Thugs threaten officials at match

SECTARIAN thugs who attacked a group of Dublin children at an international soccer tournament in the north also threatened to kneecap officials, it was revealed.

Police arrested one man after the junior footballers from Dublin — some as young as 13 — fled their accommodation at the University of Ulster, Coleraine, during the night.

A match in the Milk Cup, one of Europe’s premier youth football tournaments, was postponed to allow the children to get over their ordeal.

The attack happened at about 10.30pm on Monday at Cromore Court, near the loyalist Ballyfally estate, where Crumlin United’s U-14 and Cherry Orchard’s U-16 youth teams were staying.

Jim Sandford, spokes- man for the Milk Cup, said a drunken mob gathered outside to throw stones at the windows and intimidate the children playing for the two Dublin clubs.

“They were shouting sectarian chants of Fenian bastards and so on,” he said.

“We have been going for 25 years now and Northern Ireland has seen some dark days in those 25 years. But this is the first time anything like this has ever happened.”

Mr Sandford said they had to put back Crumlin United’s U-14 match with Brondby, of Denmark, scheduled for 3.30pm yesterday to 7pm so the boys could get some sleep.

“They were certainly shaken up,” he said.

“A couple of the gang also squared up nose-to- nose with our staff who were trying to deal with the situation and threatened to have them knee- capped.”

The teams said they would stay at Cromore Court after police arrested a 19-year-old man but Crumlin United decided to leave in the middle of the night when another group of thugs turned up.

They stayed at a hostel used for homeless people in Portrush, said Paul Hammond of Crumlin, the club where Liverpool’s new star signing Robbie Keane began his career.

A PSNI spokeswoman said the arrested man was released on bail yesterday pending further inquiries.

Paul Clare, manager of Cherry Orchard, said the incident has upset some of the children.

Both youth teams were being moved yesterday for their own protection.

“I don’t know where we are going at the moment, but it’s just for safety reasons,” said Mr Clare.

The Milk Cup, one of the biggest sports events held in the north, was launched on Sunday night by Manchester United legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.