it would be lovely to think that nick cruwys will wake up soon to be told of the compassion and humility shown by a growing army of football supporters at the time of writing he is in a coma, fighting for his life after being ambushed by a group of wolverhampton wanderers fans as he made his way to the railway station after watford's 2 2 draw at molineux on saturday a group of wolves supporters were so ashamed of the incident that they set up a website, a page dedicated to raising money to pay for cruwys's travel and tickets to future matches watford fan nick cruwys (left) is currently in a coma after being ambushed by a group of wolves fans as he made his way to the station following the 2 2 draw in the championship fixture (right) at molineux on saturday  over £22,000 has been raised for nick cruwys via a football fund set up by group of  wolves supporters  watford fan nick cruwys lies on the ground as he is attacked following his side's draw with wolves  cruwys is currently in an induced coma and fighting for his life in hospital  cruwys was heading to wolverhampton train station when he was subjected to an 'unprovoked attack' the initial target was £1,000 but by tuesday evening 1,672 people had raised £22,089 football can respond in the most remarkable ways, but these supporters know that society's fragile truce with the game ended when this vicious and unprovoked attack took place we have a tendency to move on so quickly, to switch on the television set, to sit down to watch liverpool against blackburn and then look forward to a mouth watering fa cup tie between manchester united and arsenal it is natural always looking forward, leaving the bad bits of the weekend behind and hoping for a better result for our team on saturday nothing wrong with that, nothing at all but sometimes we must pause for thought, to return to the scene of the crime for a few salutary moments and think about this poor guy in a hospital bed, fighting for his life to wonder what it must be like for a family member to receive a call from the police telling them that their husband, their dad, their son, is lying in a hospital, in a coma, may never wake up cruwys was making his way to the train station after the 2 2 draw between the sides at molineux (pictured) troy deeney (left) stretches out top convert the equaliser  for watford who took a point in a 2 2 draw  deeney celebrates after his goal prevented rivals wolves from taking all three points in the promotion race  or to consider his friends, the people who witnessed this horrific attack as they made their way through that intimidating underpass near the stadium and headed for the railway station or the innocent bystanders, the people who are frozen in time when these injudicious attacks take place they, too, will be traumatised then there are the perpetrators, the thugs who are responsible for this attack are they proud men today, or hiding like cowards? cruwys is a football fan like me or you, following his team   watford, in this case   around the country on a saturday afternoon there is a rising tide in the sport, the 'who wants some?' culture creating waves again after more raw footage emerged from villa park last weekend what is the motivation for this? please don't say a 530pm kick off meaning lads full of ale, because that is no excuse either we cannot put a news value on someone's existence either, just because the team cruwys follows do not play to the bells and whistles of the barclays premier league each weekend this is someone's life and we have a moral obligation to address these perplexing issues aston villa fans storm on to the villa park pitch after their 2 0 win against west bromwich albion in the fa cup  the 530pm kick off in the west midlands derby on saturday was no excuse for the behaviour of the fans  west midlands police are making some progress in the hunt for the thugs who did this and an appeal for witnesses was retweeted 82 times over the past few days there is a desire to do more, to create an environment where tribal passion is not overwhelmed by people, however small their number, throwing punches, even in isolated incidents for cruwys and his friends, who were among the 2,239 watford supporters who made the trip to wolves, the game was a real nail biter leaving the ground they would have been pleased to get a point the watford great kenny jackett, a long serving player and former manager at vicarage road, is now manager of wolves he remains a popular figure with their fans towards the end of a riveting 2 2 draw, wolves defender bakary sako was sent off when watford substitute fernando forestieri went down clutching his face that incident is not to be interpreted as a causal link because nothing that happened on a football pitch can ever justify what happened next wolves boss kenny jackett is a former watford player and manager and remains a popular figure with fans  bakary sako was sent off after fernando forestieri went down clutching his face following an altercation  to think cruwys's day ended with his family being informed that he is in a coma takes us into unforgiving territory this is the unacceptable face of the game, a severe reminder that the sport must meet the needs of the supporters inside and outside stadiums according to home office statistics there were only 2,273 football related arrests last year, which includes all four divisions, plus european competitions and internationals it is the lowest since records began last season 33 million people attended matches and less than 001 per cent of those in attendance were arrested the numbers look good on paper, but the home office also makes it clear that the police do not always have the manpower to make arrests if 5,000 fans stormed the pitch at villa park   theoretically every one of them should be arrested and banned  fans charge towards scott sinclair and his team mates after his goal against west brom on saturday  for example, let's say around 5,000 villa supporters invaded the pitch at the end of their 2 0 victory over west brom in the fa cup quarter final on saturday theoretically, every one of them could be arrested and banned from villa park for life it will never happen, which is why those home office statistics can easily be distorted there is certainly some grim reading in the west midlands at the moment, with the police force making further appeals on monday to jog the memory of anyone who witnessed the incident in wolverhampton wrong place, wrong time? don't give me that the police force made further appeals for witnesses on monday (pictured   a post on cruwys' funding page)
villa park fa cup quarter final nick cruwys last season last year molineux saturday home office 22,000 wolves cruwys last weekend's watford
nick cruwys is fighting for his life after ambush by a group of wolves fans  website set up by wolves supporters, dedicated to raising money to pay for cruwys' travel and tickets to future matches has reached £22,000  watford fan was walking to station after 2 2 draw at molineux on saturday  family, friends, and innocent bystanders will all be traumatised  'who wants some' culture is a rising tide in the sport   as villa park pitch invasion in last weekend's fa cup quarter final proved  according to figures included in home office statistics there were only 2,273 football related arrests last year  33m people attended matches last season and less than 001 per cent of those in attendance were arrested 