Eye-witness: Istanbul

The following was written by Chris Morris, a United supporter who was in Istanbul last Wednesday. His account is a powerful eye-witness account of what took place:

"I write having returned from 'hell' on Saturday. I was a member of a private group of 22 who traveled independently to Istanbul to watch a game of football - as we have done safely and confidently in Amsterdam, Moscow, Sofia, Rome, Prague and other destinations before this season.

Having had a meal and a walk around on Wednesday night, we passed other groups of Leeds fans who were causing no problems - if anything they were like ourselves, excited at being out in the city and soaking up the intimidating but vibrant atmosphere. But for the grace of God, many of our party could have been involved in what turned out to be a 'slaughter'.

We decided to head back to the hotel and on walking up through the main part of Taksim Square were confronted by a large group of Turks who called us "English B*****s" and said they would "kill us". One member of our group was assaulted but surprisingly the fans who stood out wearing the Leeds and England hats were left alone. (We realised afterwards that they were obviously in a hurry to join the 'planned attack' down the road.) We assembled our group and hurried back down to our hotel, just a few hundred yards away and in retrospect we were thankful that we had headed home when we did.

Shocked, upset, horrified, scared are just a few emotions that hit us on hearing the news as relatives phoned us and more unbelievable than anything was seeing the whole incident played back again and again on local television within hours of the attacks. Unlike the snippets shown back home the Turks showed everything from start to finish, under the heading of 'English Hooligan'.

The Polis stood by allowing assault upon assault and the English whom had been ambushed were being chased and hit with weapons as they ran for cover or tried to help the wounded. And then the press and TV reported everything as though it was our fault! The whole incident was glorified to an extent that by matchday the Galatasaray fans were in more of a fervour. The papers showed graphic pictures of assaults, bodies on the ground, Polis holding Leeds fans back (when all they were trying to do was help the wounded), and worst of all - gruesome pictures from the hospital.

The scenes shown so openly on the television were to get worse. On Friday, they continually showed a montage of Galatasaray action from the match mixed with the scenes on the streets and hospital whilst wording appeared on screen (Lord knows what it said but it was accompanied by a cheer each time) and the words '2-0' randomly appeared on the football action or on the assault. By the time we stepped out on Friday night we felt that this sort of coverage had wound the locals up once more and the atmosphere was so bad that we headed straight back near to the hotel.

Prior to the stabbings, the very same TV station had been showing pictures of what was headed 'English hooligans'. Other than the obvious hooligan film, this included scenes of death from Hillsbrough and Heysel so God knows what the commentary was. This sort of propaganda must have whipped up a frenzy within the locals and the rest, unfortunately, is sadly recorded for all to see.

The whole thing has surely thrown the closed doors of UEFA into a very difficult position. Did the bigwigs of Germany, Italy, France et al really wish to see two English clubs in the final (and hey - possibly four in two!). The Turks should never have been there in the first place and everybody knows it. They should be thrown out of all competitions for the good of the game and the safety of life in the future.

May I express my sadness to the families and friends of Chris and Kevin whom like thousands of others have stood side by side as one following the club they love. They will never be forgotten, will be forever Leeds and we will all stand as one in their memory.

Finally, thankyou to all fans in the United Kingdom and beyond who have sent messages and laid banners at Elland Road - especially the reds from over the Pennines. For all the rivalry and supposed hatred, you are big enough to see through this to support and grieve with us. Football United."