‘Extraordinary bravery’ Nottingham Forest donate £10k to hero fan in Huntingdon train knife attack

A Nottingham Forest fan was hailed for his bravery after he took on the Huntingdon train knifeman and was stabbed seven times.

Stephen Crean was one of several Forest supporters travelling back from their side’s 2-2 draw with Manchester United at the City Ground when the attack happened on the LNER service from Doncaster to London last Saturday evening.

Nottingham Forest hail ‘courage and selflessness’ of train attack victims

Crean told the BBC how he took on the attacker, saying: “I saw him coming towards me – a guy with a rucksack and he’s obviously got something in there. Everyone’s gone towards the buffet, and that is on the verge of being full up. There’s no one else getting in there. I wasn’t even going to bother pushing to get in.

“There’s young women and they need to get them in. I confronted this guy, because I’ve got to make sure that the door’s locked and I’ve looked around to save a bit of time. But then he started, he pulled this thing out. It was an over large blade thing.”

Crean said the man asked him: “Do you want to die? Do you want to die?

“He’s gone for me and there was a tussle in the arms with him and that’s where my hand, the fingers are really bad, four cuts through them, sliced. And then he raised it and must have caught me when I was ducking and diving and must have caught me on the head.”

In a statement, Forest paid tribute to Crean and his fellow passengers, saying: “The club is aware that many individuals demonstrated extraordinary bravery which undoubtedly helped prevent even greater harm. The entire Nottingham Forest family stands firmly behind them as they recover.”

The club have now donated £10,000 to a JustGiving fundraising page set up to support Crean following the incident, which has received more than £50,000 from well-wishers – far exceeding the initial target of just £500.

They have also offered Crean a complimentary season ticket for the 2026-27 campaign and invited him to fly with the squad to a Europa League match, stay in the team hotel and watch the game from the directors box with the club’s delegation, according to talkSPORT report Max Scott.

Marinakis said: “Everyone at Nottingham Forest is shocked and deeply saddened by what happened. The courage and selflessness shown by our supporters on that train represents the very best of humanity and the very best of our club’s community.

“We will make sure any supporter caught up in this incident receives whatever financial support they require to enable them to access the best possible medical care as they recover. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected.”

Anthony Williams, 32, has been charged with 11 counts of attempted murder – 10 from the alleged attack on an LNER train on Saturday evening, and one relating to an incident just hours earlier in London.

Forest visit Sturm Graz in the Europa League this evening.