Newcastle UEFA Cup tie marred by violence
UEFA Cup football brought a wave of arrests in Holland yesterday as fans turned violent before matches.
Dutch police arrested 94 people when rioting broke out before Newcastle’s match with NAC Breda, more than 80 of whom are believed to be English.
Fans had been mixing happily for much of the day, drinking beer together, and showing few signs of trouble. But later on violence erupted with bottles and glasses being hurled, and windows being smashed.
The extreme turn of events has led some present to blame fans of other clubs. Newcastle fans argued that things turned bad when Chelsea and Feyenoord fans confronted each other.
There is reportedly bad blood between Chelsea and Feyenoord, but the two sides were not facing each other last night, and Chelsea did not have a match anywhere in Europe.
The Dutch Police have not ruled out the possibility that other fans were involved, though they have said they believe the majority of those arrested were from Newcastle.
Holland also sent a busload of Polish fans travelling to see Wisla Krakow beat NEC back across the border yesterday. The authorities found various weapons on board included axes, knives and a garrotte.
The news of violence will worry the FA ahead of the European Championships in Portugal. English fans have come under scrutiny recently following violence with opposition fans, and UEFA threatened to ban England from its flagship tournament.
