CITY FAN BEATEN UP BY BOOTHEN ENDERS

[oatcakemate]

Dedicated Stoke City supporter Martin Parker suffered a suspected fractured cheekbone after being attacked by a group of fellow Potters fans.

The 46-year-old will undergo tests on his cheek today. He also has a badly bruised eye and six stitches in the back of his head, after being set upon in the Boothen End at half-time in Sunday's FA Cup tie against Newcastle.

The father-of-one, of Uplands Croft, Werrington, has followed his team to every home and away game this season, but will miss Saturday's fixture at Ipswich Town because of his injuries.



And he said the violence could result in the end of 40 years of supporting his team from the sidelines, unless the attackers are brought to justice.

Mr Parker said the incident happened after he confronted the group of eight about kicking a bottle towards him and his son.

He said: "They were kicking bottles in our direction, so I said 'we are just trying to watch the match, and we are all Stoke fans, what are you kicking them at us for?'.

"Then one of my mate's lads kicked one back, and one of the group came over and punched me on the side of the head. Then three or four of them ran over and started kicking me in my head and body."

He added: "I go to every home and away match, and I have never had any trouble. Now I feel that I never want to go to any matches again. I have lost a lot of confidence because of this.

"If the police don't get whoever has caused this, what is to stop them from coming and stabbing us at the next home game?

"I am totally disgusted to think that supporters of my own club could have done this."

Mr Parker missed the second half of the nil-nil draw while he was being treated by St John Ambulance volunteers.

He was later taken to the University Hospital of North Staffordshire for treatment.

The self-employed painter and decorator has not been able to return to work since because of the injuries.

Mr Parker said his friends and 18-year-old son tried to stop the violence, and many of them were attacked by the group.

He said: "My son tried to get them off me and then he was punched in the head. As far as I know they went back to their seats and enjoyed the rest of the game."

His friend Mark Mansell, aged 42, who witnessed the attack, said: "One of the lads punched Martin to the floor, and a couple of the others ran over and joined in.

"They were crowded around him, kicking him. People were asking the stewards to do something about it, but they didn't want to know. It is a problem that could have been avoided."

A Staffordshire Police spokesman said: "We have a number of witnesses who have come forward. However, the offenders have not been identified.

"We will be looking at CCTV footage taken at the stadium, and enquiries are ongoing to find the people responsible for this assault. Work will also be ongoing at future matches."

The club declined to comment.

Witnesses or anyone with information on the attack are urged to contact DS Steve Parker, of Stoke-on-Trent CID, on 08453 302010.



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Thats just wrong

[congletonstoke]

bang out of order

[knowles]

How sad is that?

Hope you continue coming Martin

[Deleted]

Nice to hear the stewards being so proactive! I hope they catch the offenders and give them a life ban from Stoke games.

[rorymscfc]

Shocking! I hope they get the bastards!

RoryM

[oatcakemate]

Agree, you got keep coming Martin

why are Stewards payed by the way?

[Stick It On Cort's Head]

this is the result of chav gloryhunters who only turn up for gloryhunting type matches!!!

[broadwayroundabout]

Now thats just shit ! Probably right there Stick

[realstokebloke]

Shameful and a sure fire way to keep good, decent people away.

Life bans all round if / when caught.

[ted1965]

an absolute disgrace don't let a few bad apples ruin your enjoyment Martin, the club needs to take the strongest action when they are caught, we don't need this grabage, the club is just beginning to move forward on and off the field and this type of story doesn't do the image of the club any favours, hope you're back where you belong soon Martin.

[muckakev]

When i was reading this i kept thinking to myself when is the punch line coming (no pun intended).
I cant beleive something like this could happen inside our football stadium and by our own fans to another stoke fan. Its discusting and the quicker these idiots are found and punished the better.
Martin if you read this dont let these idiots stop you going to watch stoke. Hope your injuries heal quick and you back to normal very soon.

[Onneravineet]

Disgrace, why didn't anyone else step in to stop it, what is wrong with people to not only do this type of thing but to not assist and prevent it?
I know if it were me being kicked while down I'd have hoped more than my family and friends would have helped!
Some young louts need to be severly dealt with by the justice system in this country they fear nothing!
This type of behaviour will only increase!

[Onneravineet]

Also to add, Martin, I hope you recover quickly and return even quicker to enjoy the rest of the season don't let these inbred idiots spoil things for you! All the best

[stockportpotter]

I was sat pitchside by the dug outs at half time and saw 2 youths being frogmarched out from the corner of the boothen (where it meets sentinel stand) and were walked out, past the front of the boothen I assumed they were Geordies who had got in our end. I now HOPE it was 2 of these w@nkers and they get what they deserve.

[citysoldierjack]

bottles, nufin but trouble hey

[Lakeland Potter]

Posted on the other thread about this but just to add my hopes for a full recovery and a hope that you won't let the actions of a few mindless thugs stop you supporting Stoke. I hope the club makes every effort to find the stewards who stood by and did nothing about this attack. They should never work as stewards or in the security industry again. Hopefully they too can be charged with an offence.

[MrFlirty]

I was threatened by some idiots for standaing in a different part of the boothen where they hadnt seen me before. It put me of going for a while. The guys wouldnt believe I was a Stoke fan despite the fact I had my stoke top on and was with my dad and grandad who also had Stoke scarfs on.

[Onneravineet]

CitySoldier... you point being?

[oatcakemate]

citysoldierjack said:

bottles, nufin but trouble hey

You taking the piss son?

[banburypotter]

stockportpotter, the two you were on about were stoke (fans), one was barely able to stand up he was so pissed(obviously had a couple of smirnoff ices).
i posted this as well just after oatcakemate and i cannot believe this happened.
bring these cowards to justice and ban them for life, attacking one of your own, jesus christ whatever next

[spitthedog]

Somebody must know who they are

They should be reported and banned for life, as well as charged.

I hope martin makes a full recovery and you cannot blame him for not wanting to go again. It is a disgrace.

[Do it for dobing]

So sorry to hear about what happened,I hope the club and police identify the hooligans(no doubt cowards fuelled by numbers and alcohol)and ban them from all football grounds .Dont let them win and keep supporting the team especially when we are on the verge of better times!Get well soon

[Pedropotter]

Out of the hundreds of people that use this board lets hope 1 or 2 know who did this and inform the police. Attacking fellow supporters is bang out of order and no one should get away with it.

Keep going to the games Martin, dont let the scum win.

[fuggers]

Attacking anyone is bang out of order, whether they are supporters of the same team or not.

Comments like:

"how can you attack one of your own?"

amaze me. How can you attack anyone?!

Violent thugs should be shot.

[Onneravineet]

If caught they should be named and shamed on the message board at a home game.
Name and area they are from, good for nothing no mark twatters!
Ban for life! Photo in paper, hell I'll attend a stoning if we can hastefully arrange one!

[Pedropotter]

fuggers. The term fellow supporters means all supporters, it in no way supports the attacking of 'non supporters'.

[myleftboot]

---posted on here as well as one thread will be wheeled---

This is totally awful and the culprits should be identified, banned and prosecuted. We just don't need morons like this in our club. If they want a fight then stick them in a cage outside and let them fight their own, hopefully they will murder each other.

After reviewing the CCTV (if they have them) they should publish pictures of the offenders on the Sentiel website and on our website. Let the fans name and shame them. After all this lad is sticking up for his family and he is one of us.

The other thing that is disgusting is the attitude of a lot of the stewards (not all). Evident in the QPR goal keeper incident ages ago that the stewards were crap then but I have witnessed numerous incidents over the years where the stewards have just simply looked the other way.

Would it not, with the invesntion of stokes crap stewarding system, be better to let the police back in to properly police the games like the old days. Maybe then this would have been nipped in the bud early as it is clear to see the stewards aren't properly equipmped or willing to do their jobs properly.

[PONTAFCE]

What a bunch of little scum bags how dare they call thmselves stoke supporters.They should be ashamed of what they have done to such a loyal supporter of the club.

I wish you all the best martin and i hope that this doesnt stop you going and watching this team that you love so much.

[myleftboot]

Edge a bet they probably only go one or two games in a blue moon either.

[stokietomo]

Pretty typical of our lovely stewards!! Stand up and they're all over you like a rash but when you actually need them they're not interested! They should be sacked!

Do let the dicks that did this keep you away from Stoke Martin. Hope you're ok