Villa Park trouble: 46 spectators from outside the stadium are charged following a ‘violent’ outburst by Polish Legia Warsaw supporters.
46 individuals have been charged in total after a major disturbance involving Legia Warsaw supporters outside Birmingham’s Villa
Park football stadium occurred on Thursday night (November 30). Serious altercations broke out prior to Aston Villa FC’s Europa
Conference League match against Legia Warszawa of Poland.
The disturbance is thought to have started when the away team failed to hand out tickets to fans outside the stadium as was expected.
43 people face charges related to public order offenses, two face charges of attacking law enforcement officials, and one person faces charges related to knife possession.
During the disorder four officers were injured, with one taken to hospital, along with two police horses and two police dogs.
Police say missiles including flares were thrown towards them. One officer’s fluorescent jacket caught fire after they were hit with a flare.
Fortunately his jacket was removed quickly and he was not injured.
He was later taken to hospital with smoke inhalation after the smoke from the flare made it into his helmet.
Police confirmed that those charged are aged between 21 and 63, and around 40 are believed to be from Poland.
A small number are believed to be UK residents. Birmingham Police said that no home fans were arrested and there were no
issues from Aston Villa supporters at any point.
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West Midlands Police said it is “continuing to review CCTV and body-worn video footage to identify further suspects in what was an
appalling and violent public disorder.” Det Supt Jim Munro, who is overseeing the criminal investigation, said:
“Our investigation is very much continuing and we’ll be reviewing footage and speaking to witnesses over the coming days.
“To charge this number of people so soon after such a major disorder has taken a huge effort by staff who have been working around the clock.
We’ve had a number of messages of thanks from the club and fans who were present on Thursday night and saw the policing operation first hand, and we are really grateful for that support.”
Damian Barratt, assistant chief constable, stated: “This was utterly unacceptable and disgusting disruption. Witnesses to ninety minutes of orchestrated violence reported that it was the worst they had seen in twenty-eight years of police work.
Every single one of our policemen deserves praise for the courage with which they put themselves in danger.”
UEFA expressed its condemnation of the violence to ITV News Central. “UEFA strongly condemns the unacceptable violence which occurred around the Aston Villa vs Legia Warsaw match,” the statement reads.
Before making any decisions regarding the game’s outcome, UEFA is currently compiling all official reports.”
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