I sit at the keyboard in a state of shock. Before yesterday's game a 17 year old Forest supporter was attacked in Burnley. This morning he is dead.
Yesterday afternoon I sat in the stand and enjoyed Burnley's 1-0 win against Forest, oblivious to what had happened in the town centre. I woke up this morning with a smile on my face, preparing to write a match report that would describe our win. It now seems meaningless. Clearly, facts are scarce, and a murder enquiry is now underway. I couldn't comment on the details of the incident that led to this tragedy, but I know, fundamentally, this: no one ought to go to a football match and not come back alive.
People have refused to admit that Burnley has a growing hooligan problem. The club has been quiet, but so have the supporters. We have done nothing about the increasingly large number of yobs who have attached themselves to Burnley FC. Anyone who was in the away end for the recent game at Preston could see that the potential for serious unrest was there. Now, it seems, that awful potential has been realised.
I can't imagine what the solutions are. I can only hope that those who committed the crime are brought to swift and swingeing justice, and that if anyone has information that can assist the murder investigation, they come forward. I'm too numb to think beyond this, but let us now admit that we have a problem, and start taking that problem seriously. Let both the club and supporters resolve to banish the yobs and turn around our reputation before we become pariahs of football. There must never be a chance of this happening again.
I am sure I speak on behalf of all members of our club when I say that our thoughts are with the victim's family at this terrible time. Football today is irrelevant.
