"We did amazing business in one hour. When the hospital said they were short of blood supplies, Ridsdale sent his chauffeur off to get more. 11 Feb 02 | Europe Turkish justice moves slowly . This year is the 20th anniversary of the mens deaths in Istanbul and many of their relatives carry those events as if they happened yesterday. You ask them one by one if 20 years have helped them process what happened. Former Leeds United Chairman Peter Ridsdale said: "The lasting impact has been to see the devastating effect it's had on Christopher and Kevin's families. When they came back to Elland Road they thought our request for no away fans was inappropriate. More than a dozen police watched but initially did not intervene. We werent talking about Leeds General Infirmary. Speights treatment failed to save him. [44], In the United Kingdom, the Daily Mirror newspaper printed pictures of Arsenal fans alleged to have been part of the violence. How the violence started is unclear. 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. Its funny what sticks in your head, he says. But in the light of day, the sun hits it and the sparkle lingers. The Turkish media blamed the Leeds fans. Ill be careful here but I have to say that I felt uncomfortable welcoming Galatasarays delegates to Elland Road. sauce pizza and wine mac and cheese. 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. By 10.30pm some of the rowdiest fans left the James Joyce and joined a crowd outside McDonalds just off Taksim Square. He rushed to Taksim hospital, near where the men were stabbed. For some of it we were relying on the police and the authorities without knowing if they were going to do the right things. Before England played Turkey in a European Championship qualifier in Istanbul in 2003, Englands staff got in touch with Fallows to ask for logistical advice. You got paid each month and you did this, Andy says, gesturing as if to push a wad of banknotes into a drawer. Uefa, after consultation with the clubs and the Turkish authorities, wavered but eventually decided to go ahead. He previously worked for the Yorkshire Evening Post as its chief football writer. Demir lost his last appeal in 2010 and was jailed for six years and eight months. It is his life and his career, much as the option of Galatasaray was incapable of arising without anyone passing comment. 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. Trust us, this is only going to get worse., It didnt go down well, and I got that. Our Daz was there and he told me the full story. Ridsdale agreed to send his wife and other officials back but instructed a car to take him and Spencer to Taksim Hospital. Because I was so young and the memories arent clear, I get times when I ask myself if it really happened. Holly, as a two-year-old, was left with no memories at all. She knows who he was but its not the same.. From my point of view I was only interested in getting that game over and done with as safely as possible. Chris Loftus and Kevin Speight were stabbed in Istanbul on the eve of Leeds' Uefa Cup semi-final tie against Galatasaray in April 2000. Ridsdale can visualise it all 21 years on: the lay-out of the hospital, the chaos inside, the panicked confusion. Phil grew up near Edinburgh in Scotland and is a staff writer for The Athletic, covering Leeds United. The deaths led to an angry reaction in England with Galatasaray fans being banned from attending the second leg in England. David Davies, the Football Association's executive director, called it "frankly, the least worst option". Its the most terrified Ive ever been, he says. Their policing of City Hall Square in the days running up to the final was described as "non-existent" by Dineen. Nigel Martyn has exclusively told LeedsUnited.News that playing against Galatasaray in the first leg of the UEFA Cup semi-final in 2000 - just 24 hours after the murders of two Leeds fans - is to this day, his biggest regret in football. The brothers went to the British Embassy but, in Andys words, found them to be worse than useless. There were a few Turkish fans outside the bars we started drinking in but we didnt think much of it. Fallows is a security guard with ample experience. 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. In its opinion, contesting the game was the least worst option. UEFA also requested that fences be put up around the perimeter of the pitch. ', Some wrote stronger messages, such as: 'Washed my hands with Alioski if he f***s off to those vermin. The away crowd emptied after Rangers late equaliser without realising what had unfolded inside the ground. As. [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. He has never spoken about his memories of Turkey before but, like Andy Loftus, says he wants to reflect 20 years on. 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. "There was nothing in the days running up to this match to suggest there would be this level of violence," Mr Hunt said. This led to 19 injuries, including 4 stabbings, and 60 arrests with similar events occurring in England and Turkey in the aftermath of the riots. 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The Turkish side are hated by those at Elland Road after two travelling fans were stabbed to. [18] Later, large numbers of Galatasaray fans congregated in Copenhagen's City Hall Square, raising the Turkish flag in the square. Harry Kewell (born 22 September 1978) is an Australian association football coach, manager and former player. After taking stock, he got involved with the cancer charity Candlelighters and helped raise almost 150,000 for local hospital facilities. [42] Arsenal fans also criticised the police, claiming that they had been slow to intervene and were "too soft" on the hooligans. "I haven't seen a single Englishman all day," said a newspaper vendor. Former club legend Harry Kewell previously soured his relationship with Leeds fans after moving to Galatasaray from Liverpool in 2008. The police claim he was punched. Four men were arrested and charged with their murders. 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. Alioski was not part of that history but the history exists and the real story here far more significant than Alioski or any other footballer per se is the absence of any reconciliation over a night which feels as raw to those who witnessed it now as it did two decades ago; the lasting bitterness produced by a vacuum of empathy. Who really cares?. 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. Without his help, my mum would have been a bit lost, George says. It was how away days in Europe played out. It was completely against your idea of law and order. 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. OFFICIAL DONATION CAMPAIGN FOR THE VICTIMS OF EARTHQUAKE MORE. There was nothing you could say to him. We were just trying to control the worst situation imaginable.. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. At this juncture, it should be said that Kewell and Alioski were not identical. The only thing I could compare it to is the One Love concert in Manchester (held after the terrorist bombing at the Manchester Arena in 2017) and thats purely because of how difficult the logistics of One Love were, he says. galatasaray leeds death. 12/02/2021 . The security guard who was in Turkey with the clubs players and directors is into his 50s and taking it easy after neck surgery. The deaths led to an angry reaction in England with Galatasaray fans . Grieving Leeds Faces Galatasaray Rematch : It Is a Matter of Life Or Death, Sometimes. I stood there with Eddie Gray, Fallows says. He had a passion for Lambretta scooters and spent his spare time fixing old models in his mothers garden. By last night's kick-off, the pools of blood, shattered glass and debris had been cleared away. "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. Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Both had numerous other wounds. In 2014 he was spoken to by a Turkish website, a free man again. [37], In the United Kingdom, Arsenal fans were originally blamed for the violence as the police had fixed blame on them. The Football Associations David Davies said playing the game was the least worst option. His brother was following behind us and, quite understandably, he lost it. ', By According to one witness, a Turkish man was pushed to the ground and smashed his teeth on the pavement. Ill hear them saying, Thats Kevin Speights lad and I like that. The loss ofKevin Speight and Christopher Loftus is still felt incredibly deeply and the feud between the clubs remains. 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. Maybe, he says, and his voice tails off. [38] The photos led to some postmen working for Royal Mail losing their jobs because they had been seen in the photos and in television coverage,[46] even though they had not been arrested. [3] Leeds fans had been drinking in bars reportedly taunting local people and Turkish police intervened to stop fights breaking out. A Galatasaray player who endorsed a set of knives as Leeds United paid tribute to fans fatally stabbed before a game against his club has apologised. I make no secret of that., Leeds were beaten 2-0 in Istanbul and lost over two legs after a 2-2 draw at home. My mum flicked it straight off again. Speights son, George, is no longer the cheeky kid with floppy hair smiling brightly in the photograph of his father he digs out. The design of the place meant the Leeds players had to take a long walk to the tunnel, flanked by armed police. We catch up at the cafe in an Asda store near his home in Killingbeck and he speaks bravely but reluctantly; not because he wants to but because he thinks he should, for the sake of his brother Chriss memory. Even now I get the feeling that people think we started it, Andy says. 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. Turkish police, according to British of ficials, appeared to be taking the killings as seriously as they would hope. 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. Thats just how the system worked. The bodies were repatriated a few days later, beginning the process of mourning and funerals. Galatasaray 2-1 Trabzonspor MORE. The routine for Andy and others who went abroad with Leeds was always the same: straight to the hotel, straight into town, straight on the beer. One of our security lads had to go with the bus to a compound, some sort of a lock-up. I got a lot of abuse for that and no wonder. Matt White tweeted: "Wesley Sneijder tweeting a personalised Galatasaray knife set on the 15th anniversary of the murder of 2 Leeds fans in Istanbul? Away tickets were limited to 80, which effectively covered only senior Galatasaray officials. ', While a third posted: 'They suit each other. 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. Kewell was quoted after joining Galatasaray as saying that to blame Galatasaray for the tragedy in Istanbul is simply wrong and discriminatory. And I still blame myself a lot.. So Leeds did. They phoned their parents back home but the media had already informed them of Chriss death. He rushed to Taksim hospital, near where the men were stabbed. They thought we were looking for a sporting advantage, which is just incredible. Shes struggled with it more than I have because shes got nothing there. It was obvious that Galatasaray were making no concession for what had taken place, so that was our form of protest. Something went wrong, please try again later. According to a waiter at a nearby restaurant, the Turkish club's fanatical fans had heard through the grapevine that trouble was brewing. More importantly, we needed to find out what state the two lads were in and whether we could help them.. Football authorities condemned the riots and threatened to expel national football teams from European competition if such events happened again. Theyd been seeing each other for about six months.. Mr Loftus from a plunging wound to his heart; Mr Speight, a few hours later after receiving a wound the length of his stomach. Holmes says Andy was the life and soul of the party before Istanbul but the impact of Chriss death was severe. Try a week on us. Football riots in City Hall Square, Copenhagen, Denmark (May 2000). [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. When the second leg came round, in the dressing room we were trying to say, Come on, lets get stuck into them. But in the back of your mind youre putting football aside. He can picture the facade as he entered and the floorplan of the area where other injured Leeds fans had congregated; where Speight lay on an operating table, desperate for surgery. I didn't know this and deleted our promotion for the merchandise kitchen item #respect. 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.