February 15, 1995.

English fans rioted in the west stand of Lansdowne Road during a friendly match with the Republic of Ireland, then managed by Jack Charlton, before being escorted onto a ferry at Dun Laoghaire (last two pics).

All pics: Rollingnews

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27 thoughts on “25 Years Of Hurt

      1. theo kretschmar schuldorff

        Neither are men really.
        But up there on the sadness register beside this type feral carry-on, is that the guards were all up the other end of phibsboro while these lads were knocking the stuffing out of each other outside the fire station. I watch two fire engines drive out on the road flashing their lights apparently just to drive them away since there were no guards minding them.

        1. topsy

          …and they repeated the dose a few days later.
          But it’s all ok – they’re just rugger guys engaging in some recreational violence.

  1. Charger Salmons

    ” Michael Collins, Éamon de Valera, Dustin the Turkey, Podge and Rodge, Jedward, Dana, can you hear me ? Dana – your boys took a hell of a beating ! Your boys took a hell of a beating ! ”

    Heh,heh,heh.
    ( Shameful behaviour obvs )

  2. dav

    I always remember my father coming up with a devious way of treating the fans after they were corralled in the stand and the rest of the stadium emptied – turn fire hoses on them. It was a very cold February night if memory serves and keeping them up there wet and freezing for an hour, would have made them slightly more compliant.

      1. dav

        yeah but after an hour in sub zero temp and in the early stages of hypothermia, they really wouldn’t be up to much

  3. Spaghetti Hoop

    Scumbags of the worst order. But this wasn’t an isolated incident. It may have been the World Cup 90 or 94 qualifiers but the England fans had already caused trouble on Dublin streets prior to this, with confrontations with Gardai on O’Connell St and Bridge (very scary to witness, I add). English soccer hooliganism, both in their home stadia and abroad was at its most violent in the 90s – with small on-street fracas of 100-200 less reported on than the full-scale riots. So the Lansdowne Road riot was not a surprise at all. While the Gardai were cleared of any negligence, it’s true to say they and the FAI were completely unprepared for the Combat 18 ilk and their capabilities. And it was also a mistake to allow England fans travel for the 1996 Euros and 1998 World Cup where they continued to wreak havoc and display racist abuse on the continent.

    1. Charger Salmons

      It was a mistake to allow Ireland to travel to the 2012 Euros where they equalled the worst performance by a team in European Championship history…

    2. Milk teeth

      I think you’ve got your dates pritty wrong there. English hooliganism was dieing down by the 90s. They hosted Euro 96 so did no traveling.
      The 70s and 80s were when it was at its worst. To be fair to the English authorities (after the international ban) they really got a grip on it.

      1. Spaghetti Hoop

        Sorry, I meant attend the Euro 96 games. There was violence too after those matches, on their home ground. The problem may have declined within stadia, but it continued on the streets. And while authorities had better technology to identify culpable organised gangs, it didn’t stop the street clashes. Today it is focused towards individual players, so hasn’t gone away.

  4. Charlie

    Still common enough today in Brexitland. The most appalling football supporters on the planet. I guess when you’re brought up in a country where most everyone seems to be miserable, it’s only natural.

  5. Bertie Theodore Alphege Blenkinsop

    I was stewarding that day, one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen (and I saw Twink without makeup once)

    1. Steph Pinker

      Bertie, you’re very pass-remarkable about people aren’t you? Whether it’s about fingers, toes, hair, make-up, clothes, weight, demeanor etc… I really hope that BS has a party sometime so we can all meet and see how perfect you are.

        1. Steph Pinker

          I wouldn’t lower myself; you obviously have no problem though – apparently water finds its own level, as does scum.

          Do yourself a favour and stop being do judgmental about people, and women in particular, it might get you out of the box room for a few hours.

  6. Smith

    Was at that game, in the schoolboy section, South terrace. We had great fun goading the English fans, especially the Combat 18 lads in balaclavas. Was it normal terrace banter from our side? Everyone singing F the Queen during their national anthem. Lots of patriotic stuff.

    Then we went 1 Nil UP!

    That’s when they went mental, breaking up seats and throwing them. Ran towards us, huge mosh & luckily nobody got trampled.Was glad to get out OK. Main disappointment was that game was stopped.

    1 Nil UP!

  7. Formerly Known As @ireland.com

    I was living in Australia. The only time Ireland playing soccer was the first item on the news. I got to see the goal, anyway. 1 nil up!

  8. Andrew

    I was living in Germany at the time, watched the match in an Irish pub with Irish and English fans
    .A fight kicked off there too. Crineworthy stuff to be honest.

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