Police Make 11 Arrests at Port Vale vs Stoke U21 Checkatrade Trophy Match

[CaaC (John)+]

Jesus, this was only a U21 Match and this happened...

 

       Stoke fans behind the goal made up around half of the 7,940 attendance at Vale Park

Police made 11 arrests and condemned the "despicable behaviour by a large number of fans" as Port Vale thrashed Stoke City under-21 4-0 in the Checkatrade Trophy.

Staffordshire Police had described the match beforehand as their biggest footballing operation for 10 years.

"Considerable damage" was caused to the away end at Vale Park.

Chief Superintendent Wayne Jones said his officers faced "shocking levels of hostility".

It had been the first Potteries derby since February 2002 and almost 4,000 Stoke fans swelled the attendance to 7,940, with more than 150 police officers deployed.

"A very challenging op having to deal with mindless violence, disorder & damage," tweeted assistant chief constable Emma Barnett.

Damage was caused to seats and toilets, while windows were broken at Port Vale's stadium.

Jones told BBC Radio Stoke that between 150 and 200 fans started causing trouble from 18:15 GMT.

"The toilet block in the away stand was damaged badly," he said. "The cisterns and urinals were smashed off the wall, windows were damaged and there was an attempt to set fire to the toilet block."

The 11 people arrested were all from the north of Staffordshire, aged between 18 and 61, and detained for a mixture of public order and violence offences.

"There was some despicable behaviour by a large number of fans," said Jones. "We will start a post match investigation and I will be relentless in pursuing every single person involved.

"I expect there to be more arrests in the coming days as we examine CCTV coverage and gather evidence of the crimes committed."

Tom Pope and Luke Hannant goals and Cristian Montano's double settled the match as Port Vale progressed to the last 16 of the competition.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46451780

[Smiley Culture]

It’s all a bit sad, ain’t it? 

Football violence because other people support teams from the town or city they were born or a team that runs in their family. I’ve never quite ‘got’ hooligans, I don’t really understand why you’d want to attack a bloke who’s spent his hard earned travelling across the country to watch his football team. 

It’s quite sad that Stoke fans saw this, a game involving their under-21’s, as a big game and saw it as an opportunity to act up. 

Imagine being 61 and getting nicked at Football. Bloody hell. 

[CaaC (John)+]

2 minutes ago, Smiley Culture said:

It’s all a bit sad, ain’t it? 

When I first spotted the article I thought it was an FA Cup round or whatever and not a U21 game, complete idiots and as you said " Imagine being 61 and getting nicked at Football. Bloody hell."  Christ, if that was me getting nicked at 69 at a U21 football match my wife and kids would fucking disown me!!

[Dave]

Stoke City say they will seek lengthy banning orders for any fans involved in the trouble at Port Vale on Tuesday night.

The Sky Bet Championship club are liaising with Staffordshire Police after bottles and flares were thrown onto the pitch during the Football League Trophy match at Vale Park.

The toilets in the visiting end were also vandalised and all the windows smashed.

[Danny]

It's not an u21 game, it's a competitive cup fixture for sides who will otherwise never get a decent cup run. Championship and Prem sides in it is a farce

[CaaC (John)+]

Port Vale says Stoke City to help with repair costs after derby trouble

1 hour ago

Stoke City will help pay for repairs at Port Vale's stadium, after trouble broke out at a derby. 

The Championship club has agreed to donate to money towards the repair of Vale Park, which was damaged at a match between the clubs' Under-21 teams on 4 December, Port Vale said.

Police said "a large section of Stoke fans had been disruptive".

Seats, toilets and windows were broken in the away stand.

In a statement, the League Two outfit said: "Stoke City have agreed to donate their share of the net proceeds from the gate towards the cost of repairs.

"Port Vale chairman Norman Smurthwaite would like to thank Stoke City for this kind gesture."

The club did not reveal the amount to be paid.

More than 150 officers were deployed to Vale Park during the Checkatrade Trophy fixture.

Staffordshire Police described the disorder as "despicable".

Fourteen arrests were made last week and the force said two were made on Wednesday.

Port Vale said it would focus on repairing the damage before the game with Cheltenham Town on Saturday.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-46546474