Five members of hard core Club Brugge arrested after brutal raid on chip shop: “They tried to set the place on fire with fireworks” (Bruges)

A few hours after the city derby between Club Brugge and Cercle Brugge, a group of Blue-Black supporters stormed the De Vier Season restaurant in Sint-Pieters on Sunday evening. At that moment, Green-Black supporters were eating in the restaurant. “They lit fireworks and tried to set the place on fire,” sighs the manager. “We barricaded the door where they destroyed the display case.” The police were able to arrest five suspects.

The facts took place on Sunday evening around 6:30 PM, just three hours after the match, which ended 0-0. A group of Club Brugge supporters, all members of the hard core, stormed the De Vier Seasonen chip shop on the corner of Rond Den Heerdstraat and Sint-Pieterszuidstraat in Sint-Pieters. At that moment, a group of Cercle fans were eating something in the restaurant. “They had also watched the match here,” says manager Francis De Backer (54). “The perpetrators must have seen that, because the next moment they lit fireworks and stormed the place. I think they tried to burn the building down.”

The customers in the chip shop in turn rushed to the door and barricaded it. “Luckily they managed to keep the door closed,” says Francis. “The perpetrators then vented their anger on the display case. When the police arrived, they fled. There were probably about twenty of them.” Was he not afraid? “Oh no,” Francis shrugs. “I can take a beating. This was just a dirty, childish prank. Of course we had to close the business immediately. There was nothing else to do. A complaint will definitely be filed.” (Read more below the photos)

The damage to the business, which only opened its doors in November last year, is considerable. Two windows were damaged. The fire brigade came to close part of the display case with wooden panels. The police were able to arrest five suspects on the spot. “Effective pyrotechnic material was set off during the facts. There were no injuries, but damage was caused to the business,” said spokeswoman Lien Depoorter.

The derby between Club and Cercle was announced in advance as a high-risk match. After the previous derby in February, there was a violent confrontation between Club and Cercle supporters on ‘t Zand in Bruges. A flare was even set off in a café. The police were present in force on Sunday. But everything around the stadium remained quiet after the match.

After the raid on the chip shop, the police remained present to keep an eye on things.