A football fan has today won his battle for compensation from the police, after he was subject to an attack which left him with bruises and dog bites.

Roy Schofield, an avid Leeds United fan, was hit with a baton and set upon by police dogs as he tried to board a coach after a 3rd round FA cup match in Cardiff on 6 January 2003. The infamous ill-tempered game was a 2-1 defeat for Leeds Utd at the hands of Cardiff City at Ninian Park. Crowd trouble ensued both inside and outside the ground.

Mr Schofield aged 52, who was the treasurer of the Leeds United Supporters Club at the time of the incident, has now finally received a five-figure compensation settlement from South Wales Police, almost two years after the original incident, as they disputed Mr Schofield’s claims after an enquiry.

Mr Schofield said: “I wouldn’t like people to tarnish the whole of the police force, just like I wouldn’t want them to tarnish all football fans just because there is one or two that cause trouble at matches. One or two officers who were over zealous had just had a bad day at the office that day and took it out on me.”

Steven Newdall, his solicitor said: “He simply did not deserve what happened to him. Here is a man who has attended over a thousand football matches. He’s a serious supporter and this attack could have ruined his passion.” After the attack he had to be kept off work for 6 weeks due to bruising and bite wounds.

Mr Schofield, a project manager for Leeds University also told BBC Look North that the attack had affected him mentally as well as physically. He said: “Being at home I did get rather depressed at times, I had injuries to deal with, not just the physical but the mental scars as well.”

South Wales Police had no comment to make on the payout.