Posted on 07/20/2008 8:56:54 PM PDT by buccaneer81
West Ham, Crew fans brawl in stands Sunday, July 20, 2008 11:17 PM By Shawn Mitchell THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH From the southeastern corner of Crew Stadium came the West Ham United chants: “East! East! East Lon-don!”
From the northeastern came the answer: “Co-lum-bus! Co-lum-bus!”
Today’s war of words turned physical at halftime of the Crew’s exhibition match against West Ham, when a handful of West Ham fans ventured into the heart of the Crew’s supporters section.
A scuffle broke out and stadium security quickly pulled the West Ham interlopers to the stadium concourse. The next few minutes were frantic.
While the West Ham fans were removed to a stair landing on the back side of the stadium, supporters of both teams gathered on the concourse. Several punches were thrown and one West Ham fan was thrown to the ground by security and handcuffed by police, who used pepper spray or mace to help break up the melee.
Police couldn’t confirm the number of arrests and Crew vice president of operations Scott DeBolt said he would have no details “until I get a report, which might not be till (Monday).”
More fans were seen handcuffed in the parking lots after the game.
Shortly after halftime, West Ham fans unfurled a banner in the stadium’s south end that read “ ICF, 30 Years Undefeated.”
The Inter City Firm, or ICF, is one of the most notorious hooligan groups in England.
Peter Witham, a fan of the English team Arsenal, said he was on his way to the restroom when he got hit with chemical irritant used by police.
“I’ve never experienced anything like that in my life and I’ve been going to English Premier League games for forever,” he said.
One of the fans who entered the Crew’s supporters section was not ejected despite being detained by security for several minutes.
“We just went over for some tea and crumpets and (the Crew fans) got mad,” said the man, who identified himself as Dave Simpson from London.
smitchell@dispatch.com
Do people lose brain cells when they watch soccer or something?
I didn’t want this sport here and now we hear about that ‘tard Beckham all the freaking time!
He was (is) such a has-been in Europe that they were fine with him coming to MLS (which is considered AA by European standards.)
The equivalent is us sending Wade Boggs over to play European baseball.
Soccer is the best, I love it. You couldn’t pay me to watch baseball.
Everyone has their own opinion.
Soccer fans in America brawling?
What’d they hit each other with - hand bags and parasols?
Hooligans! Looks like those 30 Ham fans got a little taste of American thuggery. But I doubt those white boys from London will survive doing that in Los Angeles.
BTW, I do however second your preference for Hockey over Soccer.
The fans in Europe don’t play. Our rivalries are nowhere near as bitter as theirs. Stadium concourses don’t even connect over there so the two camps can’t get at each other and you won’t even be allowed into a section if you are wearing the wrong color. I read an article a year or two ago about a deadly riot in Greece. It was over a womens volleyball game.
I can’t blame them for fighting...
Soccer is sooo boring that you have to do something to pass the time..../s
LOL! We are an exotic breed, that's for sure (although I'm not a native...only been here 17 years. My wife and son on the other hand...;-)
“Soccer is the best, I love it. You couldn’t pay me to watch baseball”
I agree about baseball. It bores me to death. You see very little game action and its requires less athleticism than anyother major sport outside of golf. It also has little room for creativity. You run in straight lines. You throw in straight lines, etc. It seems like every highlight comes from one of four or five molds. One thing I love about sports are the spontaneous creative moments where someone does something you’ve never seen. You don’t get much of that in baseball. Not like a counterattack in soccer or a fastbreak in basketball
I can’t understand why anti-soccer folks are so intimidated by another sport. Its a big country, see what you want, but the bravado against soccer is just childish.
I am a long time (since day one) Galaxy fan. We aren’t so good, but I like Donovan and Buddle.
We hockey fans put up with the same thing.
I hear ya. I like hockey live, but not on TV. I’m glad they are going to do more outdoor games.
MLS is doing well, LA vs NY had 45,000 attendance yesterday. Toronto sells out most games. Seattle & Philly are getting teams in next two seasons. Both LA teams get over 30,000 most games. And, HDNET shows a weekly game, which looks great.
Yep, I can remember all those brawls reported on the news after a football, baseball, basketball, golf and tennis event. Yes, give us soccer …
One match. MLS has played over a decade here without a brawl.
I’ve seen plenty of fights at College & NFL games I’ve been to.
If you don’t like it, don’t watch it.
Fights and skirmishes are different from brawls … many soccer brawls have cost lives, not many lives have been lost at football, basketball outings in the US. Hooligans abound in the stands of world soccer games just looking for a reason to engage in fisticuffs.
The only reason these brawls haven’t become common in the US, we don’t like soccer, we believe in sportsmanship and for the most part … we are still somewhat civilized.
You like soccer, fine … most Americans don’t, otherwise it would be a popular sport … golf is more popular. The only reason soccer is even played in the US; it is cheaper (equipment wise) than many sports.
Wrong, wrong, and wrong.
powder puffs and luffas.
I can say right, right, right … but can you justify your wrong, wrong, wrong? I need more than your proclamation of “wrong” to change my mind.
Baseball is interesting when the game means something, as in post season play. Besides that, it sure isn't a television sport.
By the way … wrong, wrong, wrong … strong argument. Beyond debate, I concede. /s
The only real serious problem with soccer hooligans are a small segment of fans from England. It is NOT a widespread issue worldwide at all.
There are certainly pretty serious fan brawls right here in the US. Just recently in fact there was a case of a group of Red Sox fans seriously beating a Yankee baseball bat. Earlier this year a fan was beaten to death in the street after an NHL playoff game. Then of course there are the cases of Philadelphia Phillies fans throwing batteries at opposing players, New York Giants fans pelting the field with chunks of ice, and who can forget the infamous Detriot Pistons and Indiana Pacers game that erupted into a riot. All of these instances happened not too long ago, so don’t try to convince anyone that it is confined to soccer.
Your assertion that most Americans don’t like soccer and that the sport is only played here because it costs little to play is also very misleading. Last year’s average attendance at Major League Soccer games was at around 16,000, which is about the same as the NBA and NHL. This is even more impressive when you consider that the sports media bombards us with NBA coverage while paying little, if any, attention to MLS (and the NHL). Finally, perhaps the biggest indicator that professional soccer has, and is gaining, a significant amount of popularity in this country are the brand new soccer specific stadiums in Denver, New York, Salt Lake City, Washington DC, and Toronto.
These are the facts.
13 current MLS teams is not a fact.
1. Chicago Fire
2. Colorado Rapids
3 Columbus Crew
4. DC United
5. FC Dallas
6. Houston Dynamo
7. Kansas City Wizards
8. LA Galaxy
9. New England Revolution
10. New York Red Bulls
11. Real Salt Lake
12. San Jose Quakes
13 Chivas USA
14. Toronto FC
15. Seattle will enter in 2009 and has paid expansion fee
16. Philly will enter in 2010 and has paid expansion fee
In a year or so ST Louis will awarded a franchise starting in 2011. The finishing touches on a soccer specific stadium and government approval are just about done.
In 2020 MLS will surpass NHL.
The Hispanic percentage of the population will reach about 17% of the total by then.
I find it extrememly boring to have a game run on a clock. How creative can you get when you have 30 seconds left. Time's up, you lose.
Though you are correct regarding "athleticism", baseball requires much more athletic "skill" and coordination. Of course, the real attraction of baseball is that there is a lot more to the game than just making contact with a 90+ mph fastball. The gamesmanship and strategy is extremely intricate. So much so that baseball is a much more cerebral game. That's probably the main reason why soccer fans can't relate to baseball.
Note the handbags . . .
http://bp2.blogger.com/_OkuhepoopDc/RhUV8O-_nrI/AAAAAAAAAAo/8OcGkYWfvG0/s320/soccer2.jpg
There are 30 NHL teams, believe it or not.
Which to me isn't a knock on the game as much as on the playoffs and division structure, which I think should be eliminated. AL Pennant winner and NL Pennant winner meet in the World Series the way it used to be - that's it. Make the season games count for more than they do.
The best thing about baseball as a TV sport is that you can work on something else while the game is on, and just pay attention at the critical moments. ;)
Slow doesn’t necessarily mean cerebral. A quarterback, or point guard, or soccer player has to see so many things before they develop and react so quickly. A point guard or soccer player has to see a couple passes ahead. And i’m not so sure baseball requires any more coordination than golf or any better reflexes than tennis.
The NBA and NHL have been around since the first part of the 20th century. MLS has been around for 12 years and has seen consistent growth in attendance and fan interest, and has seen the league expand from 10 teams in 1996 to 14 today. Of course the NBA and NHL bring in more total fans, that tends to happen when there are over twice as many teams in each of those leagues which is understandable since those leagues have been around so much longer. The fact is that the size of MLS has expanded by almost 50% in just 12 years; show me another league that can say that.
Saying that most Americans don’t like soccer or that it is not popular here is just plain wrong.
Here’s another fact. The record for total attendance in a World Cup was set 1994 when it was held in the US, despite the fact that there were fewer teams/games involved than there are today (24 qualifying teams as compared to 32 since 1998).
I see your point, but once you get beyond that this arguement crashes.
Professional soccer throughout most of the world actually displays more chacteristics of capitalism than American sports leagues do. For one thing, there is no salary cap, revenue sharing, or luxury tax imposed on teams in the vast majority of soccer leagues, whereas these all exist in one form or another in the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL.
In the NFL, the most popular league in the US by far, the most successful teams are punished the following season by being given the most difficult schedules, and the weakest teams are rewarded by getting weak schedules; parity. This does not happen in soccer leagues throughout the world. In fact, in most leagues (except for the US) the weakest teams are punished via relegation to a lower league, while the best teams in the lower leagues are rewarded via promotion to the upper league. Contrast this to every single league in the US where the biggest losers get the first choice of new young talent in the draft.
If anything, it is our sports in the US that follow a socialist model, while soccer leagues throughout the world follow a capitalist model.
“Give me my hockey anytime.”
Indeed (make mine the Penguins)!
It’s hard to believe that these people came all the way from England to get into a fight in Columbus Ohio. What losers.
This should bring happiness to all those Liberals and other politicians who look to Europe as a model for the USA to aspire to, and who are embarrased and ashamed of the USA.
As we become more civilized in the European style we might advance to the point our soccer fans are actually killing each other too.
LOL! As if we needed further evidence of how much soccer sucks...
Yep. Lame-@ss European game, stupid-@ss European fan antics.
South America is on another planet?
South America is on another planet?
In what?
Spanish speaking fans?
Low TV ratings?
Sheer boredom?
Oh please. I just pointed out that fan violence at sporting events is not unheard of here at all. It happens everywhere and that includes the US. However it certainly isn’t widespread to the point that it happens all the time as some people here claim.
It really is pathetic how some people get all upset and defensive whenever it is mentioned that soccer is gaining popularity in the US. If you ask me, the fact that they find it necessary to come onto a thread that is obviously about soccer for no other reason than to proclaim how stupid soccer is says more about their state of mind than anything else.
I hear you. I must admit over the past year or so, I’ve gotten really into soccer, especially the EPL and the Champions League and Euro 2008. Especially when the games are in High-Def, it really does make a difference.
There is an investment a fan here in the US has to make to learn about all of the teams and the players. But it’s a heck of a soap opera, especially in the off-season when you wonder who is going to transfer where. I’ve totally gotten caught up in it.
The MLS still has a ways to go. I envision the day when the MLS can incorporate into UEFA, so that MLS teams could compete in the Champions League. I think that really is the only way the MLS will take hold with the non-Hispanic crowd here in the US, and allow the MLS to compete with the other big world leagues for top-notch talent, other than people past their prime, like Beckham. Also for the US players, they are much better off playing in Europe than here to develop their talent, and make the US National team better. The MLS is banking too much on Hispanics with the “Super Liga”. But for the big money, they need to look to Europe.
The Heysel Stadium disaster occurred due to football hooliganism in which a retaining wall of the Heysel Stadium in Brussels collapsed on May 29, 1985 before a football match between Liverpool F.C. from England and Juventus F.C. from Italy. 39 people were killed, mostly Italian Juventus fans.
18 stabbed at Colombian soccer riot March 10, 2008 More than 80 injured. Video of the riot available. No word yet on whether or not the ghost of Andres Escobar was involved. Escobar was the player who was assassinated after accidentally scoring an own-goal in the 1994 World Cup.
1964:Lima, Peru: riot and panic following unpopular ruling by referee in Peru vs. Argentina soccer game. It is worst soccer disaster on record. Over 300 dead.
Ellis Park, South Africa 2001 The Premier Soccer League last night came under attack after 43 people were reported dead at the overcrowded Ellis Park Stadium after watching a game between soccer arch-rivals Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs.
1989: BRITAIN is still the sick man of Europe in soccer violence, for which it has, as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher says, ''the worst record in the developed world.'' It set another one last weekend when 95 people, most of them youths from Liverpool, died pushing and squeezing their way into a soccer stadium in the northern city of Sheffield.
I could go on, but it's not worth the bandwidth.
Why would MLS play UFEA in league matches? UFEA is another continent.
MLS is now playing Super Liga matches, and plays Premier and Budesliga teams all the time in friendly matches.
Fact is, soccer is doing well in the USA, its growing, and the MLS keeps getting better.
Reading the immature reactions here is baffling. Just ignorant.
What’d they hit each other with - hand bags and parasols?
I take it you've never actually been to a soccer game in the US? The crowd isn't much different from the crowd at any other sporting event. It runs the gamut from working-class people, to suits in the good seats.
When I move to DC, friends got me into DC United. I've been going to games on and off over the last 5 years. I grew up watching and playing hockey, so soccer was really easy to pick up. It's got the same fast, fluid drynamics that you don't really get in Football or Baseball.
Not sure why so many Americans feel the need to insult soccer. I'm not into basketball or football, but I don't begrudge fans of those sports their interests. People who think soccer is a wimpy sport haven't ever really watched it.
Now if we can only get our own stadium in DC.
MLS has a salary cap chief
If MLS is sustained, it will be b/c of the large hispanic and latino population. Chivas, LA, Dallas, and Houston have a large hispanic fan-base.
Premier League and even the Bundesliga are exciting to watch. MLS reminds me of high school or college matches.
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