From the Independent’s Mike Corder.
Feyenoord warned French authorities that its fans who rioted at the UEFA Cup match against Nancy were traveling to France despite being banned from Dutch stadiums.
“We did everything we could to prevent problems. We knew every supporter who bought a ticket via the club,” Feyenoord director Otto Jacobs said Friday on the club’s Web site.
Feyenoord hooligans fought and smashed windows in the town of Nancy before ripping out and throwing seats during Thursday night’s match. Police used tear gas, forcing the referee to halt the match in the 80th minute because it was affecting the players.
The players returned to the field some 20 minutes later and Nancy won 3-0.
Jacobs appealed to the Dutch government to introduce legislation that would force hooligans to report regularly to law enforcement authorities – a move designed to ensure they do not travel to matches.
“We need a football law,” Jacobs said. “There are hooligans walking around (Nancy) who have 20-year bans for all Dutch stadiums. That could have been prevented with a reporting obligation.”
Feyenoord striker Pierre van Hooijdonk said a possible UEFA ban for the club may mean he never plays another European match. Van Hooijdonk has said this will be his final season before retiring.
“I may have played the last European Cup tie of my career,” he said. “I’m not sentimental, but it hurts that it has to end this way. This is a disaster for the club. We’re facing a serious punishment. In these miserable times that is a bad outlook.”
Joe Queenan once mused that the common wisdom in England is that Rubgy is played by goons watched by gentlemen, while Football is played by gentlemen watched by goons. Your take?
Whoops, I misspelled Rugby – I think I need a 17″ screen these days; getting older, you know.
there’s all sorts of goons to go around. Not sure what bearing Joe’s observation has on the Dutch or the French, but from my own experience, rugby union crowds bear a striking resemblance to Jimmy Buffet fans except a bit thinner. I realize that’s a terrible generalization.
I think there’s an equal smattering of goons/gents on and off the pitch in football. though the ’90/00’s mainstreaming/upscaling of the premiership has priced out some portion of the goon element in England, for better or worse (some portion of the actual fans, too, I’d wager). Tough to make sweeping statements because there are so many examples to the contrary no matter what I’d tell you.
Thank you for responding to my question – Joe’s wife is British, and he’s spent much time over there during the last 30 years. He wrote a book recently about making a solo trip there on his own – if you like his kind of humor, the paperback’s worth a look (“Queenan Country: A Reluctant Anglophile’s pilgrimage to the Mother Country”).