Moment masked teen footie hooligans hurl lit flares around Scots petrol station amid running battle
Harry Williamson, Live News Reporter
Published: Invalid Date,
THIS is the shocking moment of teenage footy ultras risked causing an explosion after lobbing a flare at a petrol station.
Two groups of masked thugs engaged in running battles outside a ground in Newmains, Lanarkshire, last night.
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The shocking scenes unfolded after a group of kids were refused entry into Newmains United Community FC's WOSFD clash against Carluke Rovers.
A group of 20 youngsters gathered outside and one threw a flare into the ground before they fled to the Coopers Brothers garage across the road.
Another group came running from the direction of the ground and clashed with the group.
Three boys ended up hiding inside the petrol station shop while staff members tried to get the group to leave and pressed an emergency button calling for the police.
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One reckless teen then stood between two petrol pumps and lit a flare before throwing it inside the shop.
An elderly customer fled in fear as the shop began filling with blue smoke.
Robert Cooper, one of the directors at Coopers Brothers, said the flare incident could have been much worse.
He told The Scottish Sun: 'It was horrendous. All these young lads got dropped off and then they started throwing flares into the ground.
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'Next thing they were having running battles in the street outside. 'Some of them came into the shop and then the flare got thrown in.
'Thankfully there isn't much damage and no one was injured. The staff and customers were a bit shook up understandably.
We live in fear of roaming gang of violent teens who lob glass bottles at our HEADS - cops don't do anything to stop them
'He lit the flare right next to a petrol pump, there could be fuel spillages out there, it doesn't bear thinking about what could have happened.'
Football volunteers and police at the game tried to put a stop to the incident before more cops arrived.
Newmains Community FC slammed the scenes and said their staff were hit with verbal abuse after telling a group of Ultras they weren't allowed inside the ground.
'Running battles'
The club's Managing Director James Wynn insisted the boys who sparked the "running battle" were not supporters of the club.
He said: "Before last night's game the club's young supporters, often a group of six or seven youngsters, would bring a little noise and good atmosphere to our home games, the club worked with these boys to promote positive behaviours and the response was looking really good.
"But last night we seen almost 30 youngsters inside the ground as we arrived to set up for our game against Carluke Rovers.
"I spoke to all these kids and told them in no uncertain terms that they had to stand as a group in a designated area of the ground and not cross the barriers when the game kicked off, I also reiterated that bad language of any sort would not be tolerated.
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"We have never had any situations with any of these kids as they are mostly helpful in the tidy up of the ground and putting away of equipment after each game has ended, as they know they get a portion of chips or a hotdog for being helpful."
Mr Wynn also insisted the boys causing the horrific incident were not associated with Newmains United.
He added: "Last night just as the game started a large group of about 20 unknown youths attempted to enter the park and were denied entry as we had graffiti defacing our park entrance the week before with a football tag as part of this graffiti.
"We had already informed our opposition that no youngsters unaccompanied would be allowed entry due to this incident.
"Our volunteers were met with verbal abuse and threats as they tried to control the group and maintain the safety of everyone inside the park. When they finally moved from the gate they continued to shout and try to cause disruption and having running battles with each other.
"The police had been called and a few of the clubs volunteers tried to control what was happening outside the ground alongside the 2 police officers who attended.
"We would never condone this behaviour which is why we denied them access in the first place as we have a responsibility to protect those inside at our match.
"This group of youths that caused the incident last night are not Newmains United FC supporters or in any way associated with the club.
"We were informed of the incident at the petrol station by the police and assisted as best we could.
"This must have been a horrendous and frightening situation for the staff and hope everyone is ok."
Cops are probing the shameful scenes and are believed to be treating it as a serious incident.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: 'Around 5.50pm on Tuesday, 13 May, 2025, we received a report of a disturbance involving a group of youths at a premises on Overtown Road, Newmains.
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'Officers attended and the group had dispersed.
'Enquiries are ongoing.'
Topics
Crime
Police Scotland
Scottish crime
Glasgow
Lanarkshire
Scotland
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