Police congratulate fans following South Wales derby

Police have congratulated Cardiff City and Swansea City fans for creating a positive atmosphere following the first South Wales derby in the Premier League.

There were fears of violence before the two sides met on Sunday, with police providing a motorway escort to coaches of away fans traveling from Swansea.

The match passed without incident though; with police reporting that no arrests were made at the famously heated derby.

Match commander Superintendent Tony Smith praised everyone involved in the match, saying “The good behaviour of the fans, the stewarding at Cardiff City Football Club all combined to create an enjoyable evening for everyone.”

The actions of both sets of fans has led to high hopes for a similar reaction at February’s return fixture in Swansea.

A History of Violence?

The South Wales derby was not always been as incident free as Sunday’s game was, with matches between the two sides marred by scenes of violence from both sets of supporters.

Possibly the most notorious of all the South Wales derby matches came in 1993 at what has since been dubbed ‘The Battle of Ninian Park’. The game, which took place at Cardiff’s former Ninian Park stadium, saw Swansea fans tearing up seats and throwing them at the Cardiff support. In turn the Cardiff fans invaded the pitch. The crowd trouble was so severe that it led to away fans being banned from the fixture for several years, the first fixture in Britain to do so.

More recently there was unrest following Swansea’s 3-2 home victory in 2009, when Swansea fans waited for the Cardiff fans to leave the Liberty Stadium, leading to the arrest of fifteen fans.

This weekend shows a cooling in the hostilities between the two sets of fans, perhaps due to the successful spells both sides are having on the pitch. Both clubs and the police hope that the newly found peace remains intact.