Thats it just blame united!
The 400 thugs who came looking for trouble Feb 21 2005
By Adrian Butler, Daily Post Staff
A POST-MORTEM into why the FA Cup tie involving Wayne
Rooney's emotive return to Everton was allowed to
kick-off at 5.30pm will begin today.
Police arrested 33 supporters on Saturday night after
violent clashes broke out both before and after the
fifth round tie at Goodison Park.
Five police officers were injured after the match as
they tried to break up groups of fighting hooligans
who then turned on the officers as bottles and other
missiles rained down.
Chief Inspector Chris Armitt, in charge of policing
the game, said it was the worst football-related
violence he had ever seen.
Supporters had earlier clashed in the Everton Brow
area around 4pm as away fans were marched to the
ground from Lime Street station.
Around 400 known Manchester United hooligans who had
travelled from Manchester, London and elsewhere were
instrumental in the violence.
Chief Inspector Armitt said: "Around 100 individuals
who attach themselves to Man United were themselves
involved in violence with Leeds United hooligans
around 9.30am in Manchester.
"They then travelled to Liverpool where they were
joined by 300 others from Manchester, London and
elsewhere.
"We then had a situation where 400 individuals
considered a football hooligan risk were arriving in
Liverpool city centre."
Merseyside's Chief Constable, Bernard Hogan Howe, is
today expected to tell the BBC that sensitive matches
cannot be held so long after pubs have opened on
Saturdays.
The Daily Post understands senior officials at Everton
were surprised when police gave the game the go-ahead
at that time.
Mr Hogan Howe, who has ultimate sanction over the
timing of games on Merseyside, yesterday said he would
be asking for a full report on the violence today.
He added: "I will also be urging a review of the
behaviour of both sets of football supporters and
talking to the BBC about the kick-off time for future
football games which will be held on Merseyside."
The BBC is thought to have requested the
ratings-grabbing 5.30pm kick-off time. The late start
meant many fans would have been drinking all
afternoon.
But Merseyside assistant Chief Constable Mick Gianassi
insisted the kick-off time was not solely responsible
for the problems.
"The reality is that about 300 or 400 people came here
intent on causing trouble and it really wouldn't have
mattered what time of the day that was.
"More and more policing has to take into account
commercial considerations. We sat down with the club
and we reflected that in the numbers that we had
available.
"Tomorrow, the chief constable will be talking to the
FA and the clubs about the situation and look to find
a resolution.
"We police society and we have to deal with the issues
we are faced with, and one of the issues we have to
deal with is the commercial interests of football
clubs and the desire of people to watch football late
in the afternoon."
A BBC spokesman said he did not know who suggested the
5.30pm kick-off.
But he added: "It was agreed with both the police and
the Football Association. We will now be looking at
what happened."
Everton spokesman Ian Ross said: "When it was
announced that the game would go ahead at 5.30pm we
did receive some calls from a section of our
supporters expressing surprise.
"But once the police agreed the time with the FA and
the BBC, and assured us they could police it, that was
sufficient.
"The club believes the police did a magnificent job.
The trouble that occurred was away from the ground
and, apart from the one missile incident, the game
passed off very peacefully."
Everton face inquiry over missile hurled at keeper
EVERTON FC face an FA inquiry after Manchester
United's goalkeeper, Roy Carroll, was felled by a
missile during the match.
It is thought the Northern Irish international was hit
by a coin, though a police officer also recovered a
mobile phone and a chocolate bar from the pitch.
Detectives are examining the phone to find who it
belongs to.
Merseyside Police said they were liaising with club
stewards over the incident and will study CCTV and TV
footage of the incident to identify the missile
thrower.
Officers have interviewed fans sitting near to where
the incident took place and taken witness statements.
Everton have vowed to ban for life the fan who threw
the missile that struck Carroll.
Club spokesman Ian Ross branded the fan responsible a
"mindless moron" as the FA revealed they would be
liaising with the club and police over the incident.
Mr Ross said: "It was a disgraceful incident, but an
isolated one and we hope the police will be able to
deal with it.
"We prepared for a major fixture in the right way, and
made appeals to fans about their behaviour. And 99%
did behave well but just one fan has disgraced the
name of this club.
"We are determined to find him. We accept that we are
responsible for the behaviour of our fans and we
apologise to Roy Carroll and the Manchester United
team. It shouldn't happen but how can you stop it?
"One mindless moron spoilt things for everyone else.
There is no place for that sort of thing at Goodison
Park.
"The BBC have made available video footage for
Merseyside Police to study. If we are able to
apprehend the culprit he will be banned from this
ground for life."
An FA spokesman said: "We will liaise with the club
and police to discover what happened and try to
discover the individual's identity."
Two youths were also arrested during the match for
throwing plastic bottles towards the pitch. The
missiles did not hit anyone and the incident is not
thought to be connected with the other attack.
Mr Ross said the main lesson that should be learnt was
that football violence had not disappeared.
A police spokesman said serious disorder took place
after the match as fans clashed in the Everton Valley
area.
One of the injured officers needed hospital treatment
but was not thought to be seriously injured.
The other arrests were for public order offences or
for being drunk and disorderly. One lifelong Everton
fan who witnessed the violence was controversial MP
George Galloway. He said: "It's the worst behaviour by
Everton fans I can remember.
"To see the cauldron of hate was disgusting,
particularly the hatred of people behind the goal
towards the Man Utd goalkeeper."
Cllr Peter Millea, chairman of Merseyside's ground
safety committee, had last week warned about the risk
of violence.
He said: "Any knowledge of the relationship between
Merseyside and Manchester's football teams would have
shown that this would be a problem. It was always
going to be a high tension game. "
Sports Minister Richard Caborn yesterday joined the
call for sensitive matches to be held earlier on in
the day.
He said: "If a match is going to be high pressure, and
yesterday was certainly one of those, perhaps we have
to put it on earlier in the day."
Carl Roper, spokesman for Everton For Change, said:
"You would think that these days the authorities would
be sufficiently clued up to ask what they can do to
minimise the chances of disruption.
"When Liverpool play Manchester United nowadays,
kick-off is routinely at 12.30pm.
"The opposing supporters were leaving in what's
already one of the biggest nights of the week for the
police in the city. This is not the police's fault,
but they are normally the experts at minimising
trouble."
Everton fans booed Rooney throughout the game. One
fan's shirt read: "We hate you so much because we
loved you so much."
A large-scale police presence was required to escort
the away supporters from Goodison Park stadium after
sporadic incidents of disorder, police added.
"The incidents were quickly dealt with by the officers
at the scene and the escort was established to cause
as little disruption as possible," the spokesman said.
FA head of media Adrian Bevington said: "We work with
all the relevant parties, including the local police
force, when arranging kick-off times and we have never
arranged a kick-off time without full agreement and
approval of any local police force.
"We have of course seen many FA Cup ties played at
5.30pm successfully without any problems in recent years."
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