BRITISH SPORTSMEN!

Taranaki Herald, Volume LV, Issue 13929, 12 June 1909, Page 5

BRITISH SPORTSMEN!

HOOLIGAN SPFCTATOHS AT A t'OOTBALi- MA'iUl

The degradation oi I'onct field sports was ne\ 01 buttr ili" t rated than it was at Glusgcnv w ben lie final t c of the competition for the SM^ti-h s > - sociation Cup '\i-. pi.'* • •'* n.'"'i )f ! f ' Park. The coiit. ->iii. £ *■ i' ■> \>'i"<' tl. Celtic and the Gla-gov. ;i.i!i<..:^ C '.. On tho previous Slur.."- ' ' '• '<- (pl "> had met, the result bring .1 dinw. .' t the second contest tbcit -.'<>-. .MiotN <■ draw. A section of the Cinid, <-<'- mated at CO 000. imagined that rxt a time wo, Ud be p!av< i.lmt the <m rules lav i'i.aui ino,t <i.'t nelly tlu.t only in the event of a t'nird.tiire ct drawing rmi-t m rxtrn -p< II be r-lnye ■ When it was seen tint the teams were leaving th" fieM =01110 o c tne spectnt^-s lost their hciil, v.d ,t>p '-HTcerl 11 "make hay" >-i their c.v n peculiar!" unpl^fsant fashion Yillitii hi"' 1 ira 1-'-acs, tlipy nnrle tor the pa\ihon. but checked by n pos-e of 1 oVe m tl - direction, tho notes <lii>'fl<- *-out | i» between 17 .and 21 tore in the pn-1-posts nnd destrrved tho ii,"moii<ii"t: around tbe pitch., usii >z t!ic 1 ro':< n wood-work as ;>.;_Mi".>t tl.o cc - stables Mo*saj;os v• - „. trJ> ( -1 ir. the police ho-!(l(jurirter> fir as>i t-'^'i but before tlio ;irriv,.l of luMi'incments a number of the ronst«Mc* r,u the field bar! been injure 1. A liiure bonfire of wrecked barieados was lit on the field, tho flamos beire fed by the rioters throw in" whisky or. the fir". Ultimately the nohco, who nade numerous baton charges, managed *o eject a number of riote-s froai tb.-v ground Tin-, d 1 not .-id tl.e Jif'"iculty, for the hooligans w lio luu! life ejected set fire to the piy-boxes ai th" entrances, and when tl •• fire I^rifpde arrived on the vciic tho roughs cut the hose pipes and attacked tho /iremen. Assistance bad to he vur.nmocl from the headquarters of the brigade, and eventually "about seventy men \.ere present with nine ir.otors and engines. The police, when reinforced, numbered about a hundier'. including a detachment of rr.ountel men. A la rue number of spectators bad left before tl.e rioting started, but after tbe turmoil began many thousands of well-be hayed spectators were imprisoned in the field, unable to leave by the exits, where fights between tbe police and the rrcb were in nrogress for a couple of hours. The fire brigade, of course, was rendered almost totally helpless, and before water could be' directed on to the flames tbe pay-boxes were soon a charred mass. Fortunately for those in adjacent houses, tlio entrance ftn were forty feet rway. and what u.ight have been a further disaster, had the houses, too. oanjxht firr. was only obviated by tbe width of tho street^ Over ; one hundred injured w ere attended to j in the pavilion by Dr. Jarviieson, one of ] the city councillors, the imuries mostly being cuts and bruis«s received frori the flying stones and bottles, white, many suffered from brutal kicks. Si" people were detained in the Victor; 1 Infirmary, where ther v ere convrvo'l by tho ambulance. A corps of amhvlance men who were in ottotirlnrco at tho game rendered yeoman service in dealing with tbe iniured. Tt w-as •■> scene unparalleled in the hi-tory cf football. The Scottish Footb?ill Wociation, at a special meeting subsequently, decided, by 15 votes to 11 that "in order to mark our disapproval of tbe rinious conduct of r section of spectators ~it the Scottish final ti«» f>"cl t> pyoid thr> danger of any further rep^titioTi, thf> cup competition for tH- 'oasin Vt» rot finished, ami the fi;) r-m! n""lf>l<= wit'iheld." Tho two clubs env'^ned s+rinfly supported this proposal.