Trouble on the terraces

Although 1969 had been a violent year there was little on the horizon to suggest that the 1970s would end up being the start of the bloodiest decade in what would be a further 24 years of sectarian strife in Northern Ireland. The UDR, whose announcement had proved so displeasing to loyalists the previous October, came into being on 1 January. Two Catholics were the first to fill in application forms for the new force. Meetings were held by the PD in Dungiven and Derry to commemorate the first anniversary of the Burntollet march, which had ended in violence when a crowd of local unionists and Paisleyites attacked a PD march making its way from Belfast to Derry in an event later described by Paul Bew as ‘the spark that lit the prairie fire’. The fire appeared to have somewhat fizzled out by January 1970 but it would not be long until the embers of 1969 flickered back into life.

Away from the security issues which had dominated 1969, other problems exercised the minds of the authorities throughout the first half of 1970. On Saturday 10 January, 12 people were arrested after Linfield visited the Oval in East Belfast to play fierce cross-city rivals Glentoran. Stone-throwing had broken out between the two sets of supporters during the game and three people were treated for minor injuries incurred during the melee. On their way back to the Shankill and other traditional Linfield strongholds such as Sandy Row in South Belfast, supporters smashed windows in business premises on the Newtownards Road, and Ann Street and Castle Lane in the city centre. Linfield supporters, particularly the new young breed, had gained a fearsome reputation.