Derry City fan attacked by Shamrock Rovers supporters calls for crack down on stadium disorder

Patrick Canning (51), a former Derry City club safety officer, was confronted by a group of up to 20 Rovers supporters at the bottom of a stairwell leading out to the Brandywell Road on February 25th and sustained injuries to his upper chest and ribs as he attempted to protect his teenage son.

Mr. Canning, a lifelong Derry fan, has called on the FAI to address the issue amid growing safety concerns at the Lone Moor Road venue and believes a PSNI presence may even be needed on ‘Category A’ match days to deal with public order offences.

It’s understood Derry City Football Club has scheduled a Board meeting this weekend to address the issue of anti-social behaviour, crowd disturbances and incidents of pitch incursions, use of flares and pyrotechnics and missiles being thrown onto the pitch which have marred the opening two home fixtures.

Mr. Canning’s attack wasn’t an isolated one as another Derry City fan, who wishes to remain anonymous, sustained a broken nose and bruising to the head after being set upon by a large group of youths at the end of the Sligo Rovers match on Monday, February 28th following an altercation involving his teenage son.

It’s an alarming issue and with the club expected to incur significant fines for breaches in stadium regulations and improper conduct among home and visiting supporters, Mr. Canning insists more needs to be done to clamp down on such behaviour before it escalates further.

Describing his ordeal, Mr Canning, said he was set upon by the group of Rovers fans after attempts to get his son to safety and was then found with ‘nowhere to go’ and up against the perimeter wall as they attacked him before eventually exiting the stadium at the end of Derry’s 2-1 victory.

“It’s usual that the Rovers fans were kept back for 15 minutes after the game which happens at every stadium. So we were coming along the back of the stand (Southend Park) and there were two groups of fans leaving the ground. I was at the back of one of the groups and my young fella, who is 15, was at the front of the other group, kind of in no man’s land between the two groups.

“I got to the bottom of stairwell C where Rovers fans were. The Rovers fans came down the stairs and there were no more than 20 of them, so it’s not to say it was all the Rovers fans. They came rushing down the stairs and I looked back and my son was first in line so I thought, ‘I need to do something here’. I ran back and grabbed him and got pushed into the group that was coming down.

“I was up against the wall and happened to be the first person they came across. I got about six kicks to the right side, just under my armpit along the breastbone and above the ribs and it took my breath away completely. I managed to stay on my feet and the trouble went from the bottom of the stairwell until some genius decided to throw a flare into the middle of it.

“So I was between the flare and the Rovers fans with nowhere to go. I found myself back into the crowd of Rovers fans again and got another six kicks to the exact same spot.

“I don’t know how it ended or where the Rovers fans went to and we just ran out the gate towards the Brandywell but we couldn’t get out as the Rovers fans were coming down the other set of stairs. So we went back across the back of the stand and towards the Showgrounds end and right out along the Lone Moor Road.

“We actually saw the boys who dished out the beating coming up the Brandywell Road but I just put my head down because he was a big lad.”

It was a traumatic experience for his son who was left ‘in bits’ when he eventually returned to the safety of his own home and Mr Canning fears these incidents will put people off going to Brandywell and take the gloss off what has been an excellent start to the season for the football team.

“He was ready to pull up trees initially, seeing his dad being thrown about the place, but that was adrenaline,” explained Mr. Canning. “When we came home I was telling my wife, Colleen, what happened and he was in bits upstairs. He wasn’t in a great place and kept saying I could’ve been kicked to death.

“I’m 51 years of age and have had a lot worse kickings but if they had got him they would’ve made mincemeat of him. I didn’t feel like my life was in threat and I’m tough enough to take it but if it had been my son, those boys don’t care who was getting it, it just happened that I was the first person.

“There were people behind me who got kicks and punches as well but if it had been someone younger or frail, then God knows how bad the damage would’ve been. I got a bit of a trimming but if it had been someone else it could’ve been a different story.

“My son has been going to the matches since he could walk. He was the mascot for the Skonto Riga match (2009) and has been going since then. Not only the club but the fans need to do something to help the club. We had that documentary about the club recently and the roots of the club and the trouble we had getting into the league after being put out of the Irish League and that’s the kind of spirit we need in the Brandywell.

“We’re in this together, we shouldn’t be tearing each other apart. There’s been violence after that at the Sligo Rovers game and I witnessed that first hand as well. Violence at football matches seems to be escalating and it’s going to put people off. It definitely will.

“I loathe calling anyone a thug but there’s boys there that aren’t good for the club, going about as so-called supporters and they’re costing the club a lot of money. Maybe the club has started engaging with them and sitting them down and explaining what this club is all about.

“I don’t know if there’s anything that could happen at Brandywell that would put me off going to a Derry match but season tickets have gone through the roof and tickets are like hen’s teeth. But there are new supporters that have come on board this season, stuff like this could put them off Derry City for life and we don’t need that.”

Mr. Canning, who was heavily involved in matchday security operations when Derry hosted Linfield in the Setanta Cup in 2007, believes these sort of unsavoury incidents can leave fans feeling intimidated and anxious when attending games.

“On Friday night at Shelbourne we were held back for 15 minutes as usual to allow the Shels fan away. It did cross my mind when I was leaving, ‘Are they all away?’ We were walking to the car worrying if we were going to meet the Shelbourne fans. Two or three weeks ago that wouldn’t have entered my head but now I’m thinking 'am I getting another trimming'?”

A source close to the FAI claims the association are ‘deeply concerned about the league-wide occurrences of anti-social behaviour’ at stadiums up and down the country while Shamrock Rovers this week warned they will adopt a ‘zero tolerance’ approach and issue lengthy bans to those guilty of breaching stadium regulations as they condemned the behaviour of a ‘certain section of some so-called supporters at the game in the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium’.

The PSNI were called to the scene following the Rovers match after receiving reports of disturbances but no arrests were made. A police presence at Brandywell has been a grey area and while the PSNI has an operational presence at significant football matches and can enter the stadium in an emergency situation, Mr. Canning believes it’s unfair to expect local stewards to deal with violent behaviour from supporters.

“Has it got to the stage now for the likes of the Rovers matches, is society mature enough to look at this issue? he asked. “I don’t know if it is and I don’t know if I would be too happy having the PSNI in the ground myself but something has to be done because it’s unfair to ask some guy who has a level two stewarding award to stand in front of these types of fans.

“Those boys came down those stairs and there was no stopping them. They would’ve run through a brick wall. And to ask some fella or fan to stand in front of the fans and take it . . a policeman wouldn’t stand there without riot gear and a helmet but we expect stewards to go and stand up to them, it’s not fair on them.

“Crowd disturbances in any other stadium is a public order offence. Stewards, door men or ejection stewards aren’t there for public order offences.”

Mr. Canning believes the FAI has failed to clamp down on what he described as a greater societal problem which has crept into local football. Shamrock Rovers received a E5,000 fine for a fireworks incident at their match with Waterford last season but the FAI reversed a decision to impose a stadium ban for their opening home match of the 2022 season. It’s a decision which sends out the wrong message to fans, according to Mr Canning.

“It’s a societal problem and it’s getting dragged into the Brandywell,” he said. “The whole incident against Waterford last year and Rovers were supposed to play their first home game behind closed doors and yet the FAI backed out of it. They lifted the ban. That shows there is no punishment from the FAI for the trouble.”

For Mr.Canning, Shamrock Rovers’ response to pitch incursions and crowd trouble at Brandywell is only sufficient if they follow through with threats of lengthy bans.

“That’s Rovers’ response, but what’s the FAI doing about it? The FAI clearly turned their back on their own sanction. The FAI has set the yardstick for the rest of the season. They should’ve had the guts to stand over their initial decision and punish Rovers. It would have shown the fans they can’t get away with it.

“Rovers putting out a statement is all well and good but they have to act on it. It’s their responsibility but why should they do it if the FAI don’t. Derry City need to step up to the plate too and identify those responsible. When it comes to the point when they are costing the club serious money, that’s when it’s time to stop.

“Again, Rovers are in a different situation. There’s Gardai at the Dundalk game and the rest of League of Ireland games and if someone steps out of line they’re taken out of there by the Gardai because it’s a public order offence.

“Asking some doorman or steward to do the same is unfair. God forbid, what if something happens to them or they get thrown down the stairs or whatever? An event controller at any other ground in Ireland can say to the Gardai, that’s over to you, that’s your problem, sort that out. Inside the ground or outside the ground. In Derry we don’t have that luxury.

“We’re going to have to or else train a group of people to deal with public disorder. I’ve been involved with Derry for 19 years and you might have the best intentions in the world and everything in your plan and contingency plans look perfect but sometimes stewards don’t turn up.

"You may say, ‘Okay I have 40 ejection stewards’, but there were far too few ejection stewards on the night. Even if there was enough it’s still unfair to ask them to put themselves in harm’s way every single time.”

And he believes some of the online abuse directed at members of the matchday management team was 'disgraceful' and 'unfair'.

“Derry City would be the first to say, on review, there could’ve been a whole lot more done but hindsight is a wonderful thing. We’re right to highlight the problems certain visiting fans bring to the ground but we have to be big enough to admit some sections of our own fans are not good.

“Things didn’t go right at the Rovers match and a lot of people at Derry City will be the first people to throw their hands up and admit that. Maybe they felt the resources were there and some didn’t turn up.

“The cesspit that is Facebook, some of the personal attacks of senior matchday management team was disgraceful. Attacks on Billy Scampton were disgraceful. I know the work Billy puts in and if he didn’t there wouldn’t be those matches at the Brandywell. People don’t realise the work that goes through the Council to get any match on. The stewards don’t get the credit they deserve sometimes.

“If Billy Scampton threw in the towel, do we have the expertise needed? There are factors involved in licensing which involved the experience and qualification of the event controller. Your capacity could be reduced greatly by having someone who doesn’t have that experience or knowledge so we’re lucky to have him. Those personal attacks on stewards who do something for the love of the club and little reward, is uncalled for. It’s not fair.

“The last thing Billy Scampton or a director of Derry City want to do is to put a steward in harm’s way but I think they have a bit of thinking to do when it comes to certain fixtures. Being in the position I’ve been in for years I can see both sides of the coin. And being a parent, I wouldn’t want my son standing there with a yellow bib trying to keep back 300 fans.”