Photographer describes ‘horrific’ Dublin attack by German soccer supporters

A British photographer has described as “horrific” and “inhumane” an attack that she and a friend were subjected to by a group of men who were in Dublin to watch soccer team FC Schalke play Bohemians football club.

Carly Clarke and her friend Steve were set upon by a group of “ultra” fans from the German club as they marched through the city centre on Saturday afternoon ahead of their friendly match with the League of Ireland side.

A video of the incident had been viewed more than seven million times by Monday evening.

Ms Clarke, who is based in London, told The Irish Times she had travelled from Britain for a friend’s photography exhibition and book launch. When walking around Dublin on Saturday, she encountered the group comprised of FC Schalke ultras, who were chanting as they marched through the streets ahead of the game, which they lost 3-2.

They walked towards Ms Clarke on the Luas tracks on Lower Abbey Street where she was taking photographs. As they approached, she said she “realised this was not a good bunch of people”.

Before she could get out of the way, one man stepped ahead of the group and pulled her camera, which was round her neck, she said. That resulted in “a jolt, and I wasn’t expecting it”. Her 70-year-old photographer friend, Steve, then tried to intervene but was repeatedly kicked.

“He got thrown to the ground ... that was a bit of a shock. He couldn’t get up off the ground and I was trying to help him but it was like a stampede of people,” she said.

“I couldn’t believe when I was down there with him, so many people were just kicking him. I was shocked and I didn’t know what [situation] I was in. I was really scared, worried for him more than anything. They were barging through me, but they weren’t doing anything to me. But he was being kicked repeatedly.

“I was eventually able to get him up but people wouldn’t help, nobody cared. It was horrible ... horrific. I couldn’t believe the inhumanity, to be honest with you ... how people were treating an elder man. It was just disgusting behaviour.”

After the crowd had passed, a number of local women approached them and helped with his injuries.

They plan to lodge an official statement to gardaí and have already been issued with an incident report number based on their initial reporting of the attack.

Gardaí said they were “carrying out inquiries into an alleged assault” and were awaiting a formal statement of complaint.

FC Schalke issued a statement saying it was aware of the incident, which it described as “completely unjustifiable”. It said about 2,000 of its fans had travelled to Dublin to support the team and what happened did not reflect the character of the club or its supporters.

“The photos that have been circulating on social media since yesterday afternoon are disturbing and hard to process,” it said of a video posted on X by Ms Clarke, which was recorded by a bystander.

FC Schalke, which also offered its sympathy to the victims, said “this type of incident cast the club and our community in a light that is not fair” to the club and its “peaceful fans” and was “damaging to the culture at the club” and its identity.

“We utterly condemn these incidents and, as announced, will rigorously investigate the events and take appropriate action.”

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