ON THIS DAY

Leeds United were in Turkey preparing for the first leg of their UEFA Cup semi-final against Galatasaray and all the stories should have been about the English sides’ efforts to reach the final of that competition. Sadly that was not the case. The night before the match fans of the two respective clubs clashed in Istanbul with the violence resulting in two Leeds fans – Chris Loftus and Kevin Speight – being stabbed to death. A genuine tragedy which I am sure that all of us who have a love and respect of the game and all those involved in it will never want to see repeated again.

At the Scotland v England match played at the Ibrox Park home of Rangers part of the newly-built wooden West Tribune Stand collapsed killing 25 people and injuring over 500 more. The match was completed – ending in a 1-1 draw - but later was declared void and replayed at Villa Park. The proceeds from the replayed match were donated to the disaster fund.