Footage has emerged and in it, a Portsmouth hooligan knocks out a Southampton supporter after singing a vile chant at him in a train station.
The 22 second clip shows what seems to be a middle-aged Saints fan collapsing to the ground after he was attacked in Basingstoke.
Moments prior to the assault, the lone Saints fan had beer thrown at him as he was surrounded by a large group of Pompey supporters singing an abusive chant.
Police have now launched an investigation as well as a hunt down the culprit who headbutted him at Basingstoke Railway Station at around 8:20pm on Saturday.
The mobile phone video was filmed just hours after Southampton’s FA Cup home win against Coventry City and Portsmouth picked up a defeat at fellow League One side Oxford United.
It shows the Saints fan on his own, wearing his shirt, just wanting to go home, but instead finds himself in the middle of a group of Portsmouth fans.
The Pompey lads can be seen singing a vile chant at him, boasting of hitting their rivals ‘with a brick’ because ‘he makes me feel sick’.
Beer was thrown at the man and then it’s followed up with a Portsmouth fan in a green jacket grabbing the Saints fan and headbutt him.
The victim was recorded collapsing to the ground, said to be unconscious, and was seen receiving first-aid treatment from passersby.
Portsmouth Football Club condemned the attack and is investigating. A club spokesman said: ‘We are aware that police are currently investigating an alleged incident from the weekend.
‘Portsmouth Football Club do not condone any form of football-related violence, either inside or outside the stadium.’
British Transport Police has launched a hunt for the attacker.
A spokeswoman said: ‘Officers were called to Basingstoke station at 8.21pm, on February 5, following reports of a fight. A man was assaulted, but declined medical treatment.
‘Enquiries into the incident are ongoing and any witnesses who haven’t already spoken to police can contact BTP by texting 61016 or calling 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference 612 of 05/02/22.’
A Hampshire Constabulary football unit said of the victim: ‘Considering what happened he is doing OK.’
The Premier League and EFL are to launch an urgent review over crowd trouble as more videos of fans fighting surface on social media.
English football grounds across all divisions has seen an increase in trouble of more than a third this season, according to police figures with stats showing the highest increases have been in the Championship and the National League.
Sky Sports claim that almost half of this season’s matches up until January have had an incident reported – including the use of pyrotechnics, missiles being thrown at players, and hate crime.
Both the Premier League and the EFL, along with the Football Association, want to better understand the collective concerns about what is happening and how to prevent this from getting even more out of hand.
The safety officers of all 92 clubs have been emailed a questionnaire to collect data and figure of what type of crime is mostly committed.
The Premier League met head of football policing Mark Roberts in January and the issue was raised with clubs during the last shareholders’ meeting.
Roberts has held talks with football authorities and encouraged that there is a recognition of the problem with more action needed.
“There is a consensus. In the past, when police have said ‘There’s a problem’ there has been a deafening silence,” he said.
“This time, I think everyone’s been really responsible. We won’t agree on everything, but I think the fact that there’s consensus and people want to work together to improve it is actually a really important and positive first step.”
Roberts said disorder had increased across the board in 2021-22 compared to 2019-20, highlighting incidents with pyrotechnics – from 193 to 229 – the throwing of missiles – 116 to 223 – and hate crime reports in stadiums – 146 to 206.
He goes on to suggest supporters’ groups should do more to condemn those misbehaving.
“They can often be really vocal, but they need to come out and start condemning this behaviour as well because the vast majority of people who go to football, the overwhelming majority are just decent folk who want to go and enjoy the game,” he said.
“The fans need to start calling it out as well – they need to say this is unacceptable and not what we want.”
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