March, a mass riot broke out between the two sets of fans, which spread onto the pitch and into the surrounding town. Sean Ingle writing in The Guardian described it as "a night football died a slow death", and the chairman of the Football Association, Bert Millichip, said that the riot was the reason that England was not named as host for the 1988 UEFA European Football Championship. Two months later, Liverpool fans were blamed for the Heysel Stadium disaster, in which 39 fans, predominantly supporters of Juventus, were killed and over 600 injured. That incident led to English clubs being banned from European competitions for five years. In the late 1980s, Chelsea's hooligan groups, particularly the Headhunters, were well known for their racism, far-right extremism and violence. According to Nick Lowles and Andy Nicholls, in their history of British hooliganism, Chelsea were widely considered to be the "top dogs" of hooligan groups at the time, though the club's chairman, Ken Bates blamed the media for this reputation, saying that although he accepted the club had a problem with hooligans, he blamed the press coverage the club was given: "[Chelsea] are the only club consistently criticised, consistently persecuted and consistently emphasised. If Chelsea has the worst reputation in the country it is because of irresponsible reporting." Route to the final Chelsea finished the 1987–88 season in 18th place—fourth from bottom—in the First Division. They finished seven points ahead of Portsmouth (who were relegated in 19th place), and were level on points with West Ham United and Charlton Athletic; but both teams had a superior goal difference to Chelsea. Middlesbrough finished the season in third place in the Second Division: goals scored over the season had to be used as a tie-breaker, as they were level on both points and goal difference with Aston Villa, who were automatically promoted in second place. Aston Villa had scored 68 goals over the course of the season, while Middlesbrough had scored 63. Both teams, along with Bradford City and Blackburn Rovers entered the play-offs to determine who would play in the First Division in the following 1988–89 season. Middlesbrough were managed by Bruce Rioch who had held the position since February 1986. Bobby Campbell had been appointed as Chelsea's caretaker manager two weeks prior to the final, after the resignation of John Hollins. Chelsea travelled to Blackburn's Ewood Park for the first leg of