---

2008 UEFA Cup Final riots

From MedBib.com - Medicine & Nature

2008 UEFA Cup Final riots
Part of the history of Manchester
Officers of the Greater Manchester Police keep Rangers F.C. fans from Zenit fans at the Zenit fanzone
Date 14 May 2008 Location Manchester City Centre England Result 15 policemen were injured, 42 Rangers fans arrested[1]

The 2008 UEFA Cup Final riots, also known as the Battle of Piccadilly,^[2] was a serious public disorder incident that took place in the city of Manchester, England, before, during and after the 2008 UEFA Cup Final. The match, contested between Rangers F.C. and FC Zenit Saint Petersburg, was preceded by scuffles between fans.

Serious disorder was sparked by the failure of a big screen erected in Piccadilly Gardens to transmit the match to the many thousands of Rangers fans who had traveled to the city but did not have tickets to see the match directly. In addition to property damage, fifteen policemen were injured and dozens of fans were arrested.

The riots were widely condemned, particularly by politicians and media commentators.

Contents 1 Early scuffles 2 Screen failure 3 Reaction 4 Arrests and convictions 5 See also 6 References

Early scuffles

The day began with minor scuffles, and few arrests.^{[citation needed]} One early incident occurred when fighting between rival fans broke out in a public house, resulting in its closure.^[3] The evening before the match, Rangers fans had set off fire alarms in the city, a criminal offence.^[4] An official report found that missile-throwing and fighting by Rangers fans occurred as long as eight hours before the match began.^[5] Around late afternoon the Piccadilly fans zone's gates were forced. Large numbers of fans were jumping upon the roofs of sales units and urinating. The sales units were "overrun" and frightened staff had to flee. Police were called but were powerless in the face of large numbers of supporters.^[6]

Screen failure

Serious civil disorder began when a large screen, erected to broadcast the game at the Zenit fanzone in Piccadilly Gardens, failed. When the fault was not rectified some Rangers fans began attacking each other and the police with weapons. The technicians who were brought in to try and rectify the fault were attacked with bottles and had to withdraw.^[7][8][9] Rangers fans then tore down railings, fighting amongst themselves, as the riot police arrived en masse.^[10] Several hundred people became directly involved in disorder and "considerable violence" was directed at the police.^[11] Thirty nine police officers were injured,^[12] including one incident in which hundreds of fans isolated and attacked a riot officer.^[13] PC Paul Ritchie received a High Commendation for saving a police officer knocked to the ground by a bottle thrown by a rioter.^[14] A police dog was injured when it stood on some broken glass.^[1]

BBC News reported that groups of Rangers supporters had clashed with police in the city centre after attacking a bank, bus stops, and a sports car which was bounced over the road.^[15] Greater Manchester Police reported that "a minority of thugs"^[15] among more than 100,000 visiting Rangers fans were involved in the violence.

A Zenit Saint Petersburg fan was stabbed in the back before the game inside the stadium.^[16][17] Rangers fans detained in connection with the incident were released without charge.^[18]

Hundreds of extra riot police had to be drafted in to deal with the rioting.^[2] As the riots continued, by 2100 BST, ambulances were no longer being sent into the city centre unless accompanied by a police escort due to concerns about the "safety of the crew".^[2]

British Transport Police reported sporadic outbursts of rioting at Piccadilly, Oxford Road and Deansgate train stations.^[2]

Reaction

The riots received huge publicity, with BBC News 24 interrupting normal programming to broadcast the riots live on television,^[19] and ITN's flagship News at Ten programme giving extensive coverage to the riots.^[20] The disturbance was dubbed the "Battle of Piccadilly" by the Manchester Evening News, a local newspaper.^[2] Graham Spiers, writing in response to the riots, described Rangers as "a club with a poison at its core."^[21]

The following day the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown condemned the rioting,^[22] saying it was "a disgrace" and calling the behaviour of the Rangers fans "unacceptable".^[22][23] A spokesman for Scottish First Minister, Alex Salmond said the Rangers fans involved had brought "shame to club and country" and Scottish Conservative leader, Annabel Goldie, said she was "absolutely appalled" by the footage, and condemned the Rangers fans' behaviour as "horrific and inexcusable".^[24] Stephen Purcell, leader of Glasgow City Council, offered an apology in a Manchester newspaper for 200 hardcore thugs.^[25]

Rangers Chief executive Martin Bain described the scenes as "dreadful" but claimed that the violent scenes "were caused by supporters that don't normally attach themselves to our support". He also stated that the club was "in general, absolutely delighted with the behaviour of our supporters."^[26] However media commentators argued that that Rangers fans have a history of such trouble,^[27][28][29] with Alan Bairner, Professor of Loughborough University's School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, describing Rangers as having "the biggest hooligan problem in the British game".^[29] Representatives of the Tartan Army indicated that the disturbances may damage the reputation of Scottish football fans abroad.^[30]

PC Mick Regan, attacked by a gang of twenty Rangers fans while lying on the ground, described the violence. "It was unbelievable when we got there, it was already in motion. It was frightening, on a different scale from any other match I have worked in my 23-year career. It seemed the vast majority were drunk and they just wanted to cause trouble. A lot of the fans were OK and just asking for directions but there was a large hard core ... .I know they will say it's a minority but a few thousand is a big minority."^[31][32][33]

Some Rangers fans criticised the tactics employed by Greater Manchester Police.^[34] In particular, the deputy leader of the Scottish Conservatives', Rangers fan Murdo Fraser, suggested the problem might have been caused by heavy-handed policing. He later retracted this after police released footage showing the scale of the problems.^[35]

There were 63 complaints about police conduct, mainly on the grounds of excessive force.^[36] They included one from a 60-year-old man who spent four weeks in hospital after suffering a broken hip and perforated bowel.^[37] The Police, however, defended their actions.^[38] There was also criticism from supporters regarding the organisation of the event.^[15] In response the Leader of Manchester City Council, Sir Richard Leese, said "If we are going to put a finger of blame anywhere it has to be with those fans having to take responsibility for their own behaviour."^[15]

A UEFA spokesman indicated that Rangers were unlikely to face sanctions on this occasion because the violence did not occur at the City of Manchester Stadium, where the match was held.^[39]

Arrests and convictions

Greater Manchester Police announced that 41, mainly Rangers fans, were arrested for various offences. These included Section 18 wounding at the stadium in relation to the Russian man who was stabbed, public order offences, touting, affray, possession of an offensive weapon, Section 47 assault, common assault, possession of Class A drugs, theft, possession of forged tickets, and a Zenit fan for pitch incursion. The force's Assistant Chief Constable referred to the behaviour of the Rangers fans as "unnecessary and unacceptable". He also said Only a small element of fans were involved in trouble, the majority of fans were very well behaved.^{[40][citation needed]}

An appeal was issued on Crimewatch in January 2009, and published in Rangers' match programme, attempting to trace 49 men in connection with the riots.^[41]

In August 2009, thirteen suspected football hooligans appeared in Manchester magistrates court charged with violent disorder following the final.^[42][43] In particular, Scott McSeveny, Shotts, North Lanarkshire, was charged with knocking PC John Goodwin unconscious. Mark Stoddart, Glasgow, was alleged to have assaulted PC Mick Regan.^[44][45]

One of the arrested men, rangers fan James Clark, was charged with rioting along with Simon Toland. Both were cleared of all charges by a court in Manchester. "I have been through utter hell because of the police. They picked me out of crowd of fans at random, beat me black and blue with their batons and set their dogs on me. Yet they charged me with being violent. You couldn't make it up."^[46]

An arrested rioter was found to be a serving Essex police officer who was off duty at the time of the incident. He was charged with violent disorder and was released on bail.^[47]

See also

• Football hooliganism
• 2007 Catania football violence

References

---

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
All material adapted used from Wikipedia is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
Seeking health information online: does Wikipedia matter?

---

---