Violent Polish fans disgrace themselves in Belfast
Monday, March 30th, 2009
Imagine the outcry if Northern Ireland fans marched through Warsaw displaying swastikas to taunt the Poles.
Northern Ireland recorded one of the results of the weekend, going top of their World Cup qualifying group by beating Poland 3-2, albeit with the help of a career defining blunder from Artur Boruc. However a day of celebration for the Irish was ruined by awful scenes of violence, with onlookers accusing the visiting Poles of inciting the locals by unfurling the Republican Eirigi flag through the streets of Belfast.
Leading the accusations was Northern Ireland Sports Minister Gregory Campbell, who spelled out the significance of the Eirigi flag.
Campbell: “There were some Polish fans who introduced one of the Irish republican flags, that are supportive of the group that killed the soldiers and the policeman a few weeks ago, which obviously then led to even more tension.”
A BBC radio interview in which Gregory Campbell explained exactly what he saw can be heard here.
Earlier reports on the day chronicled how rival supporters had clashed outside a pub, with the on-sight BBC reporter, Colette Hume, pointing the finger of blame at the fact that fans had all day to get drunk leading to unruly fans.
The BBC report can be seen here.
Against this backdrop, and takjing into account Poland’s well-known repuation for housing violent football fans, UEFA’s decision to host the 2012 European Championship in Poland and the Ukraine looks to be increasingly alarming.
11 Responses to “Violent Polish fans disgrace themselves in Belfast”
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March 30th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
No mention of the N.Ireland fan’s sectarian chanting.
Or message board threats before the game.
Or spraying R.I.P Boruc on a building wall before the game.
Or mention that Boruc had to be escorted to the match with a high security presence.
Northern Ireland are just as guilty!
March 30th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
Also be careful when you compare republican groups to Nazi’s. I’m in no way in support of republican violence but it cannot be correlate with nazi genocide.
March 30th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
I agree with both posts. Neither set of fan doused them in glory in this matter. Poland in 2012 will be a no go zone for most fans as the local football is saturated with violence on a regular basis and the introduction of national teams will allow these local thugs to go on the rampage.
England are always a target as they have the history. Now day’s English football is clean of this behaviour, but countries still see the English as a group that they attain further status from by beating up.
The Germans will also be a target and the Italians have a reputation at club level that the local thugs will want to test themselves against. Add the Serbs, Turks and Russians and this euro tournament has the look of a throw back to the 80’s and plenty of crowd trouble.
The polish authorities need to get their act together as this could be remembered for all the wrong reasons!
I hope is works out, but have had doubts for a long time!
March 30th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
“be careful when you compare republican groups to Nazi’s.”
The author didn’t compare anyone to Nazis. The line reads: “Imagine the outcry if Northern Ireland fans marched through Warsaw displaying swastikas to taunt the Poles.”
It’s simply an analogy to illustrate the tension to someone who isn’t entirely familiar with the situation. Imagine the outcry in the US if Saudi fans marched through New York displaying a picture of bin-Laden.
March 31st, 2009 at 1:46 am
Yes but he compared the Eirigi flag, a legitimate socialist party (who admittedly have a few murderous bastards in their ranks) to the swastika, emblem of the Nazis who killed around 16 million people. I’m really not trying to be pedantic, or condone sectarianism and republican violence. I just think it’s a pretty lazy comparison and was a bit disappointed as I’m a big fan of this website and its writers. But that’s just my opinion, feel free to rip it to shreds
March 31st, 2009 at 10:30 am
Oh for f#ck’s sake!
Swastikas?! What’s next? Do you have ANY IDEA what a swastika means in Poland that lost HALF ITS POPULATION during WWII? Most obviously, no, you don’t.
And sadly I don’t see you noticing any violence on the Norn Iron side. Sure, a bunch of 200 Poles went to Belfast and kicked everyone around. Yep, no one else to blame, poor harmless people of Belfast who had no idea how to protect themselves and no violent behaiour at all was reported.
I understand that Poland has got a serieous problem with hooliganism (of which you have barely any idea after seeing what you write about E2012), but putting it on all Poland, and especially because someone Polish exposed a flag of a legitimate organization (which you may hate, you may have a damn good reason to, I barely know what it is) at the stadium when fighting in the streets was ongoing for hours is… errr… stupid?
It’s a very short article, yet so venomous. Talking about disgrace, you’re on the list as well if you wish to poison the web with your one-side-and-one-side-only rubbish.
March 31st, 2009 at 3:46 pm
What the swastika means in Poland is very similar to what the Eirigi Flag means to half of northern ireland who wish for the country of Ireland to be reformed without british rule. The attrocoties of the British in Ireland are not comparable with the Germans in Poland of course not, but they are something to be ashamed of if you are british and something the poles knew would antagonise the irish fans!
March 31st, 2009 at 3:58 pm
“Poland’s well-known repuation for housing violent football fans”
“Poland in 2012 will be a no go zone for most fans as the local football is saturated with violence on a regular basis”
First of all, reputation is one thing and reality, another.
It seems that the image of Poland in terms of safety is quite remote from what actually goes on here, upon Vistula.
Poland really isn’t a wild west, where local savages hunt the Germans. It’s just rubbish what Tom wrote in his comment.
Second of all, there hasn’t been any acts of violence on the occasion of our NT game at home for many years now. what happened in N.Ireland is disgrace, but I can recall English fans fighting the Italians over the CL games quite recently, or Dutch fans attacking Poles during Utrech-Legia match a few years back, or notice what happened in the game between Atletico and Olympique in the autumn, plus rasism in Primera Division… If Poland is “a no go” zone for the Europeans, then most countries on the continent are as well.
April 9th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
You know what who cares,
the poles came, they saw and they got bait as we say in our wee country….3.2 3.2 3.2
September 10th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Felt I had to comment on these matters. I was in Belfast that day and witnessed both of the first incidents that led to the violence. As with any game, Northern Ireland fans fill the city, especially up the Lisburn Road direction. Pubs, cafes and lounges are filled with NI fans. They also stand out on the street and start singing etc etc, but there is NEVER any trouble. EVER! Poland visit and some of the fans they attract go on a literal rampage. I witnessed some drunk Polich fans…only about 12 in number…approaching about 100 NI fans singing on the street. By their very appearance I said to my wife that they looked like trouble. Within seconds of saying this, all 12 of them waed into the NI fans, hitting, kicking and throwing bottles. Only about 10-20 NI fans really did much in the way of fighting back, but given what had happened, they were very very reserved. It was purely self defence and more than measured. Only 15-20 minutes previous to this, I witnessed Polish fans attack a bar that NI were in. Nobody provoked them at all. If later in the afternoon, some NI fans did put on a united front then I think they were entitled to for self defence, because the Polish were just running around the streets picking people off for attack. It was the worst behaviour in away fans that I have seen for a very long time. Finally NI fans are good fans, in fact the best in Europe. We have the trophy to prove it. Nobody, whether in a football context or not, would tolerate another group coming into an area and start simply beating locals up. Anyone would respond t this and take defensive action. If you were not there to see how one-sided it was, then please do not comment.
October 1st, 2009 at 4:26 pm
How do they get to stay in norn iron ?what happened to immigration?