A groups of Salford Red Devils fans determined to apologise for crowd trouble at the Huddersfield Salford match on Easter Monday are fundraising to buy gifts for their own players.
Disturbing scenes were caught on camera after the end of the game, as one fan lit a flare and got involved in scuffles with Justin Carney and Junior S’au.
After the pictures hit national headlines, many Salford fans claimed the media had blown the incident out of all proportion.
But a group of fans who run the @thesalfordscene Twitter account said they would fundraise anyway to buy bouquets of flowers for the players’ wives and gift vouchers for their children.
Any spare cash left over will be donated to a charity of the players’ choice.
SalfordOnline spoke to one of the fans who was at the match and with his friends set up the page.
“We feel saddened by the events at Huddersfield.
“Dr Koukash labelled the fans as ‘thugs’ which I think is unfair, he wasn’t at the match and must have seen the photographs of the players getting involved which didn’t look good in the press, but to call them thugs is a knee jerk reaction.
“I was in the crowd and saw what happened, basically it was a crowd of lads on a day out who had, had too much to drink and were getting boisterous.
“One of them set off a flare which was the main reason for the trouble, the father of one of the Red Hot Flames dancing troupe remonstrated with the lad and told him there was no place in rugby for this kind of behaviour.
“This was followed by pushing and shoving, no actual punches were thrown, however the players wives and children were sat in that area and it must have frightening for them.”
Pictures appeared to show children being crushed, with both men and women spilling out onto the hardstanding around the ground as Junior S’au grabbed one fan by the throat.
“I can understand the players getting involved,” he said.
“They thought their families were getting injured and I can fully understand their actions and I would have done the same if my family were involved.”
An initial target of £500 has been exceeded as fans from across the Super League join in to donate.
It’s hoped to hand the gifts over to Salford players at the Leeds games on Saturday 9 April.
The club are also due to include a letter of apology from the supporters in the programme for the match.
The fund is online here
