Dear Belgian Police...

Humberside plod have just deleted that statement.

 

Open letter sent to the OSC...

Good day

As a Lokeren fan who attended last night’s game, I want to express my big thank you to all the Hull City fans. It was great to meet with them and when they passed the street at the entrance of the stadium the far majority of Lokeren and Hull City fans applauded each other’s fan base. Great atmosphere !

Unfortunately, about 25 hooligans (both from the city of Lokeren and from the Dutch city of Breda) appeared before and after the game with only one goal in mind: make trouble. These guys are no longer allowed inside the Lokeren stadium; they are ‘outcasts’ and no Lokeren-supporters. We do not want them there. They created the trouble; not the Lokeren-fans. We only wanted to have a fantastic atmosphere on and off the pitch. I am very sorry for the people from Hull that possibly got hurt last night. Our deepest apologies.

We look forward to the trip to Hull and to enjoying the game together with our friends from Hull. About 1’000 – 1’500 Lokeren-fans will be travelling to Hull. I expect none of the hooligans to make the trip to Hull. And if they do, I hope the English police teaches them a good lesson…

Good luck this Sunday against Stoke ! We hope you get the three points.

All the best and looking forward to next Thursday’s game

Naard Broeckaert

 

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Phillip Norton ‏@phillipnorton
Deputy Mayor of Lokeren has confirmed to me that banned Lokeren supporters were inside pub. Says lessons will be learned by police.

 

Hull City at Lokeren trouble: Belgian police statement

Lokeren police have responded to criticism at the way they handled the game between Sporting Lokeren and Hull City last night.

Tigers fans have criticised the police for "kettling" them and forcing them to pass a pub used by Lokeren supporters, where they were pelted with bottles.

Rudi De Clercq, of Lokeren Police Department, said: “A total of 1 236 tickets were sold to Hull supporters. These supporters travelled to Belgium in various ways, mainly by train, either coming from Ghent or Antwerp.

“The first supporters arrived at about 11am. A VIP village was built at the market place, selling snacks and drinks.

“About a thousand Hull supporters assembled there and fraternized with the Lokeren supporters before the match began.

“Police escorted the Hull supporters to the stadium at around 7.15 pm. Members of both supporter groups provoked each other briefly along the route.

“At the stadium and during the game everything ran smoothly.

“The plan was to escort the Hull supporters to the train station after the game, so that they could catch the last trains to Ghent and Antwerp.

“We looked up the timetable beforehand and made arrangements for higher capacity trains.

“When the escort passed by a local pub, the group was pelted with bottles from an enclosed patio.

“Some of the hardcore Hull supporters, around 50 people, reinforced with Dutch supporters, were involved in this provocation.

“After about fifteen minutes peace returned and the escort went on its way. After this, no further problems occurred. Hull supporters managed to catch the trains as planned.

“Three British and two Belgian supporters were put in administrative detention, mainly for disturbing public order and public intoxication.

“Federal police evidence teams filmed the riots as clearly as possible. Moreover, our football spotters were deployed, reinforced with Humberside police colleagues.

“In the following days we will collect evidence which will allow us to identify and punish the troublemakers.”

Me De Clercq insists a lot of money has been spent on protecting public safety at football matches.

He said: “Lokeren Police invests strongly in fighting hooliganism. A high number of people, at the moment 61, who are banned from the stadium.

“We regret that, despite the efforts of both football clubs and police forces, the hard core supporters continue to spoil the atmosphere, at the expense of both clubs and cities, but mostly at the expense of the other supporters who just want to have fun at a football match.”

http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Hull...tory-22804311-detail/story.html#ixzz3B8FweUDK

“Some of the hardcore Hull supporters, around 50 people, reinforced with Dutch supporters, were involved in this provocation. - Get to **** you lying bastards.