So Leeds did. The setting was Turkeys biggest city, on the banks of the Bosphorus, and the game was the first leg of a UEFA Cup semi-final. Fallows is convinced that Galatasaray and the Turkish police made deliberate attempts to rattle and unsettle away teams, forcing players to squeeze through tight lines of officers to gain entry to the ground and admitting thousands of home fans to the stadium hours before kick-off. Disgusting. 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. He has never spoken about his memories of Turkey before but, like Andy Loftus, says he wants to reflect 20 years on. George has no recollection of his dad leaving for Istanbul or of him saying goodbye. The Football Associations David Davies said playing the game was the least worst option. There was the time when he was caught stealing two pounds from the pub till and sent by Speight to sit in the office until Susan came home to read the riot act. "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. He died in an operating theatre in the early hours of the morning, despite Leeds United paying for blood supplies to be rushed to him. I genuinely feared for our lives. 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. on the 20th anniversary of the killings in Istanbul. It was weird because when we got in the car, the game (Galatasaray versus Leeds) had just started and was on the radio, Andy says. I am happy and I hope everyone else can be too. Four men were arrested and charged with their murders. Eddie Gray is crouching down as he runs up from underground and into the open air. Menu Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk. The city centre was tense but, thanks to a massive police presence, mainly empty. At this juncture, it should be said that Kewell and Alioski were not identical. Chris Loftus and Kevin Speight were stabbed in Istanbul on the eve of Leeds' Uefa Cup semi-final tie against Galatasaray in April 2000. The Speights were a close family who lived in the Yorkshire village of Farsley, where Kevin Speight was landlord of the Bay Horse pub. "When you see a man having to identify the body of his brother with a massive stab wound in his chest it just isn't what you'd associate with football.". Grieving Leeds Faces Galatasaray Rematch : It Is a Matter of Life Or Death, Sometimes. [44], In the United Kingdom, the Daily Mirror newspaper printed pictures of Arsenal fans alleged to have been part of the violence. Galatasaray accused him of trying to gain an unfair sporting advantage. The police warned a postponement could cause more trouble. The complication here is that football has no right to dictate how people manage a grievance that goes so far beyond standard rivalry. CATEGORIES . Holmes was there and witnessed the entire away end turning their backs to the pitch with arms raised, an act of silent defiance and dissent. The Galatasaray fans were later attacked from behind by members of British hooligan firms seeking revenge for the Istanbul stabbings. Then you turn around and Kevin and Chris are lying there., In the hospitals waiting area, Andy overheard a voice saying that one of the fatalities was one of the four brothers. He rushed to Taksim hospital, near where the men were stabbed. But he didnt make much of it, like it was something of nothing. Im not sure Ive even processed it now. So Leeds did. Galatasaray advance to Ziraat Trkiye Kupas . Gray, a Glaswegian, was in the Celtic end with his wife Linda on the day of the Ibrox disaster in 1971. You were dealing with young lads and the last thing you wanted to do was scare them.. Matt White tweeted: "Wesley Sneijder tweeting a personalised Galatasaray knife set on the 15th anniversary of the murder of 2 Leeds fans in Istanbul? More importantly, we needed to find out what state the two lads were in and whether we could help them.. I got arrested which was a bad thing but also a good thing. [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. This led to the two Leeds fans being stabbed. In May 2002 Demir, who admitted the stabbings, was sentenced to 15 years in prison with four other men imprisoned for three months each. A fortnight ago, Ridsdale was voted onto the EFLs board. Leeds' bitter hatred towards the Turkish side is no secret after two of their supporters, Chris Loftus and Kevin Speight, were stabbed to death by Galatasaray fans prior to the UEFA Cup. Staff said many fans were drunk by 10pm, intimidating Turkish families drinking in the lounge. And thats without even mentioning what had gone on the night before with the two lads who were killed. The potential for trouble was as high as anything Id been involved in. I dont want to imply criticism of the hospital for that, Ridsdale says. 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 . Leeds supporters in Istanbul were told to stay in their hotels. Istanbul was like no other event he has dealt with. A few hours later two Leeds supporters, Kevin Speight, 40, and Christopher Loftus, 37, were dead from stab wounds. Ali Sami Yen stadium should even go ahead. They felt we were overreacting and on the day of the game in Istanbul there was no attempt to make sure the match passed off safely or securely, not that I could see. 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 Football Associations David Davies said playing the game was the least worst option. 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. Ali Sami Yen was in a league of its own in atmosphere terms, aggressive and ferocious for visiting sides. galatasaray leeds death. "They were screaming all sorts of things. Convictions were quashed, appeals were repetitive and it is far from clear how much of their respective sentences were served. Peter Ridsdale, the chairman who guided Leeds through the tragedy, is approaching 70. I dont think, even to this day, that Galatasaray would see the amount of press coverage or criticism as being fairly labelled against them, Risdale says. Will Griffee For Mailonline Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? He was eight when the deaths occurred and he was 25 when he came to England as a professional. The facilities are great. 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. 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. 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. galatasaray leeds death. [39] Later on, British media blame also transferred towards Galatasaray fans. Over a coffee in Starbucks, George Speight finds a way to be philosophical about his fathers death. As a Turkish man is found guilty in Istanbul of murdering two Leeds United fans, the BBC gauges the reaction of local people. The plaque on the wall by Elland Roads East Stand says Never Forgotten and Leeds United swore themselves to those words. 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. I didnt want to be standing there telling them what to do and I understood that they didnt want to hear it. It triggered something and I ran into the ward. And I still blame myself a lot.. By then, you knew exactly what had gone on and you knew the severity of it. I tried telling Galatasarays staff to get them out. He previously worked for the Yorkshire Evening Post as its chief football writer. He wasnt one of them who tried to cause trouble. Bouncers guarded the bars from any English fans. As a free agent, he had a decision to make about how best to look after himself with his 30th birthday coming next year (and in the end, looking after himself meant joining Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia last night). Wed heard that Istanbul could be a bit dangerous but we never thought anything of it, Andy says. [27], At Parken Stadium, where the final was to be played, the police erected iron fencing outside to separate the Arsenal and Galatasaray fans as a precaution. 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. There were reports that a Galatasaray fan had run to a telephone to call for support when he saw Leeds fans arriving. 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. 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. Kewell was quoted after joining Galatasaray as saying that to blame Galatasaray for the tragedy in Istanbul is simply wrong and discriminatory. Fallows is a security guard with ample experience. Alioski had less of a cross to bear. It was our way of making sure the cameras and the world took notice of us.. The interview included vague expressions of regret but no apology to Speight and Loftus or their relatives. You got paid each month and you did this, Andy says, gesturing as if to push a wad of banknotes into a drawer. Phil grew up near Edinburgh in Scotland and is a staff writer for The Athletic, covering Leeds United. They stressed as delicately as they could the importance of staying indoors. But when it came to Istanbul, he and the club were remarkable in reacting quickly and with compassion. 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. I went for some counselling and didnt go through with all of it but the charity work helped. Nicolo Zaniolo signed on a permanent deal MORE. Hed just met a girl. The connection was not comparable to Kewells. In Turkey, two supporters were murdered. The brother of one of two Leeds United fans killed in Turkey 20 years ago says his death is "still fresh in my memory". [38], In 2013, Arsenal invited Galatasaray to compete at their annual Emirates Cup tournament. He described the Turkish policing as diabolical and out of control. The families of the victims will tell you that. Loftus had been stabbed five times and Speight twice. 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. It is part of Leeds Uniteds fabric and it will never disappear: the night when football became murder and so many lives were changed. "They came into town to see. junio 12, 2022. abc news anchors female philadelphia . 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. "There was nothing in the days running up to this match to suggest there would be this level of violence," Mr Hunt said. It is wrong to presume to tell those who were affected by the events in Istanbul how to feel or how to react to a player taking Galatasarays money. Galatasaray wanted me from the start. Some claimed the English sparked it by throwing beer glasses at passing women pedestrians. 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. I respect the Loftuses for fighting, 100 per cent. 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. 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. The police claim he was punched. The driver said hed turn it off but I wanted to listen to it. A streetwise Mancunian, he has looked after Oasis, Noel Gallagher and Take That and on the morning when we speak hes at the First Direct Arena in Leeds, organising staff for a gig by The Script. The police were doing nothing to stop them. [3] Leeds fans had been drinking in bars reportedly taunting local people and Turkish police intervened to stop fights breaking out. From my point of view I was only interested in getting that game over and done with as safely as possible. Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. Past present or future..', A second added: 'Would much rather see one of the u23s get a chance at lb than Alioski for the rest of the season. A lot of what the police were doing was pure intimidation, Fallows says. I had no idea where we were going or why we were going there, he says. 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. 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. By the time the match kicked off, the ramifications of two fatal stabbings the previous. 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. 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. 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. Another supporter who tried to resuscitate Chris was hit with batons. I got a lot of abuse for that and no wonder. Asked shortly afterwards whether he thought the tie would still go ahead, Mr Ridsdale said: "It's too early to say.
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