triumph marred by attacks

OUT OF THE BLUE: From left, Sam Bamford, Nick Bloom and Andrew Brown were attacked by Hajduk Split fans. Pictures: Phil Radcliffe

STUDENTS were punched and kicked in the head as Stoke City supporters fell victim to Hajduk Split's notorious hooligan contingent before one of the greatest nights in the Potters' long history.

About 600 Stoke fans watched their club record their first ever European tie victory in Croatia last night, but several were nursing bruises from the previous evening's encounter with local thugs.

Biology student Sam Bamford, business management student Nick Bloom and their friend Andrew Brown, aged 22, were walking near the harbour when they were attacked by a gang of about 15 young men late on Wednesday night.

The trio, who had followed police advice to not wear Stoke shirts around Split, were making their way home from a city centre bar when they were confronted.

Sam, aged 22, suffered a black eye and a 10cm scratch down his face from a kick while Nick, also aged 22, and Andrew were punched and chased but escaped relatively unharmed.

In a separate incident, four Stoke supporters were pursued back to their hostel near the sea-front by a 40-strong mob of young men.

Hostel staff helped barricade the doors to the reception until the troublemakers finally retreated.

Sam, from Trentham, said: "It had been a good night and in hindsight it could have ended a lot worse.

"It came out of the blue. We were just trying to make our way home and when I was punched'"

"It went on for a few minutes and I was thinking one of them might pull out a knife. We had been sensible. We are the most unlikely of lads to get into fights and it wasn't a nice experience at all.

"It's a beautiful place and all the locals we had met before then had been very friendly."


Nick, from Newcastle, said: "We have gone out of our way to not to incite any trouble, because we knew some Hajduk fans have a reputation for violence.

"We left our Stoke tops at home and I get the feeling we could have been from anywhere and still ended up in the same situation. They were not looking for Stoke fans especially, they were just spoiling for a fight."

Stoke beat Hajduk 1-0 last night to progress to the fourth qualifying round of the Europa Cup 2-0 on aggregate. The club had previously not been involved in elite continental football for 37 years.

During the first half, Hajduk fans held up a huge banner saying "Naughty 40: 2 Fast 2 Innocuous" in a message to Stoke's own hooligan element.

But most of Stoke's travelling support reported a friendly welcome from their hosts.

Andrew, who runs his own online mobile phone business, was determined the incident was not going to ruin their stay in Croatia but he and his friends decided against going out after the game last night.

He said: "It was a bad end to the night but it has still been fantastic to have the opportunity to watch Stoke play in Europe."


- The Europa Draw begins today from around 11am