Rival fans clash after Clarets match

Trouble erupted between supporters outside Turf Moor following the Championship game on Saturday afternoon.

Witnesses reported a brawl breaking out as away fans boarded coaches in Harry Potts Way around 5pm.

Hundreds of fans then faced off in the street at the junction with Belvedere Road and Yorkshire Street. Coins and stones were reportedly thrown and stewards and police had to hold back fans as the two groups squared off.

One supporter, posting on a fan site, spoke of the violence, saying: “One lad went down from a whack as he was looking the other way and went down like a ton of bricks. Horrible sound. There were plenty of punches and kicks being thrown around and a few on the floor getting kicked.

“One of the bigger stewards saved the lad on the deck from a stamping, he managed to fend three or four off on his own until the police arrived.”

Another fan wrote: “It was kicking off on the corner by the next game sign, fans singing ‘su su su’ then throwing stones, and even some ‘fans’ opted to attempt to drag some Middlesbrough fans off their coach.”

Police vans were drafted in to form a barrier between the two sets of fans standing just 20ft apart in the streets outside the ground.

Insp. Phil Hutchinson, of Burnley Police, said: “There was a coming together of two groups of fans near the traffic lights at the former Wellington pub. We will be investigating what happened outside the ground at the conclusion of the game.”

No arrests were made after the game, but police detained a 38-year-old man from Middlesbrough in the David Fishwick stand during the game. He was later charged with being drunk in a sports ground.