A Brighton & Hove Albion fan stabbed in Rome has revealed how he used martial arts training to protect his friends and himself from their attackers.
Andy Le Goubin spent a night in hospital after he was slashed in the buttocks — the mark of Roma’s ultras supporters’ group. He was also robbed of possessions, including his passport, credit cards and money.
The 26-year-old, from Shoreham-by-Sea, still attended Brighton’s 4-0 defeat in the Europa League last-16 first-leg tie at the Stadio Olimpico.
Le Goubin, a season ticket holder at the Amex Stadium, also plans to attend this Thursday’s return leg but says he would “think twice” about going to Italy again.
A print finisher by trade, he made a late decision to attend the match in Rome with a group of friends, including Jack Stephenson and Joey Thorpe. They were all caught up in the attack by masked men, dressed in all-black. Stephenson, a 27-year-old railway company worker from Portslade, needed 10 stitches in leg wounds.
Le Goubin was watching Brighton in Europe for the first time, having missed matches at Marseille, Ajax and AEK Athens this season. The group were walking back to their hotel after drinking in the Shamrock Bar, close to the Colosseum, the night before the game when they were attacked from behind.
Le Goubin, centre, and Stephenson, second from left with his crutch in the air, with their friends before the game (Le Goubin)
Le Goubin, speaking to The Athletic, said: “We weren’t wearing (club) colours or making a noise. We’d had a bit to drink, so maybe they thought we were an easy target.
“We weren’t checking our backs every second, to me it seemed like they came from nowhere. About a kilometre up the road, I just turned around and realised there were a bunch of masked people. There were seven or eight of us and I yelled out, ‘Bloody run’, or words to that effect. Me, Joey and Jack were towards the back. They circled Jack and Joey, they are not fighters at all, so they got sucker-punched from behind.
“I started to run, then realised, ‘I can’t really leave them’. So I started a bit of an offence, which didn’t last long because then I got punched from behind, then circled briefly, then stabbed at some point in the bottom.”
Le Goubin felt duty-bound to rush back to help his friends, using his martial arts skills. He said: “It was a sort of half-run (away), then I looked back and saw that Jack was circled. They started to try to close us in, I thought I was Jackie Chan, did a flying kick at one of them to get him out of the way. It was probably a stupid thing to do.
“I don’t know what made me think, running past this guy, I am going to drop-kick him, but I’m glad I did it. I am a bit of a martial arts enthusiast. I have been doing jiu-jitsu for a few months, I watch every MMA (mixed martial arts) fight that I can. I know the basics of covering up. That helped me, 100 per cent.
“They moved on to me last. I was able to make a bit of space for myself. In martial arts, it’s all about space management. I was able to stay away from them for a bit longer.”
The attackers dispersed as car drivers drew attention to them by honking their horns. “I had to pick Jack up, Joey up,” Le Goubin said. “Joey was in a bit of a state because he had his glasses knocked off and he had to try to find them.
“Jack was in a bad way. He took a proper hiding. He was at the back. He is a big softie. He didn’t even put his arms up to try to defend himself. He had five or six on him, was punched from behind, stabbed, kicked.”
A nearby restaurant provided sanctuary in the aftermath, calling the police and ambulance services and giving water and use of their facilities to the bloodied victims. One of the ambulances sent to transport Le Goubin and Stephenson to different hospitals crashed into a bollard, so a replacement had to be called.
Most fans did not encounter trouble (Craig Williamson/SNS Group via Getty Images)
Le Goubin could have discharged himself in the early hours, but he decided to stay in hospital until the morning. “If you look at me, you wouldn’t even know I’d been in a fight,” he said. “I got a bloody nose, that was about it. I was able to defend myself a bit. Jack was so much worse (off) than me, I was so focused on getting him out of the way that I didn’t even know I had been stabbed. I thought I just had a dead leg. I was even arguing with the paramedics, saying ‘No, I’ve just fallen in a puddle’.
“I got stabbed twice in the bottom, one higher, one lower. I had five stitches in total, so Jack has outdone me! It’s not too bad, it’s really bruised. I was still able to walk fine, just a bit slowly.”
Club officials were in contact with Le Goubin and Stephenson. They were given priority boarding on the fleet of coaches that transported 3,500 Brighton supporters to the game. Stephenson attended the match with the aid of a crutch supplied by the hotel where he was staying.
“Losing 4-0 didn’t help,” said Le Goubin. “You replay it (the attack) in your head to think, ‘What could I have done?’. I would stay every time, someone had to be there for them (Stephenson and Thorpe). I am more annoyed that I had my stuff nicked.
“I lost my wallet, passport and AirPods (earphones), cash, driver’s licence, credit cards. I had to get an emergency passport, which cost £100 ($130).”
Roma fans celebrate against Brighton (Giuseppe Bellini/Getty Images)
The North Stand Chat website, a forum for Brighton fans, launched a crowdfunding page on Saturday to reimburse Le Goubin’s costs, up to £500. He travelled to Italy without insurance.
“It’s a bit embarrassing,” he said. “I should have had insurance, but it was so last minute going that it didn’t cross my mind. I looked at 3pm (on Saturday) and the crowdfunding page had raised £900. Our plan is to give the restaurant owner a gift and reparations because we made a bit of a mess in his restaurant. There was blood everywhere.”
Plans for the rest of the money include a donation to an anti-knife charity.
Le Goubin has supported Brighton since his dad took him to matches at Withdean Stadium when the club was in the lower divisions. Has the experience in Rome put him off travelling abroad to watch the team? “I would think twice about going to Italy again,” he said. “You learn what you can from it. Would I walk back in that situation again or would I just get a cab? I would get a cab.
“What are the authorities going to do to try to stop this happening? There are a lot more measures that could have been taken, checkpoints on popular walking routes. There was no police presence anywhere. Could it be that Roma have to provide transport to keep people safe? There is more that could have been done.”
(Top photo: Le Goubin)
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