DUTCH IN FEAR OF CATS FANS.POLICE are ready to target known troublemakers amid fears that Sunderland and Newcastle fans could clash in Holland later this month. Northumbria Police Northumbria Police is the Home Office police force responsible for policing the areas of Northumberland and Tyne and Wear in England. The service is the sixth largest police constabulary in England or Wales. As of April 2005, the current Chief Constable is Mike Craik. have been planning their tactics for weeks after it emerged that both clubs are due to play just 30 miles apart in the Netherlands during the final weekend of the month. The Black Cats are taking part in the prestigious Amsterdam Tournament The Amsterdam Tournament is an annual association football tournament played in the pre-season, hosted by AFC Ajax. It is organised by the International Event Partnership (IEP) - www.ieptournaments.com. , against Benfica and Atletico Madrid on July 24 and 26, the latter date clashing with the Newcastle match against FC Utrecht FC Utrecht is a Dutch football club founded on July 1, 1970. It was a merger of three clubs from the city of Utrecht: DOS, Elinkwijk and Velox. It featured in the European Cup in the 1980s several times but suffered a downturn in fortunes after 1991 and had to wait for a further . Amsterdam's mayor Job Cohen is so concerned by the potential for trouble that he has called for Sunderland to be banned from the tournament. But Northumbria Police, who have been in contact with the Dutch authorities, are ready to head off trouble before it can start. Chief Superintendent Neil Mackay said: "We will be mounting a series of operations to prevent known troublemakers from making the journey." Sunderland fans have snapped up around 4,000 tickets for Amsterdam. And there are fears that trouble could flare as supporters of the rival clubs head for the same flights and ferries to make the trip across the North Sea. CAPTION(S): WORRIED Dutch mayor Job Cohen |
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