[GreatBriton]

Boro fan is knifed to death






By CHARLES RAE

A BRITISH football fan was stabbed to death yesterday after travelling to watch Middlesbrough in Holland.

He was knifed in Amsterdam along with a male pal who is severely injured in hospital.

The pair were in town to see the Premiership side play AZ Alkmaar in the UEFA Cup.

It is not known if the men went to the game or watched it with other fans in an Amsterdam bar.

They were approached by a black man outside a pub in the city at 3am. He attacked them after they refused to buy drugs from him.

AZ Alkmaar play in an 8,000-capacity stadium in a small market town 37 miles from Amsterdam. The match on Thursday ended in a 0-0 draw.

Around 600 Boro fans — including up to 200 who travelled without a ticket — thronged the town square, rubbing shoulders with AZ fans.

But another 400 Middlesbrough supporters watched the game on TVs in Amsterdam.

Dave Allan, Middlesbrough’s head of communications, said yesterday: “We are aware there was a serious incident in Amsterdam in the early hours of the morning believed to involve two people from the Teesside area, resulting in the death of one man and serious injury to another.”

An Amsterdam police spokesman added: “Police officers and a medical team gave the two men medical support and had to revive one of the victims.

“The man died of his injuries in hospital soon after.”Cops believe they know the murder victim’s identity but have not been able to contact relatives.

The other Boro fan’s injuries are not life-threatening.

In a separate incident in Alkmaar, a local man suffered severe facial injuries after being glassed. A Brit has been arrested.

Group D standings
................Games.......Points
Middlesbrough ...3......... 7
Litex Lovetch .....2......... 6
AZ Alkmaar .......2 .........4
Grasshoppers ....2 .........0
Dnipro ..............3 .........0


thesun.co.uk