The Battle of Beverwijk (
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
: "Slag bij Beverwijk") was a violent confrontation between two
hooligan
Hooliganism is disruptive or unlawful behavior such as rioting, bullying and vandalism, usually in connection with crowds at sporting events.
Etymology
There are several theories regarding the origin of the word ''hooliganism,'' which is a d ...
supporter groups of
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
Association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
clubs
Ajax
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...
and
Feyenoord
Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...
, the
S.C.F. Hooligans S.C.F. Hooligans (Sport Club Feyenoord) is a Dutch football hooligan firm associated with Feyenoord. The number of supporters in the year 1990 was estimated at around 350De totaal-hooligan ; 'Als je die ogen zag... Daar zat niks zinnigs meer in', ...
and the
F-Side
The F-side is a Dutch football hooligan group associated with AFC Ajax. The name came from the stand in Ajax' former stadium De Meer Vak F.
Background
The F-side was founded in 1976. The biggest rivalry was between the F-side and Vak S of ...
. The incident took place on 23 March 1997 along the
A9 motorway near
Beverwijk
Beverwijk () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The town is located about northwest of Amsterdam in the Randstad metropolitan area, north of the North Sea Canal very close to the North Sea coast. A ...
, from which its name is derived.
Prelude
The intent of the meeting between the two groups was a revanche, after the previously short and especially disappointing fight for the Ajax hooligans F-Side which had previously taken place along the
A10 motorway. In the previous incident, both groups were to arrive with 50 hooligans each, ready for combat. The Feyenoord hooligans S.C.F., however, arrived with 75. The F-Side group were forced to escape, since they had actually arrived with 50 fighters as previously agreed upon between the two groups. The S.C.F. didn't hold their promise, as other occasions showed that the F-side group often did the same to other groups. On the date of the event, Ajax and Feyenoord were scheduled to play in
Waalwijk
Waalwijk () is a municipality and a city in the southern Netherlands. It had a population of in and is located near the motorways A59 and N261. The villages of Capelle, Vrijhoeve-Capelle, Sprang (the former municipality of Sprang-Capelle) and W ...
and
Alkmaar
Alkmaar () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland, about 30 km north of Amsterdam. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination. The ...
and the police were made aware that both supporter groups were going to clash on said date, but they did not know at which location. A platoon of police mobile units was deployed to the Beverwijkse Bazaar nonetheless, to protect the crowd from a potential hazard.
The confrontation
Due to road construction, the two hooligan groups of both clubs (each a few hundred men strong) met in a meadow near the motorway, armed with
knives
A knife ( : knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evidenced ...
,
baseball bat
A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal club used in the sport of baseball to hit the ball after it is thrown by the pitcher. By regulation it may be no more than in diameter at the thickest part and no more than in length. Although histor ...
s, iron bars,
electroshock weapon
An electroshock weapon is a less-lethal weapon that utilizes an electric shock to incapacitate a target by either temporarily disrupting voluntary muscle control and/or through pain compliance. There are several different types of electroshock w ...
s and
claw hammer
A claw hammer is a hammer primarily used in carpentry for driving nails into or pulling them from wood. Historically, a claw hammer has been associated with woodworking, but is also used in general applications. It is not suitable for heavy h ...
s, along with other armaments; the groups went into combat in an unprecedented fashion. The Feyenoord hooligans kept the upper-hand, trapped the Ajax hooligans along the motorway while attacking from both sides. The remaining Ajax hooligans were forced to fight or run for their lives. When the police arrived on the scene, they were very surprised by the speed and intensity of the fighting. The Police had arrived so late that no arrests were actually made, but several weapons were seized from both parties involved.
The death of Carlo Picornie and the aftermath
During the scuffle, one of the Ajax hooligans, Carlo Picornie, was killed. He was one of the more long-term members within the hard core of the F-Side. He died due to 3 knife stabs which filled his lungs. One member of S.C.F. was convicted due to Carlo Picornie's death, namely 21-year-old Leonardo Pansier, who was given an unconditional prison sentence of 5-years. During the procedure, following the murder of Carlo Picornie, Leonardo Pansier was also found guilty of attempted murder on H. Joos, another Ajax hooligan. Joos was also present in the violent attack in Beverwijk and was seriously injured here as well. Feyenoord hooligan Marco P. and 25-year-old hooligan Daniël C. were sentenced to four years in prison. Daniël C. was convicted because he stabbed H. Joos with a knife, and likely was involved in the death of Carlo Picornie. Charged with attempted murder, Marco P. was also charged with the same sentence for his involvement in the murder of Carlo Picornie. Feyenoord hooligan Vincent M. was also convicted in the abuse of H. Joos, having beaten him with a bat. Although he claimed to have not hit hard with the bat, he too was convicted of attempted murder, as well as having raised suspicion regarding his involvement with the murder of Carlo Picornie. Leonardo Pansier was the only participant to have continuously denied involvement in the murder of Picornie.
In 2009, Leonardo Pansier was invited as a guest on the TV show ''Sophie op 3'' of
BNN where he revealed that he felt betrayed by members of his own hooligan group. The stories that made the rounds regarding several people who were involved in those incidents during the court process failed to include those who executed the final blow. Claiming that those who actually killed him were never caught. But the fact of the matter is that more Feyenoord hooligans made accusative recounts towards Leonardo Pansier in their statements, which ultimately led to the conviction of Leonardo Pansier in the case. Multiple witnesses at the scene had reported to have seen Leonardo enraged with a bicycle lock beating on Carlo's head. Furthermore, the videotape of the A9 motorway security cameras had captured the act on camera. However the footage from the camera was deemed as insufficient because it was of poor quality and did not capture a lot of what had actually happened along the motorway.
Alleged scheme
Carlo Picornie was born 15 October 1961 and due to his age was no longer considered an active member of the hard core of the F-Side. But Picornie wanted to set an example for the young emerging hooligans at Ajax and attended the Battle in Beverwijk. During the fight, Picornie was separated from his group, along with H. Joos with both Ajax hooligans being surrounded by Feyenoord Hooligans, leading to their injuries and Carlo's death on the scene.
Following the funeral of Picornie, in which Ajax chairman
Michael van Praag
Michael van Praag (born 28 September 1947) is a Dutch association football, football Administrator (business), administrator and former referee (association football), referee. He was the Royal Dutch Football Association, President of the Royal ...
was in attendance, unrest began amongst the F-Side hooligans. The Ajax hooligans started to blame each other for Picornie's death, claiming that not enough was done to protect his life. It was also not being considered an accident that alone "Picornie" was targeted and coincidentally murdered. Picornie had been an icon for Ajax hooligans for years, an old member with a violent reputation amongst the F-Side. Prior to his death Picornie was known to never avoid a confrontation. It was believed that the Feyenoord hooligans were looking to send a message to the Ajax hooligans group by murdering Picornie. During the TV show "De Harde Kern" from 1998 with host Bas van Hout, which focused on the hooligan groups of the biggest clubs of the Netherlands, Bas van Hout interviewed two masked members of the Feyenoord hooligan group who offered some information over the events that occurred in Beverwijk. According to one of these hooligans, it could not just as easily been a different hooligan than Picornie. That due to the circumstances Picornie had been singled out by the Feyenoord hooligans due to his reputation as an Ajax hooligan. Given the manner in which he was killed, probably at the hand of more than one person, his murder was largely considered intentional, and that the Feyenoord hooligans had singled out Picornie (considering the reputation of the fighter) to consciously send a message to the hooligans of Ajax. But whether it was known from the Feyenoord group that Picornie would be in attendance, or whether they had singled him out remains unknown. It is also said that Picornie simply had bad luck to encounter a bunch of Feyenoord hooligans who were under the influence of drugs and alcohol who simply beat him to death.
During the broadcast of "De harde kern", the Feyenoord hooligans had revealed to Bas van Hout that a certain hierarchy was present within the hooligan groups which was comparable to that of a criminal organization. Those who stood accused by the Public prosecution were later wiped from the table by a Judge, because there was no substantial evidence delivered. Even though the meeting and intention had been declared as premeditated, with an example of both hooligan groups being delivered due to their previous encounter along A10. It is also noteworthy that although the police were present during the incident, that very little police intervention was done. Weapons were simply confiscated and people were being searched for weapons to prove whether or not they were participants in the incident instead. Nobody at the time of the event was held accountable or arrested. It was said that the police were possibly scared that arrests would lead to more violence. Later when more clarity regarding the incident had come to light, it became clear that some arrests actually had been made. A few days prior to the battle of Beverwijk, Ajax hooligans had been called "pussies" by ex-Feyenoord hooligan Daniël C. As Daniël was being interviewed by a journalist of
NOS after a short altercation along the A10 motorway. Later Ajax hooligans were made the laughing stock on camera, by Feyenoord hooligan Gijs van D. through a banner in
De Kuip
Stadion Feijenoord (), more commonly known by its nickname De Kuip (, the Tub), is a stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It was completed in 1937. The name is derived from the Feijenoord district in Rotterdam, and from the club with the same na ...
which read: "A'dam lopen altijd weg, A10, mietjes" (
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
: "A'dam always run away, A10 pussies"). Events such as this one along with other incidents are also regarded as contributing factors in the battle of Beverwijk, for which Carlo Picornie paid with his life.
Aftermath
During the broadcast of the show ''Sophie op 3'' it became clear that the death of Picornie had caused great unrest in the S.C.F. hooligans group of Feyenoord as well. People reportedly told on each other resulting in several convictions. Noninvasive statements had been made about each other with many people lying about their involvement regarding Picornies death. The three Feyenoord hooligans who were guests on the show reported that those truly responsible for the death of Picornie could no longer live in Rotterdam, and that they themselves had already left the city, out of fear for revenge from fellow members. The only person who was eventually convicted of the murder of Picornie stated in the broadcast that: "His life had changed to a peaceful one due to the events he had experienced in Beverwijk, although he would remain a hooligan" The definite responsible for Picornies death never became clear, as Leonardo Pansier kept denying his involvement in the murder. As a so-called "vow of silence" exists amongst the hooligans group of people involved, this may never become clear.
The death of Picornie lead to a lot of anxiety in the media. He had not been the first deadly victim of hooligan-club violence. In 1991
FC Twente
Football Club Twente () is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, sometimes known internationally as Twente Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub Enschede with Enschedese Bo ...
-hooligan Eric Lassche had been beaten to death during riots. The novel "de Movo Tapes" by Dutch writer A.F.Th. van der Heijden is partially based on the Battle of Beverwijk.
See also
*
Iron rod incident The Iron rod incident ( nl, Staafincident) was an incident of football hooliganism at the De Meer Stadion of Dutch football club Ajax Amsterdam on 27 September 1989. During a home match against Austria Wien, the Austrian goalkeeper Franz Wohlfahr ...
*
1989 De Meer nail bombs
On 22 October 1989 during an association football match, two home-made nail bombs were thrown by a Feyenoord hooligan at De Meer Stadion, the home ground of AFC Ajax in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The explosions injured 19 people.
Background
The riva ...
*
1999 Rotterdam riots
References
External links
*
Supporters slaags, dode bij voetbalrel ''NRC Handelsblad'', 24 maart 1997 ( 1989 wordt in dit artikel genoemd als oprichtingsjaar van de Stichting F-Side. Dit moet 1984 zijn.)
{{coord, 52, 28, 31.57, N, 4, 40, 48.63, E, type:event, display=title
Association football hooliganism
AFC Ajax
Feyenoord
1996–97 in Dutch football
Riots and civil disorder in the Netherlands
1997 riots
Beverwijk
March 1997 events in Europe