Arsenal 0 - 0 Galatasaray(after extra time. Galatasaray win 4-1 on penalties)Parken Stadium, Copenhagen. Wednesday 17th May 2000UEFA Cup finalNo match reports, as such, just yet. But there is the list of links to match reports on other sites below. We've also put up a couple of Arsenal fans' tales of their time in Copenhagen. Essential reading, see here.Preview
Fans' stories from Copenhagen1. Nick GassmanAll of the advanced publicity made it quite clear that you would not be able to take alcohol into the ground. This wasn't in fact true.I had also somewhat foolishly asumed that it would be OK to take water into the ground, but this turned out not to be true. I'd also got it wrong that I'd be able to buy a yellow Arsenal shirt easily in CPH, and so had to make do with a yellow 'This is Amsterdam' job that I'd bought on the way over as a backup. Thanks to Carsten for fixing us up with a room at the Tiffany Hotel. I'd recommend it, despite having to share a bed with my mate Ralph, who snores. The flight out was cancelled, so we arrived later than planned. On our way out of the hotel a gooner on a hired bike advised us to head for the canal district to avoid trouble, so we took his advice. On the walk there we asked the way of many of the riot police in evidence, and took lots of their pictures. They all seemed quite friendly. Talking to varous people along the route we heard of trouble, but were clearly fortunate not to see any. We stopped off in one bar, and did see a bloke who'd been bitten in the stomach by a police dog as he'd been trying to get out of the way. Walking to the ground from the train station we chatted to one or two Turks, and then close by the ground there were masses of police, and we did see some idiots from each side winding each other up with the police looking on. We walked away. We arrived at our entrance close to kick-off. My bag was searched, and the man removed a plastic bottle of coke, and a bottle of water. I asked what damage water might do, and said I could throw the bottle. Actually, in the state I was in by then, I probably couldn't. Two steps on was the beer stand, so we bought a pint each, and I bought a hotdog. And so it was that I presented myself at the turnstile with a beer in one hand and a hotdog in the other. The guy on the turnstile loked at these and said 'You can't bring the hotdog in'. I did double check to make sure there wasn't something wrong with my hearing, or that someone had taught him the wrong phrase in school, but with the help of sign language I did clarify that this was in fact what he meant. I'll just about let them have the plastic bottle of water, but I reckon that even if in desperation at having no missile to throw, I had rugby tackled the nearest Turk, removed his trousers, and inserted the hotdog, that the damage would be minimal. More likely in fact to be construed as some sort of chat up line. However, I wolfed down the hotdog, and went in with the beer. Beer was on sale in the ground all through the match. A facility of which we made liberal use. I thought the regulations didn't allow it. And what about the noise? Was it my imagination or did the Turks make a hell of a lot more noise than us? I could hardly speak the next day for all the shouting I did, but those around me didn't seem terribly interested in getting behind the team half the time. (Jamie wrotes from Denmark to point out that the beer inside the ground was low-alcohol) 2. Mick WinnettI went to Copenhagen with two friends, Steve and Tony, who have season tickets next to me at Highbury, and a neighbour of Steve's called Ian that I didn't know. We drove all the way, stayed a night in Germany left early next morning and got to Copenhagen at midday on the 17th. We checked into our hotel, where the staff welcomed us and told us we were the only English guests, and that every other room there was taken by Turkish fans!We got on a bus, had a beer in the Globe, then went to have a Danish fish meal and see the little Mermaid. We had an unusual but tasty meal made of raw herring prepared in several different ways, I drank mineral water with mine, then we boarded a barge and went for a quite lengthy tour of the harbour and to view the famous Little Mermaid. It started raining when we got off the boat so we stopped at the Dubliners bar, where my friends had a couple of beers, and I had lemonade. I'm a Guinness drinker, and when there's no decent Guinness available I prefer to drink lemonade, plus I wanted to remain sober to fully enjoy the match. In the pub we were told that there had been some trouble in the town centre somewhere, but details were unclear. We then tried to follow the map to get to the Globe, where I knew there was security on the door, and where we would be safe, at about 5 p.m., We walked into an area where there seemed to be some tension, There were a lot of Arsenal fans drinking outside a couple of bars, and there was some kind of commotion, I think some Turkish fans threw some bottles from one end of the street, so I suggested we got right out of there. We walked towards the other end of the street, away from the trouble that was brewing, and towards the entrance to the Tivoli gardens and were immediately attacked. Someone shouted "look out" and I saw a guy with a broken bottle coming straight for me, yelling at the top of his voice in a crazed way. There were several other guys, I think about 5 or 6, all armed with broken bottles and knives. I nipped round behind a bicycle stand, and when I turned round to see if anyone was following, saw that a guy had grabbed Steve, who backed up against the wall of a building and fell on the floor. Just as he fell I reached him, and pulled the guy off him as he was about to do him some serious harm with his weapon. He swung around and lunged at me, hitting me just over my heart, and I shoved him away. I didn't see what he stabbed me with but I felt something go into my chest. Another guy was going for me with a broken bottle, but thankfully Tony stepped in and swung a couple of punches at him, (which missed!) another Turk with a six inch knife stopped and stood waving his blade at us, seeing we were fighting back, and then they all turned and ran away. Steve was badly shaken but was just cut from falling on broken glass, he was white as a sheet and, as he is diabetic, I was worried that he might go into shock. Tony was unhurt, I had a small hole above my heart, round, and about the size of my little finger. A squad of Danish riot police arrived, and I went up and showed them my wound and asked if there was any first aid, whereupon a policeman yelled at me to "go away" in a threatening voice and raised his riot stick at me. Ian had run away as soon as we were attacked and didn't reappear till some time later, when he produced some band aids and stuck one over my cut, stopping the bleeding. We then managed to get into a taxi which had stopped to drop off some passengers, and we went straight back to our hotel and checked out, having decided to leave Denmark as soon as possible after the match. I think Steve would have been in really bad trouble if I hadn't got the guy off him in time, he was on his back on the floor and the guy was going to kill him. Having pulled the guy off him it was difficult to know what to do with someone wielding a weapon like that, I was defenceless and there were no policemen in the area at all. I've been hearing people on the radio talking as if the Arsenal fans set out to start a war. What I saw personally was Arsenal fans attacked by Turks carrying knives and other weapons as they drank in or outside pubs. (I'm told there were a number of English fans looking for trouble, I didn't see that, and I tried to avoid trouble but walked right into it.) I don't think the Copenhagen police were in any way competent to handle what happened. Local Turks were walking around using mobile phones to tell the thugs where there were no police, as soon as the police cleared an area they moved on and the Turks then arrived back again. Arsenal fans have been heavily criticised for throwing chairs etc., I had to stand and defend myself with my bare hands against maniacs armed with knives and broken bottles, and I can assure you that I would have been very glad to have had a chair or any other weapon to defend myself with. If anyone wants to criticise us for this they should first have the experience of being stabbed without provocation, it offers a radically different perspective I can tell you. I threw away my bloodied yellow Arsenal shirt, and changed into a plain white t-shirt, and we left Copenhagen straight after the game not staying in the hotel we'd booked, which was full of Gala fans. It was a relief to get back on English soil. I was saddened by the whole experience, and I'm angered by the attempt to blame Arsenal fans for what happened, the overwhelming majority of us just wanted to have a party and enjoy the game, I'm afraid the same wasn't the case with the Turkish fans who were set on violence and murder from the start. The police were supposed to be thoroughly clued up for this one, they weren't, they were amateurs, does Denmark not possess a single police helicopter? They were incompetent, and I rather think they were scared stiff, and now we are to made victims of their failings, we are to be blamed for being attacked, we "should have known better", and those who defended themselves with makeshift weapons are to be branded as "super thugs" . Well, I'm sorry, but if you're ever attacked by men carrying knives intent on killing you, I rather think that other peoples furniture or bicycles, or whatever comes to hand, will suddenly not seem so valuable, I think you'll start to feel that your blood is infinitely more precious , tables and chairs can easily be replaced, human life cannot. I'm just glad to get back to my family, I haven't even thought about losing the game, it just doesn't matter. I haven't started to hate all Turks or anything, I feel sympathy with those Turks who were attacked in the UK, or any innocent people who suffered, and I don't think all the wrong was done by one side. However, Imo, it wasn't the English fans who were roaming from pub to pub with knives in their hands, looking for trouble. We should wake up and not fall for media-created stereotypes, yes there were English idiots there, and maybe there were Leeds fans, and Dutch and Scandinavians looking for bother, but from what I've heard, many Arsenal supporters just stood and defended the pub they were in from attack by armed thugs. The Turkish fans (locals) began touring the pubs on Tues. night, intimidating the Arsenal supporters inside, trying to entice them into the street, by bombarding them with bottles, and one fan was stabbed in the ensuing melee. On Wednesday large gangs of Turkish thugs continued this tactic, with little intervention by the Danish police, the Arsenal fans had no protection from the local police and had to defend themselves as best they could or end up on mortuary slabs like the Leeds fan did when he was stabbed 20 times in the back in Istanbul. I was in Copenhagen in 94 and spent the day happily sharing beers and chatting to Parma fans, I would like to have done the same this time, but there were numerous mobs of local Turks, all armed to the teeth, who wanted nothing more than to stab English fans, simple as that. There are 30,000 Turks living in Copenhagen, and many of them had carefully planned to attack us and to kill as many as they could get hold of. This game was a home fixture for the Turkish fans, they were laying in wait for us and they were just aching to kill some English fans, it's a miracle that there are no more English dead Any Turks travelling from Germany, as thousands did, were able to drive to Copenhagen without their baggage ever being searched for weapons, and they were able to run around with knives and other weapons without any intervention from the police. We crossed from Germany and no search was made of our luggage at the border, though we told the police there that we were Arsenal fans going to the game, we could have brought a dozen Kalashnikovs with us if we had so desired. As usual the fans will take the blame for the mayhem, not the people who are paid high salaries to organise these games, UEFA will shrug their shoulders and say that they couldn't avoid playing the game in a city with a huge Turkish population, and Arsenal fans will be told they should have lined up to be stabbed, without complaining, and certainly without endeavouring to protect themselves. I was very distressed by what happened, and I understand that innocent Turkish people have suffered too, which is very regrettable. It's always the innocent that suffer, the real culprits melt away. When I got back, I turned on the tv and saw pictures of Arsenal fans apparently defending themselves with their fists, and with chair legs and tables, there was virtually no coverage of the Turkish fans, who were attacking them. I saw a person I recognised, a guy who had been a steward on a Flight Options tour I went on a while ago, there was an appeal to "call in if you know this man." I don't know the mans name, but all he appeared to be doing was defending himself with his bare hands, if I had been a bit younger and a bit bigger and able to defend myself I would have done so, and maybe I would have been branded as a thug by the British media too. If I had been killed I know I would have received little sympathy from the British Press, though I have never been arrested for any offence in my life, and I've never been involved in any violence at all, I'm sure that it would have been assumed that I was a psychopath who got what he deserved, so biased and distorted is the coverage by the British media. I started going to Highbury in the Sixties, I had a standing season ticket in the old North Bank, and I now have a season ticket in the Clock end. For many years I went to every game, home and away, travelling with the Arsenal Travel club, and in all those years I have never been involved in any violent incidents, I have always managed to avoid trouble, even in the bad old days of the seventies when thugs nearly ruined the game. I'm very disappointed by the response of people who have never been to a football game, and whose closest brush with danger is driving the Range Rover to Safeways, who have denigrated the Arsenal fans who fought for their lives. The government gets all worked up because a few white farmers in a former colony get kicked off the land they stole from the Africans, but we get no support whatsoever, in fact it is a matter of regret that we've returned at all. Well we pay British taxes, why does the UK government not stand up for us when we're the victims of brutal unprovoked attacks? The media got the pictures they wanted, they sold them around the world and pocketed their money, now they're running a witch-hunt, trying to condemn people for defending themselves, as anyone is entitled to do. Strange that the same press recently jumped to the defence of a farmer who shot two unarmed and defenceless intruders dead in cold blood, but football supporters who defend themselves when attacked by armed thugs are hounded as public enemies, this is truly adding insult to injury. yours Mike Winnett Mick is the administrator of the Arsenal mailing-list 3. Greg Thomas I was given a ticket on the Tuesday and went round and booked a ticket to CPH via Brussels straight away. Tues night I was working late and finished at 3 in the morning and turned on Sky news to hear that there was already trouble. At 6.00am I caught my flight to Brussels and then on to Copenhagen - I bought a disposable camera. There were gooners at Brussels all shopping happily. I arrived at Copenhagen airport and thought I was in Ankara - as we taxied up to the stand there were six Turkish charter planes lined up. Inside the queues for immigration were huge for non-EC - all the gala fans. There were Turkish TV crews there and as I was waiting at tourist information the gala started singing about 500 of them as they moved off to their coaches - the gooners there in colours numbered about 10. No joy with a hotel room - according to tourist info the nearest one was in Jutland wherever that was. I called my friend on the phone having some tickets to deliver and he told me he was in apub called Rosie McGee's near the central station. I hopped a train which was completely empty and got off at central station - I asked a local couple at the bus-stop where the pub was and got a funny look - it wasn't til later that I found out why. Made my way down to the pub - lots of gala fans looking at the shops and staring over at the pub and the English Inn 2 doors down. Went to go in and met 2 huge English bouncers wearing Madonna headgear who asked if I was Arsenal then let me in. I met up with Gary and then stated hearing the stories all around me of the stabbing of Paul Dineen from the night before. Apparently the Arsenal were drinking in and outside of Rosie McGee's the evening before and that things had started off well spirited with the gala and gooner fans shaking hands and having their pictures taken togather. Gary had even been interviewed with some of his mates by Turkish TV - he cut the interview short however when part of the film crew beckoned over a large group of Turks to stand right next to the Arsenal and encouraging them to sing and wave their flags. As far as Gary was concerned they were trying to cause trouble and so he and the other Arsenal lads went back inside. Things had gone sour when a Group of 250 Turks had attacked the 50 Arsenal outside the pub throwing bottles then wading in. After the first attack the Arsenal tried to get back inside and the bouncers shut the door on 10 of them - these included Mr Dineen and 1 guy I met and his brother. The turks came in again and stabbed Dineen - eventually the police turned up and arrested and deported the brother along with some of the other Arsenal fans. Gary and I left to dump my bag in his hotel room - I had a floor to sleep on. A lot of people were talking about going back to their hotels to avoid trouble they could see coming. Unfortunately Gary had agreed to meet up with Ken and his 17 year old son and although we tried to track down his mobile phone we could't get hold of him so we went back to Rosie McGee's about 3.00pm No sooner had we arrived than trouble kicked off in the square about 200 yards away. We were offered the choice of in or out of the pub so we went in. We were ushered to the first floor the ground floor bar being packed. We got ringside seats to watch what was happening from the first floor windows. Well you've seen the pictures. We were loccked in for about an hour and a half - alot of the Arsenal went out the fire escapes with cries of "we can't have a repeat of last night again" - there was absolutely no trouble inside and this is a testament to the guys who had been drinking all day. There was a bit of anger at the bouncers for keeping us in but on the whole it was good natured. When we were let out we were right opposite the Tivoli gardens outside McDonald's and Burger King - who also had bouncers. Trying to find a cab I got separated from Gary and the others. The Arsenal were all lined up on Rosie McGee's side of the street - the Turks on the other - no police in sight on this street although they had control of the square - this was at 4.30pm. Traffic was still flowing when some Turks turned up in a car and started giving the Arsenal the bird. There was a lot of jeering and shouting and someone threw a bicycle at the car and missed. Then the police turned up - this little van parked in the middle of the street and about eight people got out. 3 of them were women and two of them were guys in their late 40s whose average height was about 5'8" - I have never seen a less convincing bunch of riot policemen in my life - their uniforms all seemed to be too big for them and they looked decidedly scared. None of the Arsenal around me were hard-core hooligans from the heady days of the eighties - we had left those guys drinking quietly on the first floor of Rosie McGee's or they'd left early to go to their hotels. The lads left there were young - teenagers and early twenties. With some serious policing they wouldn't even have got involved. The trouble was the Turks were up for it, the police were nowhere and as a result the collective mind decided that attack was the best form of defence against bottle throwing - the last time I saw this was at Marseilles in 1998 at England Tunisia when every arab in the town wanted to have a go and again the police were nowhere at the start. The difference in Marseille was that when the police turned up they were nasty - ex-foreign legion types in the CRS with rifles and rottweilers. After they showed there was no trouble - and they just stood around smoking. Finally I got a taxi - driven by a Turk of course and I got back to the hotel. We grabbed a bite to eat and walked to the ground - we saw no trouble and a few police - then bumped into the team bus just as they arrived - I'll never forget Nutty and Arsene grinning and waving as we cheered them in. Then we got into the ground - body searched going in very ineffectively - we found ourselves in a mixed enclosure full of Turks but right next to the Arsenal spearated by one small chainlink fence. We squirmed under and felt a lot more comfortable. Shortly after a Group of about 5 riot police turned up to guard the other side of the fence but they weren't needed until Hagi got sent off and the Turks started shouting through the wire. The Turkish end behind the goal was a frightening sight - packed to the gills with six huge kettle drums hanging over the tunnel - their drummers were excellent and led the Turkish chants - the whole atmosphere from that end was like some ancient army marching to war. The Arsenal fans were insipid as they have been since Highbury went all seater. The game was dismal - we lost it in the mid-field where the Turks pressed us beautifully allowing Manu and Viera no time on the ball. It was a bit like watching England play who never seem to have any time on the ball either, yet when the opposition get it we give them all the time and space in the world. Adams had a good game, Keown should have scored, Henry should have done better with his header, we missed Freddie. As soon as it went to penalties I knew we'd lost just as I did in St. Etienne 2 years ago. Tone to his credit argued the toss over the toss and it was clear we were stuffed by this decision - to take them up that end (it was truly horrifying) and to go second. But live and learn. We trailed silently back to the hotel expecting to be up all night with the noise of celebrating Turks cos our hotel was at least 3 to 1 in their favour. We went to sleep and heard nothing through the paper thin walls and left at 5.45am the next day. The airport was full of sleeping fans as I caught my flight back to reality. What a day! Other reports
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