[Albion] Security at Wembley last night .... Non existent

[Wrong-Direction]

https://youtu.be/EI5nw1kYwdo

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[One Teddy Maybank]

Unlikely. A country can host a World Cup even if it has zero football history, is run by a regressive autocracy and uses slave labour to build its stadiums. It’s a very low bar.

Very good point and accurate


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[Wrong-Direction]

Yes, I’m not actually sure why in that link he’s saying it’s not true that fans broke in.

https://twitter.com/motffc/status/1414483806241837061?s=21

Fair play to those kicking **** out of them!

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[Springal]

This is consistent with my experience. I was there for the Denmark and Italy games with my kids aged 10 and 17 and I would have to think very hard about taking them to Wembley for a game of this magnitude again. Once in the (relative) safety of our seats I was really reluctant to let them venture back to the concourse until the game was over. Too many twats around paying no regard to kids and families. I’m just very grateful that my kids had the time of their lives and were largely oblivious to how close things came to getting very out of hand.

I hope it doesn't put you off. To be fair once we get the WC qualifiers with Andorra at home, Wembley will return to its sterile old self and very family friendly.

 

[dwayne]

....

 

[nwgull]

For those that went, do you think that the lack of sufficient security was caused by them basing the manpower requirements on there only being 60K tickets sold for the game and the naive assumption that only 60K people would turn up?

 

[Roadrunner]

So I'll give you my first hand account of someone that was actually there, who has been to been to England games home and away for decades and is a regular away fan of the Albion fan.

Outside of Wembley was carnage.

We went to the Germany and Denmark game and it was similar but the numbers were far less. Whilst people were congregating near the top of Wembley Way for the earlier games the pathway to the stadium was still clear. On Sunday it was fully blocked and the police were not moving anyone on. At the Germany game I got told to move just for stopping and taking a photo. There had clearly been a change of policy which allowed this to happen.

What this meant was thousands of boozed up idiots (pick a ruder name) were just on the lash with little or no concern for those around them. I've seen this regularly on trips but the difference was this was thousands, not hundreds. What became VERY clear was many had the intent to break through the initial Covid and ticket checks and then try and get in the stadium. We witnessed hundreds running up entry 2 pushing one or stewards to the ground as they went. The stadium PA (outside) announced the stadium was going in to lockdown. No one could enter the initial phase at that point for a while. As a result the queues piled up and more chaos ensued. Beer cans and bottled were being thrown randomly into crowds of legitimate ticket holders waiting to get up the stairs.

We waited a little bit but decided to get into the stadium as soon as we could as we could see it getting worse. It did. In the covid check area, several guys shoved past us and the steward, no check. We had to be very careful showing our covid passports to the steward as we feared them nicking our mobiles. Next stage was a steward activating tickets, again the same thing. More people barging past.

When we finally got to the turnstiles we were amazed at the lack of stewards. one for about ten entrances on the outside. Not a single policeman. We had witnessed loads getting through turnstile behind others for the Germany game so assumed they would increase security. They didn't.

We finally got in about 6-6.15pm. Then watched from inside as repeatedly people came through trying it on behind someone else. Some got spotted, others didn't. But those that got spotted just got taken outside where presumably they then just tried it again and again.

Then at one point one of the doors for disabled access was forced open and up to a hundred spilled in. Fighting happened as fans who had a ticket decided they'd had enough of this and waded in. Stewards were completely and utterly overwhelmed.

So we went to our seats. No problem there. But by the time the game started every stairway in the lower tier behind the goal appeared rammed. Completely rammed. I assumed (as often happens at away games) that the stewards would patrol up and down and move these people. I didn't see this happen once. I'm a grown man, but if I had had a child with me it would have been very scary indeed.

I would say the stadium in the lower tier was full to capacity or beyond. I wouldn't be surprised if there was 80,000 people in that stadium. Very few gaps, nearly all of which were middle tier.

Lessons need to be learned, most of which is bloody obvious, but the essence is if you're going to let people that close to the stadium without tickets and let them drink for as long as they want you will have a problem, particularly if you leave the stewarding of this to stewards who are clearly out of their depth and not trained to deal with that situation. I felt very sorry for them.

You've saved me a lot of typing there, this was almost identical to my experience. I've not seen much like it in 35 years of home and away with England/Brighton apart from, maybe, Marseille in 1998 or Zagreb in 2008. Sunday was on a much larger scale though; the sheer number of absolute morons in and around Wembley Way was utterly astonishing, many of them completely off their faces on all manner of drugs/alcohol. We were lucky that we headed through the outer 'security' cordon about half an hour earlier than you, so missed the worst of it. Even then, 3 of our group of 5 had people trying to tailgate them through the turnstiles and there were five people crammed into the three seats adjacent to ours. The almost total absence of proactive policing outside coupled with inept stewarding inside the concourse and stadium bowl was what surprised me the most. Luckily my daughter is old enough (17) not to be too put off by it all, although she was a bit surprised to be offered cocaine when visiting the toilets at half time.....

 

[Roadrunner]

For those that went, do you think that the lack of sufficient security was caused by them basing the manpower requirements on there only being 60K tickets sold for the game and the naive assumption that only 60K people would turn up?

There's really no excuse, all the warning signs were there from the Denmark game. I really don't know what they were thinking; Covid stuff aside (which obviously went totally out of the window), the potential for a terrorist attack was all too real along Wembley Way. Problem is, the whole area is really hard to secure now that they have built retail parks and tower blocks around the stadium.

 

[Napper]

Are we allowed to analyse the main ones pushing through the gates and barriers ?

Nice to see a few get chinned

Shame this non news story taken over from what was achieved

Wokes are happy

 

[um bongo molongo]

You've saved me a lot of typing there, this was almost identical to my experience. I've not seen much like it in 35 years of home and away with England/Brighton apart from, maybe, Marseille in 1998 or Zagreb in 2008. Sunday was on a much larger scale though; the sheer number of absolute morons in and around Wembley Way was utterly astonishing, many of them completely off their faces on all manner of drugs/alcohol. We were lucky that we headed through the outer 'security' cordon about half an hour earlier than you, so missed the worst of it. Even then, 3 of our group of 5 had people trying to tailgate them through the turnstiles and there were five people crammed into the three seats adjacent to ours. The almost total absence of proactive policing outside coupled with inept stewarding inside the concourse and stadium bowl was what surprised me the most. Luckily my daughter is old enough (17) not to be too put off by it all, although she was a bit surprised to be offered cocaine when visiting the toilets at half time.....

Much the same here. I’m 43 and one of the most ‘tinder box’ I’ve seen. I went to all the England games (bar the one in Italy) and Germany was fine, but at the semi one steward estimated up to 10K in without tickets. Once word was out, the final was always going to be a problem. Incredible that wasn’t taken as a warning. I was lucky to get in around 1.5 hours before kick off (I wanted in early given I thought this would happen). Also lucky to be in middle tier which was very sedate by comparison. But a mate took his two sons and said he’s never been more on edge and he didn’t enjoy it at all. He’s a Palace season ticket holder home and away (yes, I know, but still a mate). His kids were oblivious, but had people doing coke right in front of him, packing the staircases etc. The challenge I think is stadium design. No way to set up multiple ‘rings’, and Wembley Way is just a problem. But they’ll need a very different approach. Admittedly my mood not helped by breaking my ankle celebrating Pickford’s first penalty save, but only myself to blame for that (and the mate who jumped on me)…

 

[um bongo molongo]

There's really no excuse, all the warning signs were there from the Denmark game. I really don't know what they were thinking; Covid stuff aside (which obviously went totally out of the window), the potential for a terrorist attack was all too real along Wembley Way. Problem is, the whole area is really hard to secure now that they have built retail parks and tower blocks around the stadium.

If I’d read this before posting would have quoted this also. The final line is exactly right (and not easily solved)

 

[Eeyore]

Agree with this.

Its beyond belief that a super modern stadium with the back drop of COVID regulations was allowed to be breached so easily. The whole pre/post game events are embarrassing and potentially dangerous.

My mate was there with his son and daughter hoping to see history. He took his son and daughter to the toilet only to return to his seats to see 10-15 yobs piled into his seating area. He couldn't move them and the stewards were unable to deal with t either. He'd paid £800+ for those tickets and the yobs I assume paid zero.

He took his distraught kids home in tears!

I sincerely hope your friend is taking action against the relevant body.

 

[Guinness Boy]

This has probably been covered earlier on in the thread but, for me, some of the blame has to lie with the kick off time and date and what has happened over the last 16 or 17 months.

Firstly - Sunday 8pm kick off. This is the time I normally have my weekend "dad doze" after a roast and a glass or two of wine. It's a time when families with children are normally getting them ready for school on Monday. Have you got your uniform? Pack your bag! I watched with a mate and his family and neither of us were as "up for it" as we should have been,

The one sure way to get around that is to go out all day with the lads and start drinking early. After all, you've got the time. And what keeps you going when you've cracked on that early? Marching powder. I'm not surprised that the element of lads there without their kids were pissed and coked off their faces. No one really should be.

It also allowed all day to arrive, build up in Wembley Way, mob up and try your luck. A 2pm Saturday kick off would still have been shown prime time across most of Europe (there were places in the east of our continent where kick off would have been 10 or 11pm) and cut down significantly on the before game idiocy. And people who are less pissed and drugged up tend not to be so "brave". Afterwards may have been a problem of course but at least the large crowd would have dispersed all over London and those inside would have mainly had tickets and a covid cert.

No kick off time would have solved it all however. People have been locked up, confined to barracks and bored out of their skulls. Here was the first real chance to unwind a bit. You're surprised that many people went OTT? I'm surprised it wasn't more. 19th July has the potential for more carnage but at least it won't be all in one place and it'll be on a Monday after work. And there was the total failure of the government to confirm the capacity till too late, not allowing staffing up.

That said, whoever was in charge of security should lose their job if they haven't already.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

UEFA putting their foot down

Charges against The English Football Association:

• Invasion of the field of play by its supporters - Article 16(2)(a) of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations (DR)

• Throwing of objects by its supporters - Article 16(2)(b) DR

• Disturbance caused by its supporters during the national anthem - Article 16(2)(g) DR

• Lighting of a firework by its supporters - Article 16(2)(c) DR

You missed out this bit;


‘Separately, and in accordance with Article 31(4) DR, a UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector has been appointed to conduct a disciplinary investigation into events involving supporters which occurred inside and around the stadium.’

So, no charge for allowing ticketless fans into the stadium ? Absolutely ridiculous considering the history in this country. Those charges appear designed to deflect attention from the organizational shambles described on this thread by [MENTION=3734]Giraffe[/MENTION] and others.

So my post not quite right.
The FA and the Met need holding to account over this shambles.

 

[nwgull]

Much the same here. I’m 43 and one of the most ‘tinder box’ I’ve seen. I went to all the England games (bar the one in Italy) and Germany was fine, but at the semi one steward estimated up to 10K in without tickets. Once word was out, the final was always going to be a problem. Incredible that wasn’t taken as a warning. I was lucky to get in around 1.5 hours before kick off (I wanted in early given I thought this would happen). Also lucky to be in middle tier which was very sedate by comparison. But a mate took his two sons and said he’s never been more on edge and he didn’t enjoy it at all. He’s a Palace season ticket holder home and away (yes, I know, but still a mate). His kids were oblivious, but had people doing coke right in front of him, packing the staircases etc. The challenge I think is stadium design. No way to set up multiple ‘rings’, and Wembley Way is just a problem. But they’ll need a very different approach. Admittedly my mood not helped by breaking my ankle celebrating Pickford’s first penalty save, but only myself to blame for that (and the mate who jumped on me)…

Here’s a vid of what looks like a hundred or so getting in to the middle tier, so it certainly wasn’t restricted to the ‘cheap’ seats!
https://twitter.com/redissue/status/1414550034096529408?s=21

 

[peterward]

So, no charge for allowing ticketless fans into the stadium ? Absolutely ridiculous considering the history in this country. Those charges appear designed to deflect attention from the organizational shambles described on this thread by [MENTION=3734]Giraffe[/MENTION] and others.

Well they'd have to charge themselves for that.

The English FA handed over the stadium and responsibility for ticketing and all the rest to UEFA for the tournamount. No doubting the thugs/idiots are English, but it remains to be seen wether the shambolic stewarding and lack of police is in fact due to UEFA mismanging the baton they had been passed by the FA, or it is in fact our FA.

From what Ive read, this is UEFA who were managing it all and not our FA.

 

[Giraffe]

What angers me the most is the fact that around the world it is the same old "England fans at it again". It wasn't England fans. It was a bunch of total morons combined with a totally unprepared security.

Thinking about it the list of improvements that could have been made (some in hindsight):

1) Police at the turnstiles - this would not have been confrontational but would have definitely put some off and meant the stewards didn't have to do the rough stuff
2) Police at area where the first ticket and covid check as done
3) Police keeping the area at the bottom of the stairs clear - they did it for Germany and Denmark, why not Sunday
4) Close the shops nearby selling cheap alcohol - I'm told Tesco ran dry so had to have the manager out front saying no alcohol.
5) Fan Park somewhere else - I know covid probably stopped this but that was a mistake. I suspect if they'd had a fan park at Hyde Park or something half of those that turned up at Wembley would have gone there.
6) Train the stewards properly, or bring in stewards from other football clubs. I believe quite a lot of the stewards had never stewarded a football match until the start of the Euros.

 

[peterward]

Here’s a vid of what looks like a hundred or so getting in to the middle tier, so it certainly wasn’t restricted to the ‘cheap’ seats!
https://twitter.com/redissue/status/1414550034096529408?s=21

This and Giraffes account, just a bit of tom foolery according to some....nothing to see here.

The fella in the first video "shouting come on England" I hope he enjoys his criminal record for breaking and entering, i hope the old bill nab the lot of them from the video

 

[um bongo molongo]

Here’s a vid of what looks like a hundred or so getting in to the middle tier, so it certainly wasn’t restricted to the ‘cheap’ seats!
https://twitter.com/redissue/status/1414550034096529408?s=21

The ironic thing is, due to the bizarre way UEFA do tickets, Club Wembley was middling prices. I paid more for the semi ticket, which was up in the gods and had most of the c****s who'd jibbed in…

 

[Giraffe]

I do think (and I know I'll get flamed for this) as well as a country we really need to look at our drinking culture. Don't get me wrong I like a drink, but why the need to go so overboard to the point where you're acting like this. I saw plenty in the stadium who had had so much to drink they just sat in their seat barely able to follow the match. What's the point?

If the sole aim of the day was to get smashed, then just do it at home. Save yourself some money and everyone else the grief you cause!