galatasaray leeds death

Ridsdale and Leedss operations director, David Spencer, were at a floating restaurant on the Bosphorus when they were phoned to tell them trouble in the centre of Istanbul had resulted in at least two fans being hospitalised. Ali Sami Yen stadium should even go ahead. I didnt want to be standing there telling them what to do and I understood that they didnt want to hear it. The police were knocking everyone about, says Paul Holmes, a friend of the Loftuses who was in Taksim Square when the violence broke out. UEFA, after a week of consideration, agreed with Leeds. [32] The rest were fined an equivalent of $500 and banned from Denmark for a year.[33]. This led to the two Leeds fans being stabbed. A couple of lads came back to the hotel on their own and when I asked where the rest of them were, they didnt know. Hed just met a girl. But he didnt make much of it, like it was something of nothing. The Ibrox disaster was a tragedy, an accident, he says. Fri 7 Apr 2000 20.36 EDT. If you ask me now if I made the right or wrong decision by playing it, I still dont know, Ridsdale says. Around them, riot police are standing with shields in the air, protecting the players from what Fallows says was all sorts of things smashing off them. Welcome to Hell, Galatasaray liked to say. [48] In 2001, the tribunal ruled in their favour,[49] and ordered Royal Mail to reinstate them. galatasaray leeds death. Galatasaray's Wesley Sneijder apologises to Leeds fans over knife set I dont want to imply criticism of the hospital for that, Ridsdale says. On the 21st anniversary of Kevin Speight and Christopher Loftus' deaths on April 5 2000, Martyn also recalls the immediate reaction of the Leeds squad . You dont get it.. 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. The plaque on the wall by Elland Roads East Stand says Never Forgotten and Leeds United swore themselves to those words. ', Some wrote stronger messages, such as: 'Washed my hands with Alioski if he f***s off to those vermin. And it is far too late to redress that now. It was totally deliberate. [3] Leeds fans had been drinking in bars reportedly taunting local people and Turkish police intervened to stop fights breaking out. As a Turkish man is found guilty in Istanbul of murdering two Leeds United fans, the BBC gauges the reaction of local people. Read about our approach to external linking. The Galatasaray fans were later attacked from behind by members of British hooligan firms seeking revenge for the Istanbul stabbings. Give our social media channels a follow . Leeds have never forgiven Eric Cantona for . Follow Phil on Twitter @PhilHay_, Leeds players needed protection from police with riot shields before their game against Galatasaray in 2000 (Photo: Steve Mitchell/EMPICS via Getty Images). Spencer interrupted dinner to advise Ridsdale that they should return to the hotel immediately. There were a few Turkish fans outside the bars we started drinking in but we didnt think much of it. zhuri james net worth 2021 / low carb ground beef and spinach recipes / low carb ground beef and spinach recipes Ridsdale can visualise it all 21 years on: the lay-out of the hospital, the chaos inside, the panicked confusion. Our Daz was there and he told me the full story. A group of rival fans gathered and jeers were exchanged. I am happy and I hope everyone else can be too. Those killed were "attackers", it said. More than a dozen police watched but initially did not intervene. Further information on the Istanbul violence: "Tragedy that awaited two fans on a journey to hell", "16 Hardcore Hooligan Firms, Ultras Groups We Wouldn't Want to Mess with", "Soldiers join hooligans to attack Turks in Cup clash", "Town in fear as drunken English pour in", "Arsenal-Galatasaray, sous le signe de la violence", "English, Turkish fans clash on eve final", "Copenhagen police overrun as soccer fans cause mayhem", "Folkefest endte i vold og masseslagsml", "Surprise attack by Arsenal fans seeking revenge sparked battle", "Violence erupts again as English and Turkish football fans riot in Copenhagen", "Danish police fear more brawls after European soccer final", "Violence overshadows historic soccer victory", "Charleroi lobby yet to learn lessons of Heysel", "Turkish and English fans clash at airport", "Galatasaray Wins UEFA Cup After Day of Rioting by Fans", "England told: more rioting and you're out", "Piers Morgan On Arsenal, Foreign Ownership and Twitter Rants", "SPORTS - The shadow on the UEFA Cup triumph", "How long until Turk fans cause another death on the pitch? Obviously he liked his football too. The first I knew of it was when they came out to tell me. [10] It was reported that members of Leeds United's Leeds United Service Crew[11] and Chelsea's Chelsea Headhunters, along with hooligans supporting Rangers, Cardiff City and Swansea City all travelled to Denmark to join Arsenal fans in attacks on Galatasaray fans. Convention required the directors of the clubs involved in a European tie to share a meal with UEFA delegates the night before the game and Galatasaray arranged the gathering, not far from the Kempinski Hotel where Leedss players and directors were staying. Its that attitude of, They must have gone looking for it. All the stuff about cars being tipped over, us disrespecting their women if youd been there, youd know. For players and supporters alike, this has become one of the most fraught and difficult venues in Europe. "We came out of a bar and there were 100 people waiting for us with machetes, knives, bits of chair and table legs and they just attacked us. I dont think, even to this day, that Galatasaray would see the amount of press coverage or criticism as being fairly labelled against them, Ridsdale said last year. A fortnight ago, Ridsdale was voted onto the EFLs board. "There's a lot of anger. For a couple of days afterwards you run on adrenaline, he says. 11 Feb 02 | Europe Turkish justice moves slowly . Football is sport here and for many Istanbul residents Galatasaray - who won the league last Sunday - is football. But he was not and the atmosphere was initially warmer than normal. Football authorities condemned the riots and threatened to expel national football teams from European competition if such events happened again. I think those who arrived later knew what to expect.". [42] Arsenal fans also criticised the police, claiming that they had been slow to intervene and were "too soft" on the hooligans. I respect the Loftuses for fighting, 100 per cent. Friends and family of Speight and Loftus had congregated there and other Leeds fans were waiting with more minor injuries, some of them slash wounds. Who really cares?. Amid the fall-out and a world of shock in Leeds, Ridsdale suggested that the second leg at Elland Road would be safer without away fans. That deal took Kewell back to a stadium where he and Leeds once needed protection with riot shields. One of our security lads had to go with the bus to a compound, some sort of a lock-up. Why Alex Murdaugh was spared the death penalty, Why Trudeau is facing calls for a public inquiry, The shocking legacy of the Dutch 'Hunger Winter'. Jesus. The stadium is stuck in a state of eerie silence but this Sunday it will do what it always does on April 5 by standing in salute to the two who were lost. 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. Four men were arrested and charged with their murders. I jumped in a taxi and went back to Taksim Square., He has no recollection of how he came to be at Taksim Hospital, only that he found himself there after being told that the fighting had been serious. There was a sense of relief to be leaving, he says, but I knew that flying out of Istanbul wasnt the end of it. Speights son, George, is no longer the cheeky kid with floppy hair smiling brightly in the photograph of his father he digs out. "This was a premeditated attack," said Steve Wilkinson, who suffered knife wounds to one leg and a wound to his hand. Disgusting. By then, you knew exactly what had gone on and you knew the severity of it. 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. Gray remembers OLeary going out of the team hotel to visit a barbers for a shave beforehand. I stopped getting involved eventually, Andy says. I feel sorry for her, George says. They felt we were overreacting. In all the many layers of anger, that was one of them; the apparent inability to adopt some common decency. In the case of Loftus brother Andy, he prefers not to make a big deal of his surname for fear of the questions that might follow; the feeling of being always on show. Surprise me? Two lives lost and two lives wasted, for nothing. I am not sure if the first few expected fighting but I saw one guy running to a telephone to call his friends after he saw the English. Peter Ridsdale, the Leeds chairman, had been dining with directors from Galatasaray when reports of trouble came through. 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. On each trip he would set up a desk in the corridor where the team were staying, a point of contact in case of any problems. He was seven when Speight died, his sister Holly two. The city centre was tense but, thanks to a massive police presence, mainly empty. George has no recollection of his dad leaving for Istanbul or of him saying goodbye. My sympathy was with them. She remarried and shes carried on with her life but its still there, every time you come up to my dads birthday or the anniversary. Within an hour of the stabbings in central Istanbul, some of David OLearys squad emerged to speak to him. Ridsdale was told by staff at the hospital that Speight was in a critical condition and needed an urgent transfusion but that the blood had to be paid for. Andy was jailed in 2013 for his part in a fight between Leeds and Tottenham Hotspur fans in which a Spurs supporter was knocked unconscious. All he recalls about the incident was being woken up by Susan the following morning and told, as softly as it could be broken, that Speight had died. We tried to raise awareness but it was a farce. Given that context and these examples only really scratch the surface of everything that happened in April 2000 there was no way in which a player like Gjanni Alioski could consider leaving Leeds and joining Galatasaray, as he did for many months, without bracing himself for a tense political path and the objection he encountered online. The pair were met by angry, upset and bewildered groups. Within a year, however, Demir, following an appeal, was a free man after his conviction was quashed and a re-trial ordered. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Can you list the top facts and stats about 2000 UEFA Cup semi-final violence? Has to be the biggest DO NOT for any Leeds player!! They didnt care., The Speights were different and left the criminal cases alone. I was getting into trouble, drinking and fighting. I spent the whole night thinking, What are we doing here? And when the Leeds fans turned their backs to the pitch, total respect to them because the football meant nothing. . Outside, Leeds fans reportedly taunted Turkish men. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? At no stage between arriving at the hospital and Leeds playing the first leg against Galatasaray the following night did Ridsdale sleep. [14] The Arsenal fans left the bar to confront the Galatasaray fans, which led to a fight lasting for an hour before riot police managed to control it and arrested four Britons and four Turks. We werent talking about Leeds General Infirmary. Speights treatment failed to save him. Galatasaray advance to Ziraat Trkiye Kupas . You were dealing with young lads and the last thing you wanted to do was scare them.. Though the versions of Leeds fans and Turkish witnesses are almost entirely at odds, it appears the trouble started in the city's entertainment district outside the Riddim reggae bar in Buyuk Parmakkapi Street. For me, it didnt feel real. The problem shouldn't have been Alioski or his next club, it's how Galatasaray dealt with that tragedy By Phil Hay Jul 24, 2021 In the early hours of the morning after the death of two Leeds. Its funny what sticks in your head, he says. "We did amazing business in one hour. At a local police station, at around 4am on April 6, Ridsdale was given a stark message by the UEFA representative who turned up there: play the game, or forfeit it and incur an automatic 3-0 defeat. It was horrible. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk. The Turkish media blamed the Leeds fans. She knows who he was but its not the same.. Tuesday 5th April 2022 marks 22 years since two loyal Leeds United supporters, Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight, travelled to Turkey to watch their beloved team in action but tragically never returned home. I dont know why.. "Maybe they thought they were being funny but to Turks who do not speak good English, it was very offensive.". I could see in their faces how much they were raging, Fallows says. One of 13 Turks arrested in Istanbul has confessed to stabbing Leeds United fan Christopher Loftus, whose body is expected . I got arrested which was a bad thing but also a good thing. Galatasaray away on April 6, 2000; "a huge occasion for the club in a football sense," Ridsdale says. 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. [23] The violence, which included fans from other English clubs[24] and Turks living in Denmark,[25] lasted for 45 minutes. There is very little about the football which Ridsdale cares to remember and at the Ali Sami Yen, the stadium was so overcrowded that he had Galatasaray fans in front of him literally sat on my feet. The next day, he and Leeds players and coaching staff reached the airport, climbed on a plane and flew home. ', By Can you guess these stars by their unrecognisable FIFA and PES looks? 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. We looked up the steps and all you could see at the top was the dark sky and riot shields around the entrance to the pitch. 2023 BBC. The problem shouldn't have been Alioski or his next club, it's how [34] The Copenhagen riots followed a long line of similar events involving English football fans, and in June, UEFA's executive committee listed the Heysel Stadium disaster, disorders in Charleroi and Brussels, the killing of the two Leeds fans in Istanbul, and the Copenhagen riots and warned the British government that if there was any more rioting then England would be expelled from Euro 2000. I didn't know this and deleted our promotion for the merchandise kitchen item #respect. Squad Galatasaray This page displays a detailed overview of the club's current squad. Galatasaray 3-2 HangiKredi mraniyespor MORE. [19] The Danish police then moved in to separate the fans, and moved the Galatasaray fans back towards the square. The manager of Leeds, David O'Leary, had voiced fears of being met at the airport by "a 100-strong rentamob". [2] The events happened at 22:00 in Istanbul's Taksim Square during a fight between Leeds fans and Galatasaray fans. The story goes that he and his wife Susan got together after he offered her a lift on the back of one. Later in the day, Galatasaray fans occupied City Hall Square before heading towards Arsenal fans in bars nearby. Harry Kewell is in front of him, carrying a ball and looking bewildered. The shadow of Istanbul is longer for Andy Loftus. 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. Ill hear them saying, Thats Kevin Speights lad and I like that. It was the same at the second leg when I had to stand and look after Galatasarays main man at Elland Road. The first time he went inside to be present, he sat with friends and cried. Phil grew up near Edinburgh in Scotland and is a staff writer for The Athletic, covering Leeds United. Chris & Kevin - Never Forgotten - Leeds United Over a coffee in Starbucks, George Speight finds a way to be philosophical about his fathers death. The day after the riots, FA Executive Director David Davies, issued an apology for the violence. The death of the two Leeds fans in street fighting in central Istanbul on Wednesday turned Galatasaray's Ali Sami Yen Stadium into an armed camp, with 10,000 police patrolling in and around the . Christopher's brother was there [at the time of the incident] and I think that the impact on those two families can never be underestimated.". Acquittal plea in soccer death trial. It is his life and his career, much as the option of Galatasaray was incapable of arising without anyone passing comment. Galatasaray 2 - 1 Fraport TAV Antalyaspor MORE. It is regarded as a significant act of betrayal by many fans for a Leeds player to join Galatasaray. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Grieving Leeds Faces Galatasaray Rematch : It Is a Matter of Life Or Will Griffee For Mailonline He rushed to Taksim hospital, near where the men were stabbed. "Their chanting should make Ali Sami Yen [the Galatasaray stadium] hell for Leeds United.". Peter Ridsdale, the Leeds chairman, had been dining with directors from Galatasaray when reports of trouble came through. We had hundreds of fans in Turkey, some in the air and another plane due to fly the following morning (the morning flight out from Leeds-Bradford Airport was rapidly cancelled). 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]. [47] Michael Doherty, the chairman of the Communication Workers Union, and his brother Tom took Royal Mail to an Employment Tribunal for unfair dismissal claiming they had been acting in self-defence. If you're Leeds, you don't move to a direct rival, simple. 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. The English FA followed the line of least resistance. Anyone can read what . "They came into town to see. I dont think a single one of the lads wanted to play that night.. I didnt feel that their response was what our response would have been. Its 20 years now but I dont think Ill ever get over it. I just said to them, Good luck., Galatasarays reputation went before them. Twenty years on from Istanbul: the night when football became murder The friend who arranged their trips abroad organised for them to fly home via Brussels. He rushed to Taksim hospital, near where the men were stabbed. I was so pleased to get on the plane out of Turkey but once I got back and thought about things, the reality of two lads dying out there got to me. There was no minutes silence or acknowledgement of the deaths. Kewell was quoted after joining Galatasaray as saying that to blame Galatasaray for the tragedy in Istanbul is simply wrong and discriminatory. Galatasaray away on April 6, 2000; a huge occasion for the club in a football sense, Ridsdale says. [25] The British fans were later released without charge but were forbidden from returning to Denmark. In its opinion, contesting the game was the least worst option. It might be fair to say that the events of 2000 are a reason to dissuade a footballer with ties to Leeds from engaging with Galatasaray but not necessarily to prohibit him from signing, especially as time goes by. 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. OFFICIAL DONATION CAMPAIGN FOR THE VICTIMS OF EARTHQUAKE MORE. He has a busy job as an electrician and a twinkle in his eye. Man United respond to Leeds hostility with thrilling win as Harry They reported that as one of them tried to give the kiss of life to Mr Loftus, he was set upon. My dad is ex-World Cup star and BBC pundit but I want glory in a [36], In August 2000, Arsenal banned thirty-seven people involved in the Copenhagen riot from Arsenal's Highbury stadium. It was a haunting moment then and it haunts me now. The loss ofKevin Speight and Christopher Loftus is still felt incredibly deeply and the feud between the clubs remains. And thats without even mentioning what had gone on the night before with the two lads who were killed. Some claimed the English sparked it by throwing beer glasses at passing women pedestrians. Even now I get the feeling that people think we started it, Andy says. Nicolo Zaniolo signed on a permanent deal MORE. And there was the time when Speight took him to Elland Road and George, in his infancy, mistakenly cheered when the opposition scored. Leeds fans RAGING at Ezgjan Alioski transfer links to Galatasaray "I haven't seen a single Englishman all day," said a newspaper vendor. They had been a couple since their teens. sauce pizza and wine mac and cheese. Another picture, taken by the Yorkshire Evening Posts Mark Bickerdike, shows Lee Bowyer and Jonathan Woodgate stepping from the tunnel with tangible shock on their faces. Demir was allowed to undertake national service with the Turkish military before being convicted for a second time in June 2007 and sentenced to 80 months. In the first leg it was difficult to say, Lets get out there do it for the two lads because we didnt have the full picture, Gray says. The first the Leeds players heard of the incident in Taksim Square was when phone calls started reaching them in their hotel. That is true. [50] In 2012 Piers Morgan, the editor of the Daily Mirror at the time and a high-profile Arsenal fan who attended the match, apologised for printing the pictures. 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. My mum struggled massively with it all and she still does now, George says. By the time the match kicked off, the ramifications of two fatal stabbings the previous. Wesley Sneijder, a Dutch international who . Every year, the families of Kevin Speight and Chris Loftus place wreathes at the plaque and go together for a drink, to catch up and reflect. In contrast, what Leeds saw in Galatasaray was a baffling lack of sympathy. [17] This came after Arsenal had warned the police before the final that there could be hooligans travelling to Copenhagen. Gray, a Glaswegian, was in the Celtic end with his wife Linda on the day of the Ibrox disaster in 1971. The potential for trouble was as high as anything Id been involved in. lisa left eye zodiac sign Search. He described the Turkish policing as diabolical and out of control. But the Leeds fans do not see it that way. I looked at Eddie, he looked at me, we smiled a nervous smile and both said the same thing: Lets go.. I tried telling Galatasarays staff to get them out. 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. It was a load of shit.

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