How England hooligans brutally turned on Jack Charlton with cruel chant v Ireland
Rioting England followers turned on 1966 World Cup-winning hero Jack Charlton during the appalling scenes which saw a friendly against Ireland in Dublin abandoned
World Cup-winning legend Jack Charlton was targeted with cruel chants as thugs rioted during an infamous Ireland vs England match.
Charlton was part of the England team which defeated West Germany in the 1966 World Cup final, which remains the Three Lions’ only major tournament success. After his playing days, Charlton became Ireland’s most successful manager, leading the nation to the European Championship and two World Cups.
In February 1995, Charlton took charge of the Irish in a friendly against his home nation in Dublin. It wasn’t the first time he had managed against England, but it was arguably the most memorable, albeit for all the wrong reasons.
Shortly after David Kelly had given the home side the lead in the first half at Landsdowne Road, trouble flared in the section housing around 4,000 England supporters. Glass bottles, seating which had been ripped out and any other projectile hooligans could get their hands on were flung into the tier below. There were also reports of Nazi salutes while one individual was spotted wielding a knife.
Charlton, as a revered figure in English football, tried in vain to be a peacemaker. However, as he approached the away fans’ section to appeal for calm he was met with chants of “Judas, Judas”.
The match had to be abandoned and the England football team didn’t play in Dublin again until a friendly in 2015. The countries will meet again today (Saturday) in the Nations League.
The riot, so soon after the dark days of the 1980s when such scenes were commonplace, saw the image of English football tossed back into the gutter. There were even question marks over whether England would have to give up the right to host the following year’s European Championship, although the tournament did go ahead as planned and was virtually trouble-free.
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The goalscorer, Kelly, recalled how appalled Charlton was at the scenes. He said: “Jack is very upset. We all are.”
Charlton himself wanted to game to continue. He said: “I have seen a lot in football but nothing like this. It is a disaster for Irish football but I didn't want the game abandoned because what do you do with 2,000 English fans running around the town?
“The English fans were being bombarded by some of their own. And they brought out the worst in some of ours.”
Question marks over how police and the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) handled the carnage were raised during the subsequent investigation. Issues like insufficient segregation were highlighted, with Ireland fans being given tickets in the England section.
However, English hooligans were deemed entirely to blame for the rioting which had been pre-planned by members of the far-right Combat 18 group, an offshoot of the British National Party.
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