Football thug given three-year match ban after station brawl

A football hooligan who kicked and punched a rival fan after a Leeds United game has been banned from matches for three years.

Leeds fan David Bradshaw, 24, broke through a police cordon to fight with a Middlesbrough supporter shortly after a game between the two teams, Teesside Crown Court heard.

The violence broke out after supporters of the two teams began goading each other as police tried to keep them apart at Middlesbrough railway station on October 16 last year.

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Leeds fans had been told to wait on the stairs while Middlesbrough supporters were escorted through the station.

Bradshaw, of Fountayne Street, York, was handed the football banning order yesterday, having pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to being involved in disorderly conduct. The sentence means that, as well as having to do 140 hours' community service and pay 80 costs, Bradshaw must not enter any football ground in the UK while a game is being played.

When Leeds United are playing at home, he is banned from entering the city centre or the area next to Elland Road three hours before and two hours after a match.

At away fixtures, Bradshaw must not go within a five-mile radius of the stadium three hours before kick-off and two hours after the end of the game.

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He must also surrender his passport on days when Leeds or England are playing abroad and he is banned from using trains or the London Underground on days when Leeds are playing away or England are at home.

Pc Wayne Mitchell, a football intelligence officer for British Transport Police, said: "Fighting with rival fans and intimidating members of the public whether inside or outside the ground, or on public transport whilst travelling to and from a game, is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated by police.

"Those who think they can behave in such a way, and ruin law-abiding supporters and members of the public's days out in the process, should know that we will seek banning orders. Such behaviour is not welcome on the railways or at football matches."

Pc Mitchell added that police and football clubs worked together to identify supporters who pose a high risk.

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"The majority of football supporters are well-behaved genuine fans who enjoy supporting their team in good spirits," he said. "It is only the behaviour of a small minority like Bradshaw, so-called football fans, who are intent on causing violence."