Middlesborough fans stabbed

[Liam]

English fans are stabbed in Rome

Three Middlesbrough fans were stabbed ahead of the club's Uefa Cup clash against AS Roma in the Italian capital.

Cleveland Police said the attack came from an "organised gang of Italian thugs" who targeted two bars where the English fans were drinking.

The violence happened late on Tuesday as about 200 English fans gathered in Rome's central Campo de Fiori area.

British Embassy officials said in all 15 UK fans required hospital treatment for a variety of wounds.

A 39-year-old man who was with his 11-year-old son, underwent surgery in Rome overnight and remains in hospital for observation.

An 18-year-old was also treated in hospital and was expected to be released on Wednesday.

A spokesman for the British Embassy in Rome said five Italians were being held by local police.

Italian officers with batons were brought in to break up the violence.

A spokesman for Cleveland Police, who have officers with Boro fans in Italy, said at one point a lighted flare was thrown into a bar where Middlesbrough fans, some in family groups, were drinking.

He said most English fans fled for safety, but some retaliated and tables and chairs were thrown as the violence worsened.

The spokesman said the injured supporters were aged between 16 and 55.

Supt Steve Swales, Cleveland Police's commander on the Italian trip, appealed for calm ahead of Wednesday's second-leg tie at the Olympic Stadium.

He said: "People back in the UK will be listening to this and watching this during the course of the day. If they are in contact with relatives over here, we would appeal for calm.

"I am appealing for the Middlesbrough people just to take this in their stride, let us and let the Italian authorities deal with the matter.

"A group in excess of 30 Italian youths, described as Italian Ultras, came into the square. They were a clearly well-organised group.

"They had an identified leader at their head - a gentleman who has been described to me as wearing a silver or shiny fireman's-type helmet and a bandana across his face with only his eyes visible.

"These people were carrying sticks, they had axes, we later discovered they had knives, they had firecrackers and paper firebombs.

"The vast majority of the Middlesbrough supporters who were there are what we would describe as good, normal, shirt-wearing supporters of Middlesbrough, not hooligans, not people known for trouble.

"A lot of them were family groups with younger children, some with their wives."

Boro fan John Donovan was in the square when the attack happened. He said: "It was out of the blue and a premeditated attack.

"It was just a case of getting out of there and making yourself as safe as possible."

A group of extremist Roma fans, known as Ultras, are being blamed for the attack. Reports said they were led by a man wielding an axe.

The travelling fans had been warned of possible trouble before they set off for Italy after the club received a detailed briefing from police.

A Boro fan was killed in Amsterdam last year when the club travelled to AZ Alkmaar and there has also been trouble in Ostrava and Zurich.

Brendan O'Connor, 36, of London, had joined friends to travel to Holland where his team were playing Dutch side AZ Alkmaar in November.

Credit: BBC Sport

Is it just me, or is it that even though British fans get a bad name for being hooligans (which is from an age old time), most over fan related incidents seem to get glossed over? If a foreign team came to the UK, and had thier fans stabbed by UK people, we'd be hauled up as an example, as they've done in the past.

[Buford Ripley]

Aren't the Italian hooligans supposed to be ten times worse compared to the British ones?

[Liam]

Yeah, but generally it always seems that English ones are used as a scapegoat for past misdemeanours.

[Buford Ripley]

Which is a shame really, since British holliganism isn't as bad it used to be.

[GA!]

Aren't Roma the team that lost 3-0 against (I believe) Dynamo Kiev a couple of years ago in the Champions League thanks to crowd trouble?

Edited March 15, 2006 by God-Awful

[Guest Ringmaster The Living Legend]

Like Liam said, the British fans do have a bad name based on past actions (although they still have minor little incidents like the whole Rangers/Villareal thing). The Italian fans have become simply dreadful, especially the Juve ones who seem to harass every single team's fans when they come to Delle Alpi.

[pigeon]

12 Liverpool fans were stabbed the last time we were in Rome.

Wasn't reported at all though.

[Guest muddatrucker]

Greasy Italian fucks, they're as bad as the Turks.

[therockbox]

I'm not entirely sure why everyone bangs on about English fans causing all the trouble, moaning about us "having to be watched closely" in Germany everyone else gets away with it. It's like the racism stuff that's going on, Spain get fined pennies but if it was us we'd be kicked out of everything.

[Skummy]

Yeah, but generally it always seems that English ones are used as a scapegoat for past misdemeanours.

Indeedy. I suggest everyone reads "Among The Thugs" by Bill Buford. Gives a great insight into exactly that, amongst other things.

[TheArsenal]

'Boro will probably be punished by UEFA. Not controlling their fans properly....

Its 'cos they're English.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

Like Liam said, the British fans do have a bad name based on past actions (although they still have minor little incidents like the whole Rangers/Villareal thing). The Italian fans have become simply dreadful, especially the Juve ones who seem to harass every single team's fans when they come to Delle Alpi.

[Guest muddatrucker]

You can't really defend them since you're in England and you don't see fuck all that goes on there, I've heard shit about Juve fans many a time.

The Italians, Turkish and Greek delve far deeper into hooliganism than the British do.

[The Kraig]

Fittingly though, the cheating Roma fuckers lost on away goals anyways. The cruelest of defeats.

I watched the game. I originally started out neutral, but Mancini was a little cheating bastard and I eventually ended up well behind Boro. It was weird, but it was a very good game, extremely satisfying in you're a Boro fan I assume.

It makes the Rangers fans who pelted the Villarreal bus sound tame.

[Guest Ringmaster The Living Legend]

Like Liam said, the British fans do have a bad name based on past actions (although they still have minor little incidents like the whole Rangers/Villareal thing). The Italian fans have become simply dreadful, especially the Juve ones who seem to harass every single team's fans when they come to Delle Alpi.

Yes, sure. Juventus fans aren't half as bad as most of the other Italian teams fans over in Italy. I sort of laughed too, for Delle Alpi hardly ever gets filled nowadays anyway and I've never seen or heard of any of the fans doing anything all that bad, whereas you constantly hear bad stuff going down with the Roma, Lazio, Milan and so on fans.

It's Roma though. A lot of their fans are twats, hopefully something gets done about this. It's not like it's a first for them either, it seems to happen nearly every year. It's a shame as well seeings though the team is actually getting itself together, only to now lose Totti for a while, be knocked out of the Uefa cup and also have their fans being twats again.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

Like Liam said, the British fans do have a bad name based on past actions (although they still have minor little incidents like the whole Rangers/Villareal thing). The Italian fans have become simply dreadful, especially the Juve ones who seem to harass every single team's fans when they come to Delle Alpi.

Yes, sure. Juventus fans aren't half as bad as most of the other Italian teams fans over in Italy. I sort of laughed too, for Delle Alpi hardly ever gets filled nowadays anyway and I've never seen or heard of any of the fans doing anything all that bad, whereas you constantly hear bad stuff going down with the Roma, Lazio, Milan and so on fans.

It's Roma though. A lot of their fans are twats, hopefully something gets done about this. It's not like it's a first for them either, it seems to happen nearly every year. It's a shame as well seeings though the team is actually getting itself together, only to now lose Totti for a while, be knocked out of the Uefa cup and also have their fans being twats again.

[Liam]

Yeah, but fan behaviour isn't judged on just behaviour during the matches, is it?

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

Yeah, but fan behaviour isn't judged on just behaviour during the matches, is it?

Edited March 17, 2006 by Dirty Johnny 27

[The Slickman]

Even though i hate Boro i feel really bad for them . English fans get this reputation but Italians are much worse than the British