Lansdowne Road Riots, Dublin City, Ireland 1995

Booing, Nazi salutes and rioting at Lansdowne Road as the Republic of Ireland play England.
Rioting English football supporters cause the cancellation of the Republic of Ireland v England soccer international in Dublin.
The worst scenes of violence at an Irish international soccer match.
On the day following the trouble, RTÉ News asks how did it happen and who is at fault?
Described as the worst scenes of violence ever witnessed at an Irish international football match, questions over what happened must be answered by the Gardaí and Football Association of Ireland (FAI).
Trouble was in the air from the kick-off with booing and nazi salutes during the national anthem. Violence erupted in the minutes after David Kelly scored a goal for Ireland. The game was abandoned after 27 minutes of play.
Both the Gardaí and the FAI have questions to answer. Why were the Irish fans mixed in with the English fans? Were the security arrangements adequate? What about the Garda presence at the match?
Supporters Alan Hunter, Brian Doody and Brian Murphy talk about their experiences at the game. Sean Connolly, Chief Executive of the FAI, says that the organisation will be carrying out its own full internal investigation of what happened.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 16 February 1995. The reporter is Charlie Bird.

[@davetherave1729]

A terrible event. I remember one very volient English hooligan got banned from Ireland for 20 years for his actions on that day.He complained no one in his home town in England wanted anything to do with him. Tough shit.

[@Juliukas101]

I wonder if he's changed his ways. Probably not. English football fans are the worst. Utterly embarrassing!

[@davetherave1729]

@@Juliukas101 agreed. English fan's are the worst. Lots of them got lengthy football bans because of this.

[@killtheZOG]

@@Juliukas101 cope

[@killtheZOG]

@sesh gremlin I’m not English mate :) ahahahaha

[@OscarOSullivan]

They reckoned had England won Euro 2020 deaths and injuries would have occurred

[@tobyprice1092]

Very good idea putting the English above the Irish. I suppose the Irish would think the English would act responsibly.

[@joseparcenary4706]

It was English above and below. The crowd up top were throwing stuff down on their own countrymen.

[@dangermouse6687]

You would be entitled to believe that all supporters would behave responsibly.

[@Minime163]

They were whinging about the heavy handedness of the Irish police for weeks after tipical victim playing

[@jamijohnny1067]

@@Blank-km4qr well they’re not playing the victim cuz it’s abundantly clear they were, your only playing the victim if you are actually the aggressor and pretending to be the victim

[@Blank-km4qr]

@@jamijohnny1067 keep crying

[@jamijohnny1067]

@@Blank-km4qr not crying jus educating you lad

[@ihonestlydontcare1158]

@@Blank-km4qr he gave you and right education lad I’d say ur in tears

[@Blank-km4qr]

@@ihonestlydontcare1158 keep on crying

[@Coughlan1916]

The Gardaí smashed the absolute shit out of them 😂

[@kierancasey1135]

That’s right cornered them in an alley outside and hammered the cunts

[@shaynebrewer6306]

I was there we cleared one end,and Leeds n millwall wilped northern Irish Celtic out there full of shit blarney,spud Spock micks

[@Coughlan1916]

@@shaynebrewer6306 I’m not even going to try to understand what you just wrote there. You should have paid more attention in School boy

[@shaynebrewer6306]

They reckon billy right got a few ira on the way home from the match as well,idiot

[@Minime163]

@@Coughlan1916 a bit of respect coughlan shayne is the brains of the outfit takes him months to come up with his Pearl's of wisdom says it all.

[@myps4vaultofbanter87]

I was probably one of the youngest people at the game. I was 8 and a half. I remember it so well. I didn't understand the history, the hooligan aspect or the anger, I just remember being ushered onto the pitch and thinking "wow this has loads of sand on it." We all went out this tiny entrance in what is now the small stand behind the goal and my dad had the good idea of knocking on a random door to ask to use their phone and the woman who answered the door was the kindest most accommodating woman. And that's where I sat and watched what was actually happening and I couldn't believe it. 36 now and I'd love to hear from anyone of a similar age who was there that night.

[@matthewdawson3979]

My uncle was at this match, he was sat right next to the English fans and watched all of the chaos happen after that first goal

[@alanbird]

Same here, I was at it and looking across at the carnage.

[@myps4vaultofbanter87]

I was 8. I was sat with my dad underneath them but over to the left hand goal. My dad was aware that it might get rowdy but he never expected that to happen. One of my lifelong memories that night.

[@irishelk3]

To be fair, i think most English are nice people and its wankers like these fellas that drag the rest of them down. Lets be honest, we have our arseholes here as well...What you do is, you get a new jail right?, and you sift the real baddies from the savable ones, you keep the bad eggs locked up and you tell the rest that if they do anything like that again, they'll be locked up again for even longer and we'll keeping locking you up until you get the message.

[@Minime163]

Very true.

[@RT-ks2zi]

No they’re all wankers

[@nigelthorpe4002]

Spud Ryan I agree with you mate 💯

[@Lee-nh5bb]

Money well spent.

[@madpadi]

All caused by the English fans and never had trouble with rugby fans

[@Razormiller]

Why do you always get Rugby people trying to score points off incidents like this in football? Football is by far the most popular sport in the World. Hence why you get all walks of society that follow it. Rugby doesnt have that kind of following yet altho its growing. Football is also much more ingrained in society then Rugby. If Rugby had the same popularity and strong links to society/areas etc then it would have the same problems. Its nothing to do with the sports themselves that you have/havent problems. Its to do with society and popularity.

[@madpadi]

@@Razormiller all aggression in Rugby is reserved for the pitch I know for fact that some football fans go to cause fights Thankfully not as many as used to do in the 80's 👍

[@Razormiller]

@@madpadi You totally ignored the points I was making. If Rugby was as popular and deep rooted in society then youd have the same problems and youd have Rugby fans going to fight. Football is massive. Its a mega sport. Hence far more problems.

[@madpadi]

@@Razormiller not really We could have 50 k rugby fans in Lansdowne road at a rugby match at that time mostly all drinking but no trouble But 1st ever football match there you had that Not arguing but it happened and was caused by England supporters

[@Razormiller]

@@madpadi Yes of course you could fill a Rugby stadium and not have a problem. That doesnt change the fact that football is by far the most supported sport in the World. Theres far more full stadiums worldwide weekly then in Rugby. Probaby 100s & 100s of times more. So of course youre gonna have more problems. If Rugby was as popular & as ingrained in society youd have the same problems. Football is Englands number one sport, hence why youll get way more trouble at the grounds. Ive been to tonnes of football matches(including the one in this video) and rugby matches at landsdowne in the 80s/90s... Getting tickets for Rugby games was easy. Sitting in Juries before hand with the upperclass. It was an elitist sport. It was only really the upperclass who liked Rugby back then. Football has been the working mans/every mans sport in most countries for decades/centuries. Of course youll have more problems with it. Some Rugby fans like to pretend its because the class of fans are better in Rugby but thats nonsense. Its just more varied. Theres just as many good fans in football as in Rugby but since theres waaaaaaaaaay more fans from all walks of life there is also a bad element. Thats the downside of being the most popular sport in the World.

[@jackietreehorn5561]

Only a small minority of English fans, the national front minority..never was I so pleased to see them head cracked by the guards..and at the tail end of the troubles these thugs were bound to be known to the Guarda with affiliation with loyalist paramilitaries...should never have been on the tier above the home fans...

[@mickharrison9004]

But that was were we was put for previous match Ireland v England euro championship match ,it was all ok that time except after that match Irish fans attacked England fans in pubs and bus station in Dublin .

[@jackietreehorn5561]

@@mickharrison9004 what did they expect? They caused the match to be abandoned....maybe you thought after that the Irish fans were gonna tickle them with feather dusters?? Silly comment

[@mickharrison9004]

@@jackietreehorn5561 didnt you read what I said ,or are you brain dead it was all about a previous match between the countries ,a euro qualifier Bobby Robson England manager ,gazza just starting out finished 1 1 England fans that day were great just got over went to pubs before match ,went to match no trouble at all then after the match Irish fans ,mainly Celtic I believe attacked England fans what didn't help the fa didn't charter a ferry ,so we had to hang around 2 hours after the match I was in the big bus station ,and ended up getting attacked and in a fight with 3 of them for no reason just drinking a coffee,but they were attacking any England fans anyway on the ferry back ,I heard sinisterly a group of cockneys going on that many England fans didn't make it back ,stuck in hospital and I'll say again we didn't start anything that day ,but what I'll never forget was what them English lads said on the boat home ,next time we play Ireland away there will be big trouble after what happened to England fans that day ,and no it wasn't the day of the riots they came about because of this previous match ok.

[@RobertK1993]

​@@mickharrison9004 Two wrongs don't make it right.

[@AlexPelly]

@@jackietreehorn5561 he’s talking about the previous Ireland England match

[@dereksutherland8020]

Whoever decided to put those Animal's above the Irish fans in the first place needs jailed...

[@lustforlow-end6022]

I don’t understand why the English football fans are like this. I’m Irish & I went to a rugby match in Twickenham. I was sitting in between lots of English there & we were all chatting & having a laugh. Ireland lost but I still really enjoyed myself.

[@Gos1234567]

July 2021 and the scumbags are still causing mayhem.Should Be banned from all tournaments

[@njp9554]

No surrender

[@indiekiddrugpatrol3117]

If we were banned from tournaments you'd have no one to watch all tournament 😂

[@J.cd33]

@@njp9554yea! Shame to your country! Must he proud! Hated by your own people!

[@brianodriscoll2725]

@@njp9554ran away from actual ultras in Marseille ? English lager louts only pick on casual fans.

[@njp9554]

@brianodriscoll2725 talking out ya arse coz I was in Marseille

[@indiekiddrugpatrol3117]

I'm English but I think the FAI and the Garda made a cock up of the arrangements. It clearly wasn't well planned and these hooligans can sense that very well and know just how to take advantage of it. English police had been dealing with this stuff for decades and I believe they offered to help the Irish authorities in an advisory role but were refused.

[@kjdempsey]

The Irish in most aspects are still a bit behind the times, even today it’s like going back in time when you visit

[@jackietreehorn5561]

@@kjdempsey going back to your roots? Dempsey and Irish name.....lol hope you travelled in the delorean

[@jackietreehorn5561]

@@kjdempsey doubt judge.... England I could say looks like the middle east FFS ....but not going to be nasty

[@ruairiodonohoe2533]

You're English and an arrogant scumbag who is equivocating blame for terrorist actions on part of your fans.

[@dangermouse6687]

​@kjdempsey we're well ahead of ye in the things that matter. They were guilty of naivety in thinking that all supporters would behave like the Irish do. That was a mistake. But they dealt with it well 😂😂

[@basingstokesteve9131]

seems the perfect storm for violence was created that day

[@waynegrow4141]

Who was Alan Hunter?

[@leightonhill2542]

This is why us Irish have the best fans in the world always go sing our hearts out and don’t cause trouble love my country 🇮🇪 them English different breed

[@Abcd-hr9ot]

Only country in europe cant speak there own language

[@O.J.N]

@@Abcd-hr9ot are you british

[@Abcd-hr9ot]

@@O.J.N im correct paddy cant speak his own lingo

[@O.J.N]

@@Abcd-hr9ot you didn't answer my question. Are you BRITISH ???

[@Abcd-hr9ot]

@@O.J.N scottish

[@hanoitripper1809]

3:35 why were his feet off the ground

[@joseparcenary4706]

In a bad a crowd crush, you can literally be lifted up off your feet and moved around by the bodies around you.

[@vonliz8223]

The fuckin FAI again

[@roryslaine7896]

As bad as some of those English fans were I completely agree with you. The FAI are a useless shower of shite. This could have been prevented or at least been minimised. The FAI don't give a fuck about the supporters- they never have and they never will. It almost makes you lose interest in supporting the team ffs. Some people criticised Roy Keane for calling them out and leaving the WC in 2002 but he was spot on. We had a good team in 2002 but the FAI took that attitude of "sure, we're in the WC the fans will go and we'll all have a sing and a dance and it'll be grand." They don't care about winning as long as they line their own pockets. Of course I'm not saying we would have won if Keane was there but it would have helped. He was the captain of one of the biggest and most successful club teams in the world at the time. I'm sure it would have had an impact. But nah, they cut costs and gave us shite training facilities and then scapegoated Roy for calling them out. Probably so they could keep a bit of extra dough in their own pockets. Sorry for ranting but I could go on all day about this. I really, really hate the FAI.

[@mrpotato442]

Why were they allowed in the upper tier of the West Stand. Ridiculous

[@Gegentypus]

Because of the naivety/arrogance of the Garda and the FAI, I should surmise. Football hooliganism isn't really a thing in Ireland, apart from a few sad wannabes, but that decision was truly remarkable even so.

[@OSTARAEB4]

Great! Tens across the board! Quite a kerfuffle. Love thy neighbor. Yeah, sure.

[@adgeyuk9803]

Every firm in England would have gone it was always gonna happen.

[@finoladerwin9350]

That should not have happened

[@johncambridge7243]

Euro 96 should have been taken off them

[@caveman385]

It was, Germany took it off them at Wembley in the semis. Oh Southgate you beauty. 😃🤣🤣🤣

[@jackietreehorn5561]

@@matthewmulholland1797 had to laugh few years ago world cup in Russia, no cunt dared step out of line cus Russia place people go missing lol

[@mub_lana69]

English and proud no surrender

[@carlholleran2037]

Proud of those 💩houses?

[@ethanpower381]

And they've just been drawn against each other in the Nations League

[@INTJ82]

And it's under an hour till kick off 😂

[@bombercommand7187]

They wrecked Dublin that day, it’s all lies

[@gftjfhfhfggfgg2940]

Garda baton charge at landown road riot

[@MargaretDownie]

English hooligans doesnt matter where in the world they go there the most hated

[@paulreilly1695]

Why couldn't eggland not take the beating they were getting on and off the pitch

[@MOSSFEEN]

Im Surprised the Brits didnt blame BREXIT and the EU for this 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@MOSSFEEN]

@MsMissy 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@MOSSFEEN]

@MsMissy 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Good one

[@darraghgregory1269]

What caused this

[@darraghgregory1269]

@moondrive16 so the English where jelious?

[@darraghgregory1269]

@moondrive16 omg 😲 that's awful

[@darraghgregory1269]

@moondrive16 it is though do you not agree

[@wyverntheterrible]

25 years of an IRA mainland bombing campaign didn't help tbh

[@jackietreehorn5561]

​@@wyverntheterriblenothing to do with roi

[@oudekelt8619]

het ziet er naar uit dat vanaf 1-1-2021 ook tussen europa en engeland vele in aanbouw zijnde enorm grote parkeerterreinen propvol komen te staan met in principe niet meer te tellen aantallen wachtende vrachtwagens waardoor er vele klanten benodigdheden niet bezorgd kunnen worden zoals naar kwaliteit zou behoren te kunnen omdat de factor tijd hierin een steeds grotere rol zal gaan spelen ..

[@damiansneddon]

Small time

[@jamisu5467]

No surrender 🎉

[@joysboy6588]

Remember this well as it was a series international matches & for the run up to Euro 96 at the end of the 95/96 season. English football (after the "high" of Italy 90) was still in the doldrums. I think it's actually very cowardly to use a football match to make political statement or to endorse a political persuasion, considering football's biggest fan(s) & audience will forever be kids. Events like this can shatter a child's innocence and that's not fair, considering all the kids want to do is watch football. Shame on those take took part (in yet another very) embarrassing & moronic episode for the England "fan" base abroad.

[@joeduffy3309]

back in the days when the gaurds had spines

[@ApinderSingh-b2c]

I will stay with the Irish end of story

[@martinoregan3028]

2024 nations league ? Again

[@aheat3036]

😂Yes, this sport is called soccer, not “football”!

[@Gegentypus]

In fairness, Association Football (that's where the shorthand 'soccer' comes from) is 'football' as it's known by most throughout the big wide world. It's also the game that uses the foot, for the most part, to play the ball.

[@RobertK1993]

A couple of the English where saint Ulster Scots Presbyterians Loyalists never are sectarian 😊

[@adebolabloke6962]

Not a lot of people know this but the main trouble at this game was caused by Portuguese fans

[@StrongandStable17]

Ah yes the Portuguese fans at an Ireland vs England game.

[@mauriceosullivan6832]

Where did you get that from?.

[@OscarOSullivan]

Utter shite combat 18 were the problem

[@Mute_Nostril_Agony]

Only a small majority of English fans caused trouble. Makes you proud to be English

[@sharonleavy839]

Yeah right

[@Irishman0855]

Rodents

[@jackietreehorn5561]

National front idiots, how dumb are they when giving Nazi salutes and staunch English the most hypocritical idiotic thing ever...

[@hewitt7615]

@@Irishman0855like the Irish

[@BrianShannon-zr4ml]

Get a brain you prick

[@johncambridge7339]

The fai are to blame

[@indiekiddrugpatrol3117]

​@@matthewmulholland1797I think the match could've taken place but with proper policing and planning. The Irish should've consulted English police as if there's one thing they're good it it's preventing and controlling situations like these.

[@JUNO_EDM]

The english got completely battered by the irish guards😂😂😂 🇮🇪 Quite delightful 🧐🧐

[@JT9__]

Haha none of ya lads got stuck in then🤣 Pussys

[@jackietreehorn5561]

​@@JT9__they should be thankful that the Garda only got their hands on them

[@JT9__]

@@jackietreehorn5561 🥶🥶

[@mickharrison9004]

Wonder how many tickets irfa gave England fans for this ,the match before we only got 5,000 tickets 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@OscarOSullivan]

IRFU? FAI were responsible for tickets and made a balls of it from the 1990’s to 2010’s

[@mickharrison9004]

@@OscarOSullivan oh rite that's a lot of time getting paid ,to get it wrong freind ,we know it can happen at the top of organizationd ,but this amount of time out of order If this would of happened in England ,the police would of got involved obviously over here there heaveally tuned in with the football scene ,except when it all kicked off round Wembley in that final against Italy ,were thousands of ticketless fans roaming around all day getting pissed and ,hitting the dust I myself knew something like this would happen and I was sposed to be there with five mates ,but last minute the lad driving in his camper pulled out due to bird pressure lol , nevertheless 3,000 basically broke into Wembley that day and I would of been one of em ,if I'd been there a complete fk up by metropolitan police ,guess what though it won't happen again not when royalties involved one of ems ,head of the fa but wasn't there never happen again .

[@OscarOSullivan]

@@mickharrison9004 Agreed

[@mickharrison9004]

@@OscarOSullivan nice one mate 👍

[@jamesmckeon9139]

Free ticket take the ride

[@jaywalkercrew4446]

‘The Nigerians have taken over Dublin now.’

[@stuartrobertson4714]

And Muslims have taken over englund

[@beeeater8893]

God save the Crown

[@Minime163]

Agreed what ever our differences we have to agree she's a great ambassador for your country and an inspiration to all at 95 years old hope she and all good British people enjoyed her 70's anniversary as queen and hope she gets to enjoy the 70th anniversary of her actual corrination.

[@MiloManning05]

@@Minime163 your such a simp

[@buddymacbuddington]

Annnd lizzys in a box 🤣🤣

[@09weenic]

@@buddymacbuddington to be fair IF you had a grandmother who was 96 she would probably be in a box as well GSTK🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

[@buddymacbuddington]

@@09weenic God save the queen?anyone got a flash light and shovel ?

[@theirishrepublican1739]

There should be a rule that any fans causing bother at stadiums should have the country banned from playing for one year

[@Abcd-hr9ot]

Gardai were cowards

[@ollie-kc6nj]

How

[@Abcd-hr9ot]

@@ollie-kc6nj they ran away

[@Abcd-hr9ot]

@@ollie-kc6nj they ran away

[@Coughlan1916]

No they didn’t.. there was complaints that the Gardai were too heavy handed

[@Abcd-hr9ot]

@@Coughlan1916 just look at d video

[@mattmeakin6892]

I was on that north terrace😂

[@jackietreehorn5561]

Did you get your head cracked?

[@mattmeakin6892]

​@@jackietreehorn5561no

[@Irishman0855]

One of them that cried to garda begging to be allowed sail back to England that night?😂😢

[@mattmeakin6892]

@@Irishman0855 no

[@jackietreehorn5561]

@@Irishman0855 rumor has it he was picking up his teeth with broken fingers... rightly so

[@michelleaspden6586]

Remember the song will b sung 7 sep 2024 mr massey

[@michelleaspden6586]

Stockport got done in mr Massey u t c

[@michelleaspden6586]

Wos their great night Tim sherwood got a chair thrown at him by a Burnley fan he wos a sub for England and a burn player ha ha me mr who 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@karlosrodrigues9285]

🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧