He was taken to identify the other, Chris Loftus, in the morgue after doctors mistook him for a family member. ', By They then broke into an apartment building to threaten Kosovan refugees with a knife, mistakenly believing them to be Turkish. Phil grew up near Edinburgh in Scotland and is a staff writer for The Athletic, covering Leeds United. At the hospital, Ridsdale encountered absolute chaos. People speak well of him. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. No question.. Turkish Prime Minister Blent Ecevit also made a call for fans to avoid violence after the riots, stating: Sports should be an initiative for friendship, not for fighting. They have nothing but good words for Ridsdales conduct and nothing but gratitude for his support. What they were seeing was pretty graphic so we said to them, Turn the tellies off, go to bed and wait for us to get some proper details. The footage was grainy and frightening, capturing a helpless Loftus with bloodstains on his shirt. Galatasaray tragedy will stay with Leeds United and Eirik Bakke forever US-made cheese can be called 'gruyere' - court, AOC under investigation for Met Gala dress, Canadian grandma helps police snag phone scammer, The children left behind in Cuba's exodus. Manchester United and Chelsea had contested European ties at the 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. Ali Sami Yen stadium should even go ahead. George understands why but wishes with hindsight that he had been there. I was getting into trouble, drinking and fighting. Spencer interrupted dinner to advise Ridsdale that they should return to the hotel immediately. [19] The Danish police then moved in to separate the fans, and moved the Galatasaray fans back towards the square. The fan responded: "If you did not know then fair enough but your club certainly did and they should be ashamed of themselves. I dont know why.. When the Turkish club flew over for the return leg two weeks later, an occasion as venomous and bitter as any Elland Road has hosted, they railed against Ridsdales request that their fans be banned from travelling. Those April nights were as close as Leeds will get to it. You dont take much notice of whats said because youre out there for a beer and a laugh. Its a game. It was a load of shit. 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. I feel everything: anger, sadness. More importantly, we needed to find out what state the two lads were in and whether we could help 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. The complication here is that football has no right to dictate how people manage a grievance that goes so far beyond standard rivalry. 15:32 EST 23 Mar 2021. When they came back to Elland Road they thought our request for no away fans was inappropriate. [48] In 2001, the tribunal ruled in their favour,[49] and ordered Royal Mail to reinstate them. Speights son, George, is no longer the cheeky kid with floppy hair smiling brightly in the photograph of his father he digs out. Ill be honest, by the time we were kicking off I had no idea why we were playing. They phoned their parents back home but the media had already informed them of Chriss death. It shows all personal information about the players, including age, nationality, contract duration and market value. They had been a couple since their teens. 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. Chris Loftus and Kevin Speight were stabbed in Istanbul on the eve of. 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. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk. If you ask me now if I made the right or wrong decision by playing it, I still dont know, Ridsdale says. Some claimed the English sparked it by throwing beer glasses at passing women pedestrians. Will Griffee For Mailonline Scuffles broke out but the police moved in and fans scattered. 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. Follow Phil on Twitter @PhilHay_, George and Holly Speight with Peter Ridsdale after their fathers death. 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. 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. By last night's kick-off, the pools of blood, shattered glass and debris had been cleared away. By that stage he was exhausted. Former club legend Harry Kewell previously soured his relationship with Leeds fans after moving to Galatasaray from Liverpool in 2008. Galatasaray away on April 6, 2000; a huge occasion for the club in a football sense, Ridsdale says. I didnt want to do it either. , updated It felt to me like the police were trying to frighten us, he says. It was completely against your idea of law and order. My sympathy was with them. By then, you knew exactly what had gone on and you knew the severity of it. Leeds supporters who were present denied causing trouble and the UK coroner who presided over the inquest, David Hinchliff, stated in unequivocal terms that Speight and Loftus were the innocent victims of a deliberate ambush. The first the Leeds players heard of the incident in Taksim Square was when phone calls started reaching them in their hotel. George is aware of some of the details but has tried not to dig too deeply. The deaths led to an angry reaction in England with Galatasaray fans being banned from attending the second leg in England. They carried beer glasses outside, we couldn't stop them, and others followed." How the violence started is unclear. 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. After travelling to the Turkish capital to follow the club, Mr Speight and Mr Loftus were attacked with machetes when a row broke out between rival fans. [25] The British fans were later released without charge but were forbidden from returning to Denmark. Chris and Kevin were brutally murdered in Istanbul on the eve of our UEFA Cup semi-final fixture with Galatasaray in 2000. Galatasaray beat English team Leeds United but their matches were marred by violence: two Leeds United fans were stabbed to death before their semi-final first leg at Galatasaray's Ali Sami Yen Stadium in Istanbul on 6 April 2000. Galatasaray player apologises to Leeds fans for knife tweet As always you can unsubscribe at any time. After taking stock, he got involved with the cancer charity Candlelighters and helped raise almost 150,000 for local hospital facilities. Massive riots Galatasaray - Leeds / Arsenal 2000 - YouTube How can it be that two lads go to watch a football game and dont come back?. Leeds had worries on several fronts: maintaining the safety of other fans in the city, helping the relatives of Speight and Loftus in Turkey and at home, and deciding whether the game at the Ali Sami Yen stadium should even go ahead. 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. There isnt much that unnerves me but that was quite a scary moment. The potential for trouble was as high as anything Id been involved in. He was showered with stickers and sweets gifts from friends who lived locally and Ridsdale, who supported both families throughout, delivered Easter eggs to the house for him and Holly. Tragedy that awaited two fans on a journey to hell Convictions were quashed, appeals were repetitive and it is far from clear how much of their respective sentences were served. Matt White tweeted: "Wesley Sneijder tweeting a personalised Galatasaray knife set on the 15th anniversary of the murder of 2 Leeds fans in Istanbul? In the context of football, that era was phenomenally good: Leeds in Europe and another trip to the continent always waiting around the corner. Chris Loftus and Kevin Speight were killed in Istanbul, Turkey, in April 2000, Their deaths had left a "lasting impact" on their families, a former Leeds United chairman said. Try a week on us. I didnt want to be standing there telling them what to do and I understood that they didnt want to hear it. Even now I get the feeling that people think we started it, Andy says. junio 12, 2022. abc news anchors female philadelphia . But if you back out, youll forfeit the game and incur a 3-0 defeat. But when it came to Istanbul, he and the club were remarkable in reacting quickly and with compassion. [23] The violence, which included fans from other English clubs[24] and Turks living in Denmark,[25] lasted for 45 minutes. Some Arsenal fans reacted negatively to the news, claiming that there was still bad blood between the two sets of supporters and were concerned that there would be a resumption of hostilities between them.[51]. After a long legal process in Turkey, four men were jailed in 2010. For me, it didnt feel real. And many have voiced their opinion on social media following a report by Football Insider that Alioski has agreed a pre-contract to join the rivals in the summer. But where Galatasaray failed, and where Ridsdale specifically felt resentment, was in grasping the scale of the tragedy and in refusing to accept that violence on the streets and a UEFA Cup tie could not be classed as unrelated events once the worst had happened.
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