On This Day – 15th February
One of the most shameful moments in British sporting history took place on this day in 1995 as some England fans ran riot at an away match against the Republic of Ireland.
Several England fans ripped apart sections of the Main Stand at Lansdowne Road and throwing missiles onto the Irish fans below. There were even long planks of wood and seats thrown down by yobs intent on causing as much damage and destruction as possible. Whoever made the decision to put the England fans in the top tier had made a terrible mistake.
There was already a poisonous atmosphere at the game, with many of the England fans booing the Irish national anthem.
When David Kelly put the Republic a goal ahead after 22 minutes, tempers began to rise in the away end. Four minutes later, England had a goal disallowed and the first start of trouble began.
As soon as the missiles began raining down from the upper tier, referee Dennis Jol took the players off the field of play. A little under 20 minutes later, someone on the PA system announced that the game had been postponed. Many fans around the area of the incident had already left. They didn’t feel safe and no one could blame them.
In all, there were 43 arrests and 20 people were injured in the rioting. The barbaric scenes made the front and back pages and were a major talking point at the time.
England was due to host the European Championships the following summer and there were calls for the Championship to be given to another country as punishment. This never happened though and the tournament was a great success.
It was incredibly lucky that there were any serious injuries or even worse on 15th February 1995, a night when the reputation of English football was once again dragged through the dirt.
About Author
