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Leeds fans in search of trouble
As a born-and-bred Yorkshireman I know that Leeds is a fine Yorkshire city.
I am also a Derby County fan who attended the Leeds-Derby match and I would like to tell you what happened after the match.
When the Derby fans left the ground they were accosted by lots of Leeds fans intent on causing trouble.
The police had a large group of them separated off around the Billy Bremner statue but as the Derby fans left, lots more Leeds fans were walking into the middle of them saying things such as "if you don't like us come and have a go". They were deliberately barging into males, including me, trying to provoke them to fight.
I did not respond and made my way out trying not to make eye contact with any of the Leeds fans.
I have to say that the few minutes I was in that crowd was one of the most aggressive, intimidating and frightening experiences of my life.
As I crossed the road to walk towards the away-fans buses, I heard shouting and looked back to see a general melee which police on horseback were trying to disperse.
I do not know exactly how it started but the Leeds fans were there for trouble and perhaps some of the younger Derby fans responded to their taunts and threats.
When I got on the bus it received a hail of stones. Two windows on my bus were shattered, luckily bus windows are double glazed so only the outside panes were broken, and I saw at least one other bus with a shattered window – fights were continuing in the car park during this time and there were a lot of frightened people, men, women and children on those buses.
This incident was like a throwback to the football hooliganism of the 1960s and 1970s and I could not believe it was happening.
Whilst the people to blame for the trouble were those Leeds fans who were looking for it (which I acknowledge was a small minority of the crowd), I was concerned that the police did not seem to have any plans to prevent it happening.
There was nothing to stop those Leeds fans who were bent on causing trouble from getting amongst the Derby fans as they left the stadium – this surely cannot be right.
This letter is not sent in the spirit of revenge but to alert the authorities of my experience on the day – I go to a lot of away matches and this has not happened before.
Someone, I am not sure who – perhaps the police, perhaps the club, perhaps the council, more likely all three working together – needs to address this issue before someone gets seriously hurt.
Yorkshire, my home county is a fine place, Leeds is a fine city, LUFC is a football club with a proud and glorious history. Something needs to be done to stop the yob besmirching all three.
Bob Schofield
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Weather for Leeds
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 26 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North west
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Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
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