them.. I prefer to remember that way. George is a regular at Leeds games but until his teens he would wait outside the stadium at the home fixture closest to the April 5 anniversary while a minutes applause played out. I didnt catch everything but I heard enough. [32] The rest were fined an equivalent of $500 and banned from Denmark for a year.[33]. On April 5 2000 two Leeds fans, Kevin Speight and Christopher Loftus, were stabbed to death before the 2000 Uefa Cup semi-final first leg against Galatasaray in Taksim Square, Istanbul. Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight were stabbed during street clashes the night before Leeds played Turkey's Galatasaray in the second leg of the Uefa Cup semi-finals in April 2000. [31] Nineteen of the arrested were British, thirty-six were Turkish and the rest of the arrested included people from Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands. The Loftus family gave up on campaigning for justice in Turkey because they did not think the system cared about them. By last night's kick-off, the pools of blood, shattered glass and debris had been cleared away. Istanbul was like no other event he has dealt with. In the early hours of the morning after the death of two Leeds United supporters in Istanbul, Peter Ridsdale met with a delegate from UEFA at one of the citys police stations. I thought about Graeme Souness running and planting a Galatasaray flag in the middle of the pitch at Fenerbahce. Kevin Fallows was the clubs head of security and travelled with the players to all their fixtures in Europe. [29], In all, four people were stabbed during the riots: two English, one Turkish and one Dutch fan. By 10.30pm some of the rowdiest fans left the James Joyce and joined a crowd outside McDonalds just off Taksim Square. Speight was with a group of Leeds fans attacked by Turkish locals outside a bar by Istanbuls Taksim Square, sustaining a slash wound to his stomach. [4], It was not clear how the fight started, with reports of it either being started by Leeds fans throwing beer glasses and insulting the Turkish flag,[5] or being started by Galatasaray fans throwing chairs. Im not sure Ive even processed it now. Speights son, George, is no longer the cheeky kid with floppy hair smiling brightly in the photograph of his father he digs out. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Harry Kewell is in front of him, carrying a ball and looking bewildered. It shows all personal information about the players, including age, nationality, contract duration and market value. Turkish police, according to British of ficials, appeared to be taking the killings as seriously as they would hope. [26] There were further clashes at the airport the day after the game. The potential for trouble was as high as anything Id been involved in. I prefer to go to the plaque at Elland Road, he says. He previously worked for the Yorkshire Evening Post as its chief football writer. Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. 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.
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