THE shameful events which unfolded at Tynecastle on Wednesday night had a particularly parochial flavour to them but supporter misbehaviour has not been limited to Scotland this season, writes Stewart Fisher.
Here Herald Sport outlines seven episodes from across European football in the last six months alone...
1. Stevenage Borough v Newcastle Utd, FA Cup, January 8, 2011 Scott Laird, Stevenage’s 22-year-old full back, is knocked out by one of the club’s own fans who invade the pitch after the non-league side’s 3-1 win over Newcastle United. Laird, a former Scotland Under-16 player, was laid out by 24-year-old Robert Fitzgerald ‘out of loyalty’ to his current girlfriend, and Laird’s former girlfriend, Jade Coles. The man was later handed a 12 week jail sentence and a six-month ban from football stadiums.
2. Chesterfield v Bury , npower League Two, April 25, 2011 A group of Chesterfield fans, enraged by Bury clinching promotion by winning 3-2 on their patch and delaying the Spireites’ clinching of the League Two title, invade the pitch at the club’s b2net stadium, with one man alleged to have punched Bury goalkeeper Cameron Belford during the incident. Derbyshire Police arrested and bailed six people for the incident.
3. Birmingham City v Aston Villa, St Andrew’s, December 2, 2010 Alex McLeish’s Birmingham side went on to win the Carling Cup, but their victory over local rivals Aston Villa could so easily have ended in a riot. More than 1000 of their fans invaded the pitch after the game, and goaded the 3000-plus visiting fans, with flares and seats being thrown. Birmingham were fined £20,000, with an additional £20,000 suspended, and warned as to their future conduct.
4. Legia Warsaw v Lech Poznan, Polish Cup final, May 3, 2011 Authorities identify 70 hooligans who invade the pitch in Bydgoszcz after the recent Polish Cup final which ends in a 5-4 win on penalties by Legia Warsaw. Both teams are ordered to play their next matches behind closed doors, as Polish prime minister Donald Tusk attempts to crack down on his country’s hooliganism problem ahead of Euro 2012.
5. Italy v Serbia, Euro 2012 qualifiers, Genoa, October 12, 2010 Scottish referee Craig Thomson first delays the kick-off between Serbia and Italy then abandons the match after just seven minutes when he rules that he could not guarantee the safety of players. Red Star Belgrade fans, unhappy that goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic had joined city rivals Partizan, storm the Serbian team bus, forcing Stojkovic to withdraw from the game. Within minutes of the kick-off, Serbia’s fans launch a flares at Italian goalkeeper Viviano and one into the home end. Italy are awared the match 3-0.
6. Bursaspor v Beskitas, Turkcell SuperLig, Bursa, May 7, 2011 Kenny Miller might have escaped the Old Firm madhouse but he isn’t free of misbehaving fans. Last Saturday, the Turkish Football Federation cancelled Bursaspor’s league match with Besiktas, after hundreds of fans pelted police with stones.
7. Barcelona v Real Madrid, Champions League, May 3, 2011 An intruder causes a potentially serious incident just seconds before kick-off at one of the Champions League semi-final second leg, one of the biggest club matches in Europe. A man jumps from the stand at Camp Nou, runs 70 yards and reaches Cristiano Ronaldo. Fortunately it is only a stunt by serial pitch invader Jimmy Jump, who attempts to place a Barcelona hat on the Portuguese international.
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