Security shambles and general yobbery at the final

[decapitated]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57803366

I thought it best we discuss what happened in a separate thread to the discussion about the football 

Quote

The Football Association (FA) will conduct a full review after a "large number of drunken yobs" tried to force their way in to Wembley without tickets ahead of the Euro 2020 final.

Fans fought with stewards and police as they attempted to break through gates.

FA chief executive Mark Bullingham apologised to legitimate fans who were affected and said the security team had "never seen anything like it".

The Metropolitan Police said it worked with security to prevent breaches.

Mr Bullingham said he was not sure those who broke in were real fans.

"There were a large number of drunken yobs trying to force their way in, we run a stadium not a fortress," he said.

"I have to apologise to any fans whose experience was affected and any of the team who had to cope with this."

He said the FA would work with the police to ban anyone who had forced their way in and to prevent such an event happening again.

Lis Nixon, 62, from Oxfordshire, who was at the match, said it was "horrible" and "put you off going".

She said she was pushed and crushed while queuing to get into the stadium and said once inside, there were large numbers of ticketless fans in rows and blocking exits with some people so drunk they had fallen to the ground and were just left there.

She said the stewards were "overwhelmed" and had "lost control" of the situation.

Italy supporter Roberta Cuppari said she and her friend had to watch the match crushed in a corner while being sworn at and abused after ticketless fans took their seats and refused to move.

"It was the worst thing I have ever seen," said the 38-year-old mother-of-three. "There were people urinating, people doing drugs."

She said people had pushed through behind them at the entrance, refusing to show their tickets or proof of Covid tests but security had not done anything, even when she had called for help.

Ms Cuppari, from Weybridge, Surrey, said it was unsafe and she was glad not to have brought her seven-year-old son, who would have been "put off football for life".

Police initially denied anyone without a ticket had gained entry, saying there were "no security breaches by people without tickets".

In a later statement, a stadium spokesperson said: "There was a breach of security and a small group of people got into the stadium.

"We are now working closely with stadium stewards and security to remove these people. Anyone inside the stadium without a ticket will be instantly ejected."

Health minister Edward Argar told Sky News action would be taken against those who had broken the law, adding that it was sad a "tiny minority" brought sport into disrepute and said it was not reflective of the fans of the national team.

A large crowd had also been trying to enter the fan zone in Trafalgar Square without tickets shortly before kick-off, the Met Police said.

Police said they had been "engaging with the crowd and telling them to disperse".

Some people inside Wembley said there had been fans standing on the concourse for the entire first half, watching the match.

After the match, riot police could be seen breaking through crowds outside Wembley Stadium as fans departed.

Beer bottles were thrown amid chants against Italy. The Met Police said there had been 45 arrests by officers policing the final, with 19 officers injured "while they confronted volatile crowds".

Home Secretary Priti Patel said the "violent minority" who assaulted officers were not "true fans".

'Anarchy descended on Wembley'

Former England striker Chris Sutton told BBC 5 Live the situation had been an "absolute shambles".

Mike Keegan, sports news correspondent for the Daily Mail who was there with his father as a fan, said he had "never seen anything like it", describing those who forced their way in as "aggressive, menacing people".

He told BBC Radio 5 Live: "It felt like anarchy descended on Wembley last night."

The FA and politicians have also condemned the racist abuse aimed at penalty takers Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson called it "appalling" while English football's governing body said anyone behind such "disgusting behaviour" was not welcome following the team.

The Duke of Cambridge tweeted that he was "sickened" by the "totally unacceptable" abuse.

 

'Inevitably the situation boiled over'

By Phil McNulty, BBC Sport chief football reporter

The unsavoury scenes at Wembley before and during England's Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy were the result of an uneasy, threatening undercurrent of tension that had been building up throughout the day.

Several hours before kick-off, thousands of fans, many fuelled by alcohol, were packed into areas around the stadium in an increasingly frenzied atmosphere that always threatened to get out of hand.

Security was ineffective and it is rare at a major final for supporters to be able to get so close to the stadium without tickets. I was offered money for my accreditation lanyard just yards from the media entrance - unthinkable at any such showpiece event I have previously attended.

Inevitably, the situation boiled over into the frightening sight of barriers being stormed by scores of ticketless fans desperate to get inside Wembley, with children left terrified, others knocked to the ground, aisles full and the area reserved for disabled spectators swamped with supporters looking for anywhere to sit.

Fans who had legitimately paid to watch England's first major final for 55 years were left struggling to watch the game.

Stewards, perhaps understandably, were overwhelmed by the numbers they were having to deal with. It certainly did not appear to be a "small group" as originally stated.

I have a feeling in the coming days the number of ticketless fans will be revised upwards as the true extent of what happens becomes clear.

[eenie]

1 minute ago, decapitated said:

Mr Bullingham said he was not sure those who broke in were real fans.

This is absolute ********. They are fans, of course they are FFS. You see this line being pushed all the time in an attempt to avoid having to confront the fact that some England fans (and this isn't unique to England, of course) are awful people.

[Reggiana]

In honour of a well known tradition, can the thread be renamed:

Security Concerns and Unticketed Morons

[Astafjevs]

You kind of worry what would have happened if the stadium was meant to be full, as in all 90,000 ticketed and not 60,000. I know Hillsborough is difficult to repeat with no fencing, but you'd be heading for a situation that's similar at the very least

I guess the argument is that people might not have tried, but some of the stuff going on was so bad. To have such poor stewarding and policing for an event like that is criminal.

[Mr Adam]

4 minutes ago, Astafjevs said:

You kind of worry what would have happened if the stadium was meant to be full, as in all 90,000 ticketed and not 60,000. I know Hillsborough is difficult to repeat with no fencing, but you'd be heading for a situation that's similar at the very least

I guess the argument is that people might not have tried, but some of the stuff going on was so bad. To have such poor stewarding and policing for an event like that is criminal.

scary thought this. there's no chance those drunken idiots would have held back just because it was full capacity

[Coulthard's Jaw]

People getting in with no security checks is... bad. Actually really surprising the game was allowed to go ahead on time but I guess TV companies are more important.

[themadsheep2001]

21 minutes ago, Astafjevs said:

You kind of worry what would have happened if the stadium was meant to be full, as in all 90,000 ticketed and not 60,000. I know Hillsborough is difficult to repeat with no fencing, but you'd be heading for a situation that's similar at the very least

I guess the argument is that people might not have tried, but some of the stuff going on was so bad. To have such poor stewarding and policing for an event like that is criminal.

Yeah let's not underplay the fact that the only reason we didn't have a disaster was because it wasn't at full capacity. Because you would absolutely seen a crush. Absolutely awful management of Wembley way. 

[themadsheep2001]

18 minutes ago, Coulthard's Jaw said:

People getting in with no security checks is... bad. Actually really surprising the game was allowed to go ahead on time but I guess TV companies are more important.

Wouldn't have had anything to do with TV companies themselves tbh. 

[Bigwig]

I’ve never been to new Wembley but do three not have those big turnstiles in place or are they relaxed due to COVID?

If you go to any other football ground it’s practically impossible to force your way in but the footage I’ve seen looks more like and open air festival. 

[Coulthard's Jaw]

9 minutes ago, themadsheep2001 said:

 Absolutely awful management of Wembley way. 

I hate Wembley way, just an awful experience going in and out, and the times I've gone it's been when people have largely behaved themselves (apart from one year when City fans started kicking off). Must have been hell yesterday with so many idiots about.

[titchuk]

5 minutes ago, Bigwig said:

I’ve never been to new Wembley but do three not have those big turnstiles in place or are they relaxed due to COVID?

If you go to any other football ground it’s practically impossible to force your way in but the footage I’ve seen looks more like and open air festival. 

From the video it looked like the fans had broken down a barrier and got in through a fire escape rather than breaking through the turnstiles themselves. 

I read someone saying they'd been locked out of the game cos someone jumped through the turnstiles before them - I wasn't there last night but I was on Tuesday and from my experience that would have been pretty difficult to do!

[Rob1981]

11 minutes ago, Bigwig said:

I’ve never been to new Wembley but do three not have those big turnstiles in place or are they relaxed due to COVID?

If you go to any other football ground it’s practically impossible to force your way in but the footage I’ve seen looks more like and open air festival. 

The videos doing the rounds on the socials were from an outer perimeter, not the entrance to the stadium proper. Miles away from where you access the seats. I mean it’s clearly not good that people were breaking through but there would have been another 1-2 checks after that point.

[Obi-Wan Kenobi]

43 minutes ago, eenie said:

You see this line being pushed all the time in an attempt to avoid having to confront the fact that some England fans (and this isn't unique to England, of course) are awful people.

Quite disturbing the new line that's getting traction of "the 8pm kick-off is to blame!" Despite ignoring of course the many other major finals having the same KO time for a good number of years now.

[Dale0718]

This obviously would be a very extreme scenario but with the amount of people getting through, we could of had a situation where someone who wanted to cause serious harm could of got through. 

You could of easily had a situation similar to France a few years back, but this time inside the stadium.

[Coulthard's Jaw]

6 minutes ago, Obi-Wan Kenobi said:

Quite disturbing the new line that's getting traction of "the 8pm kick-off is to blame!" Despite ignoring of course the many other major finals having the same KO time for a good number of years now.

Then English (British tbf, you Scots seem to find it impossible to play Rangers Celtic anytime after noon) haven't suddenly become *****, we've behaved like this for decades, and we know late kick offs at weekends can be highly volatile. At the very least it means you need to scale up the security presence which doesn't seem to have happened at all at Wembley yesterday.

[Coulthard's Jaw]

6 minutes ago, Dale0718 said:

This obviously would be a very extreme scenario but with the amount of people getting through, we could of had a situation where someone who wanted to cause serious harm could of got through. 

You could of easily had a situation similar to France a few years back, but this time inside the stadium.

Yes, it's terrifying quite frankly.

[metal_guitarist]

The security failings are a massive concern, drunken yobs or not. Would have been very easy for someone to get in an IED amongst all the chaos and then we'd have been looking at a disaster. The stadium should have been declared as compromised the minute the original lot broke through and armed police brought in to remove them and sweep the area. 

[Coulthard's Jaw]

6 minutes ago, metal_guitarist said:

The security failings are a massive concern, drunken yobs or not. Would have been very easy for someone to get in an IED amongst all the chaos and then we'd have been looking at a disaster. The stadium should have been declared as compromised the minute the original lot broke through and armed police brought in to remove them and sweep the area. 

When ManUtd discovered those fans that sneaked into OT the other season, they delayed kick off for 24 hours to make sure it was all safe didn't they?

[metal_guitarist]

2 minutes ago, Coulthard's Jaw said:

When ManUtd discovered those fans that sneaked into OT the other season, they delayed kick off for 24 hours to make sure it was all safe didn't they?

I can't remember that one? The Liverpool game when they got in was pushed back by a couple of weeks and the Bournemouth game that was called off due to a device being found in the toilet was pushed back 3 days. 

[Coulthard's Jaw]

Ah I've Googled it and I'm conflating that bomb thing with the two fans who slept in OT overnight to try and watch the Arsenal match.

[Astafjevs]

5 minutes ago, Coulthard's Jaw said:

When ManUtd discovered those fans that sneaked into OT the other season, they delayed kick off for 24 hours to make sure it was all safe didn't they?

Wasn't this for covid reasons though, to make sure it was all covid secure etc.

[decapitated]

 

[Coulthard's Jaw]

8 minutes ago, decapitated said:

 

Should be easy to find them.

[VP.]

As I said yesterday people were getting in for 'free' since the Germany game and word spread from there. Yesterday was absolutely no surprise to me and I'll be honest and say I thought there would be much more trouble after the game if we lost.

The Covid checks were absolutely pointless too, you could have been on deaths door and still got through by easily faking the test result on your phone.

I've heard some people are asking for a refund (never gonna happen) as were not able to sit on the seat they paid a lot of money for and instead had to stand all game. Not sure where the blame stands here and who actually organised the security/covid checks but it was an absolute shambles. Obviously the main culprits are those ****ers that decided to break into the stadium but if it wasn't made so easy to get in they never would have tried in the first place.

[Gazza D]

Loads of people knew that people had been getting into Wembley for these games for free. So you really have to question how the police & Wembley didn't know, and why there wasn't an increased security presence.

[Deltaroad]

Could have easy been a disaster had someone went in with the intention to do mass harm. I'll be interested to know how many people in the stadium contracted covid and how many covid cases have jump since last night.  There were parties going on all though my area, I guess people brought a load of beer and had already invited a load of people over that they didnt want to waste it.  Plus a assume most people had booked Monday off so just treated it as a Saturday night. 

[thefmveteran86]

Had the game been at full capacity, this wouldn't have happened

[aggressive minor]

3 hours ago, Rob1981 said:

The videos doing the rounds on the socials were from an outer perimeter, not the entrance to the stadium proper. Miles away from where you access the seats. I mean it’s clearly not good that people were breaking through but there would have been another 1-2 checks after that point.

But somehow lots got through, seems conclusive from the reports. 

[decapitated]

9 minutes ago, thefmveteran86 said:

Had the game been at full capacity, this wouldn't have happened

Why not?

[Wolf_pd]

More security to control a bigger group of people.

[thefmveteran86]

3 minutes ago, decapitated said:

Why not?

It would have been sold out

[decapitated]

1 minute ago, thefmveteran86 said:

It would have been sold out

Wouldn't that have meant, that when the yobs forced their way into the stadium there would have been crushes as it was over capacity?

[Guest]

Brilliant!!! 

[VP.]

26 minutes ago, decapitated said:

Wouldn't that have meant, that when the yobs forced their way into the stadium there would have been crushes as it was over capacity?

They only forced their way as they knew there was seats available.

[The_jagster]

4 minutes ago, VP. said:

They only forced their way as they knew there was seats available.

Well no, they forced their way in because they thought they could get in. Apparently it happened in Athens in 2005 CL final as well.

Edited July 12, 2021 by The_jagster

[VP.]

Just now, The_jagster said:

Well no, they forced their way in because they thought they could get in. Apparently it happened in Athens in 2006 CL final as well.

To me they did it because they knew there was spaces available and had it been a full house there's clearly no free seats so cannot just stand there all game without being noticed.

2006 was in Paris?

[Weezer]

28 minutes ago, VP. said:

They only forced their way as they knew there was seats available.

Think you’re giving them too much credit there tbf. They tried to force their way in because they wanted to see the final, they didn’t give a **** if they had seats or not. Probably didn’t even think that far ahead.

[Federico]

Big up to UEFA for letting host the UEFA ET Final in a country fully invested by the 3rd wave of Covid allowing almost the stadium on its full capacity with zero (ZERO) security in it. And out of it too.

[themadsheep2001]

1 minute ago, Federico said:

Big up to UEFA for letting host the UEFA ET Final in a country fully invested by the 3rd wave of Covid allowing almost the stadium on its full capacity with zero (ZERO) security in it. And out of it too.

Reminder that the stadiums were at 60000 because if they weren't it would have been hosted in Hungary, who have had entirely full stadiums. And it's not like Europe has it under control either

[Federico]

Italian figures are "slightly" better than UK figures, at the moment.

And I honestly think Italy could have provided a better security.

What is done is done, someone will learn his lesson hopefully.

[Tony7]

Get good and bad people in all countries and football hooligans in Italy and Russia. However can’t think of many countries that fight their own fans, smash everything up and that’s before a major international football or after a victory

[georginho_juventusygr]

Boris should have proclaimed Alcohol Prohibition 24 hours before the game.

[Marc Albrighton]

I'm just not sure how the authorities didn't expect carnage, even if it turned out that there was none at least be prepared for it. 

[Weezer]

9 minutes ago, Federico said:

Naaa it's how we typically dress by summer... it's hot here!

I think we should let Italy win every year.

[themadsheep2001]

25 minutes ago, Federico said:

Italian figures are "slightly" better than UK figures, at the moment.

And I honestly think Italy could have provided a better security.

What is done is done, someone will learn his lesson hopefully.

England usually do. That's the reason people are surprised

[Weezer]

Would pay good money to have seen some of those England fans up against Italian riot police tbf

[Heartwork]

thugs mugged Lando Norris

[mark1985]

Shambles and yobbery? That describes the standard England at a tournament tbf

[ryan045]

49 minutes ago, Heartwork said:

thugs mugged Lando Norris

I wonder how and where this happened? You would assume he was in a VIP section. Unless he was involved with that mass brawl before the game.

[ArsenalFan7]

Makes you ashamed to be English. What an awful nation we are.

I have been angry reading people defend the jibbing and redirecting it towards UEFA’s ticket prices and the handful of celebrities who get access. Could have seen something much more violent unfold but oh well, James Corden and the like are in attendance, that’s the real issue, let the goons run riot.