Liverpool Fans - Worst in Europe

[kinboshi]

Newspaper reports today claim that UEFA have prepared are dossier that brands Liverpool Football Club fans "the worst in Europe".

UEFA president Michel Platini will provide the report to Britain's Sports Minister Richard Caborn in Brussels on Tuesday.

UEFA spokesman William Gaillard said: "We have an independent police report mentioning 25 incidents since 2003 caused by Liverpool fans away from home. That's the most of any team in Europe. We should all be very pleased that no one was hurt."

The report follows an investigation into the farcical scenes at last months Champions League final were UEFAs amateurish organisation led to thousands of fans being denied entry to the stadium despite having genuine tickets.

Gaillard added: "We had 102 flags in the stadium, but by the time the game began there were only two left. People climbed up amid incredible danger in order to steal them, and we know a majority were Liverpool fans."

"Now is a good time for Liverpool supporters to use some self-criticism. They must understand that seats are not unlimited. You have to compare the behaviour of the two sets of supporters. Milan fans were exemplary, disciplined, behaved correctly and must be praised for that."

"To avoid more serious incidents, Greek police decided, correctly, to let some of them in."

"But others, who got into the section of the crowd for Liverpool fans prevented fans with proper tickets watching the match properly which shows no solidarity and is regrettable."

The report claims that the club will mount a strong defence of their fans and also remind UEFA that they themselves produced a report outlining the concerns they had of the venue and organisation prior to the game.

Discuss.

[ifm]

No shock there, they also got every English team banned for years in the 80's.

[kinboshi]

Quote from Gaillard before the final:

Uefa's director of communications William Gaillard said he was confident European football's biggest night of the year would not be wrecked by crowd trouble, but warned that ticketless fans would be turned away tomorrow night.

"They have been told their chance to get in is very, very small," he said. "But we have taken all the measures it is possible to take, including co-ordination with all the different police forces.

"The two groups of supporters have a tradition of good behaviour and at this point we are expecting that to continue."

Maybe playing the final at a ground with turnstiles might have been an idea?

[kinboshi]

There's a dossier on Liverpool fan's behaviour since 2003?  Have the Liverpool fans (and English fans in general) been the worst fans in this time?

Since 2000 elsewhere in Europe there have been stabbings, killing of policemen, shootings, racial abuse, monkey chanting, players injured by missiles, games abandoned, mass riots - but as these didn't involve English teams they seem to go unpunished and are quickly forgotten.

[Sheriff Fatman]

Look on the bright side, Leeds fans will have to be content with 'worst fans in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy' next season.

[kinboshi]

Now the back-tracking...

There have been over 25 incidents involving Liverpool supporters since 2003, some of them small, some more worrisome," UEFA spokesman William Gaillard told Reuters.

Gaillard insisted though that UEFA were not labelling Liverpool as Europe's worst club, since the statistic did not take into account the severity of the incidents.

While European soccer has been rocked by fatal cases of hooliganism this season involving French and Italian fans, Gaillard said the problems with Liverpool often involved supporters trying to enter stadiums without tickets.

"We cannot compare apples and oranges," Gaillard said.

"The problems with Liverpool have not been big enough to earn the club any sanctions from UEFA which means we are probably talking about a few small groups causing trouble outside of the stadiums.

"This is not about saying that Liverpool are the worst club. But we received this police report and thought it was a relevant time to pass on our concerns to the sports minister."

[Rod Paradise]

Let's be honest though, Galliard's having to defend himself from the attempts to blame UEFA for the trouble in Athens, when the one support you'd have thought would know better than to rush the gates had done so.

I've no problem with the Liverpool fans (having lived near Anfield for a few years I know a lot of them), but there were a lot of dodgy characters intent on getting into the ground by hook or by crook...

[Acidmouse]

Look on the bright side, Leeds fans will have to be content with 'worst fans in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy' next season.

You really have to change your jokes, but then again who else can the Barnsley fans secretly love to support.

[boldie]

I've said it all along

[Sheriff Fatman]

You really have to change your jokes, but then again who else can the Barnsley fans secretly love to support.

We're all secret glory hunters so we tend to jump around a lot amongst the big clubs.  I gave up on Wigan last season and switched to Reading.

[kinboshi]

Let's be honest though, Galliard's having to defend himself from the attempts to blame UEFA for the trouble in Athens, when the one support you'd have thought would know better than to rush the gates had done so.

I've no problem with the Liverpool fans (having lived near Anfield for a few years I know a lot of them), but there were a lot of dodgy characters intent on getting into the ground by hook or by crook...

There was a small minority of Liverpool fans who were an utter disgrace.  No argument there - they should be ashamed of themselves.

BUT, my brother (who had a ticket) was trying to get into the ground, and they were being filed into a funnel of police in riot gear to metal barriers, manned by two stewards.  The number of people being fed into this area was increasing, and my brother was growing uneasy with build of of the crowd behind him and there were also children in this crowd.  The police were guiding more and more people into this area, quicker than they were being let through at the barriers.  Eventually, the sheer weight of people moving forwards moved the barriers back and so everyone in that area was into the  ground - ticket or no ticket. 

They knew there'd be idiots with no tickets trying to get in (and I don't condone their actions at all), but you'd have thought that the flagship event in European football would be held at a ground with adequate systems in place to protect paying customers and to prevent this sort of thing happening.

My brother said that right from the start, the way they were managing the crowds was terrible - and Istanbul was a million times better in terms of the facilities and the organisation.

I'll be interesting to hear Digger's experience.

[Acidmouse]

Liverpool fans are no worse them most clubs, but when X amount of fans travel to a different country without a ticket your askng for trouble. No excuses you should not travel.

[kinboshi]

Liverpool fans are no worse them most clubs, but when X amount of fans travel to a different country without a ticket your askng for trouble. No excuses you should not travel.

I'm not sure I agree.  No reason not to travel, if you're going to enjoy the atmosphere and behave responsibly with other like-minded fans. 

But I certainly agree that those without tickets shouldn't be trying to get into the stadium.  That's irresponsible - and Liverpool fans in particular should know better.

[Rod Paradise]

Liverpool fans are no worse them most clubs, but when X amount of fans travel to a different country without a ticket your askng for trouble. No excuses you should not travel.

I don't agree with that, I was in Seville with Celtic & it was fantastic, they estimate that 3 times as many people didn't have a ticket as had one, but they stayed in the squares & parks & watched the game on big screens.

[boldie]

Liverpool fans are no worse them most clubs, but when X amount of fans travel to a different country without a ticket your askng for trouble. No excuses you should not travel.

I'm not sure I agree.  No reason not to travel, if you're going to enjoy the atmosphere and behave responsibly with other like-minded fans. 

But I certainly agree that those without tickets shouldn't be trying to get into the stadium.  That's irresponsible - and Liverpool fans in particular should know better.

it was that last part that particularly dissapointed me about the scenes in Athens..people have a short memory..they sing the songs and they "remember" every year but when it suits them it goes straight out the window..made me sick.