Bradford Ointment vs Aberdeen Soccer Casuals (2003)

Bradford v Coleraine 2003. A minor tournament to celebrate Bradford’s centenary year was marred by an out break of fighting between the Bradford City Ointment and the Aberdeen Soccer Casuals, from Scotland. Let’s get on with the stories.

Bradford Ointment Story

Bradford Ointment Member Steve told us…“Saturday, July 26th, 2003. Centenary Tournament. Bradford Ointment vs Aberdeen Soccer Casuals. City had just done Coleraine 4-2, but let’s be honest — we weren’t there for the football. Aberdeen were down. The word all week was that their Casuals were coming, thirty or forty strong, talking the usual northern nonsense online. Shirts off, puffed chests. It was all set. Earlier in the day, there was a bit of a tangle outside the Bradford Arms. About twenty of us walked in and clocked ten or so of theirs at the bar. They clocked us too. Bit of verbals, then a shove, then it kicked off proper. Quick hands, couple of digs each side. One of theirs took a pint to the face. Chairs went flying. It didn’t last long — the barmaid screamed and someone hit the fire alarm. We legged it out before the old bill turned up. After the game, we regrouped in the city centre. Ointment were thirty-five deep by now, decent crew. We’d heard the Aberdeen lot were up near the square, heading back to the station in dribs and drabs. So we made a decision: let’s meet them head on, see who’s who.”

“We moved into Ivegate — tight, cobbled street, pubs either side, like a stage set for a proper tear-up. We started moving up from the bottom, quiet at first. Then we saw them — scattered groups of them higher up, about 40, maybe 50, mostly spread out. One of their lads, big unit in a retro Dons top, shouts something and runs at us. Brave, but daft. He gets halfway before he’s met by two of our front lads — bang, bang, one-two to the jaw and he’s down. Then it went off. They charged, we charged. Bottles came first, then fists. I clocked one in the side of the head, he stumbled, I followed through with a boot. Someone behind me swung a bin and flattened one of theirs. They tried to regroup by a doorway — about eight of them — but we pinned them in. It was close-quarters stuff. Elbows, knees, heads. Real grit. Our lot held the line. We pushed forward, inch by inch, up the slope. One of theirs got dragged out into the open and given a right seeing-to — nothing life-threatening, just a few kicks to let him know we were there. A couple of their younger lads legged it straight away. No shame, they were out of their depth.”

“Coppers arrived quick. Vans pulled in from both ends. Helicopter was up, we could hear the buzz. They tried to box us in. We broke down a side alley, a few of us slipping away two or three at a time. One of the lads got nicked there and then. Others got scooped up later — CCTV everywhere.
Was it worth it? You tell me. We stood, we fronted it, and we sent them back up the hill. For all their talk, Aberdeen were outgunned, out-thought, and outclassed. Fair play to the handful that stayed in the middle of it. But that day belonged to Bradford Ointment.”

aberdeen soccer casuals perspective

Aberdeen Soccer Casual Terry told us..“Bradford 2003 was always going to be tricky. We’d heard they were taking their centenary tournament seriously, and there’d been chat online that Ointment were back out and fancying it. Fine by us. ASC’s always travelled. Even if we only got about 40 down — half of who planned to come — we were still up for it. Early skirmish outside the Bradford Arms went our way. We’d just finished up a few pints when a bunch of their lads strolled in bold as brass. Few verbals, then it kicked off. I caught one with a quick jab and watched another Bradford lad eat a barstool to the back. They weren’t expecting it and backed out sharpish. We were laughing, thought we’d rattled them. Game done, we’re drifting through the city, heading back to the station. Bit spread out, but chilled. That’s when it all flipped. I was near the top end of Ivegate with maybe 15 of ours when someone shouted: “They’re coming!”.”

“And they were — a tight, focused line of about 30-40 of them, coming up the slope like they owned it. No singing, no posturing — just intent. I remember thinking, this ain’t just handbags. We rushed forward — first impact was heavy. Proper front-on clash. I threw a punch, caught some skin, then felt something slam into my ribs. Swung round and booted whoever was behind me. My mate Stevie got caught in a three-on-one by a doorway. He held his own for a bit, but they bundled him to the ground and got a few kicks in. It was chaos. We tried to hold ground near the pub doorways, but they had momentum. Their front lads were sharp, hard-faced, and didn’t stop moving. One of theirs went down hard from a bottle, though — one of our boys launched it and it cracked him right on the crown. That gave us a bit of space to regroup.”

Police Makes Arrests

“But we were outnumbered and boxed in. And then the real killer — police vans came in behind us, blocking escape. A bunch of our lot never even got near the action. Coppers held them in the square. The rest of us were stuck in the middle, either scrapping or trying to avoid nick. We stood as best we could, but after a few minutes, it turned. Their numbers pushed us back up the hill. I got dragged by the collar at one point and had to swing wildly to get free. The noise, the bodies, the blue flashing lights — it was like something out of a war film. Eventually, they started grabbing people. I saw three of our lads cuffed on the spot. A few Bradford lads too. Didn’t seem fair. It was a brawl, not a riot. Say what you want — Bradford turned up. But it wasn’t a pasting. Not by a long shot. We were caught light, pinned down, but never hid. Given 10 more bodies and less police? Might’ve been a different story. But that’s the game.”

Aftermath

We thank Steve and Terry for their recollections of the days events. It’s clear that the Bradford Ointment boys held the upper hand. You can see for yourselves on the YouTube video, Aberdeen are clearly backing off. Arrests were made and no-one was seriously injured, so was it all worth it? you decide.

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