Manchester Evening News hatchet job on UEFA final

The Police Federation at the time blamed the Council.

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Police boss: Council caused Rangers riot by turning off big screen

A SENIOR police figure has blamed Manchester council for the Uefa Cup final riot. Chris Burrows, chairman of the Greater Manchester Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file bobbies, said the big screen showing the match in Piccadilly Gardens was deliberately switched off.
www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk
 
Manchester cops were warned about how many would travel.

Another thing, if you put 250,000 people into an already populated place then there’s always going to a couple of incidents, particularly when bevy and emotions are involved.

It’s the same at music festivals, boxing matches and so on. Not excusing our fans behaviour, as above, should be held accountable when it’s due.
 
A lot of hyperbole in that article (comparing it to the Blitz!!) but the judge got this bit right ;"It had nothing to do with football rivalry", he added, "and everything to do with drink."

i knew as soon as I got there mid morning and guys were already absolutely wrecked that it was going to be carnage.
 
First off, there are a number of throbbers in our support. HOWEVER, stepping off the train on the day of the game it was obvious that there was going to be an issue. They clearly planned for 30k, hoped 50 would turn up and had to put up with 200k plus. Toilets? About 15 in the square. Food, drink and basic facilities running out by early afternoon and the turning off of the screens. Mental. They should have had 4 or 5 events in parks on the outskirts. They are lucky nobody was killed.
 
Manchester was brilliant until their council and organisers made a total james hunt of it with the screen failure.

Had the screen worked properly in Piccadilly, I doubt there would have been any violence or trouble on the scale of which happened later.

People were antsy, annoyed and irritated because they’ve travelled a couple of hundred miles to watch the game, bevvyed up and ready to watch their team, and then all hell breaks loose.

It was a brilliant day out until the police started to get heavy handed and very very uncooperative.

They shut the train station down completely until about 50 guys bust open the shutters to get in, they blocked off every street towards the station and batoned any person who went near them. I got chased up a lane with around 30 folk with them chasing us and swinging as hard as they could, the bastards. I nearly got smashed in the leg with one and it missed me by millimetres as a ran.

The police were a shambles that night. There were zenit fans throwing street bins and fighting with whoever they wanted but the police wouldn’t go near them.

The whole thing after the game had finished was a shambles.

Rangers fans defended themselves rightly, and the Manchester council should have been ashamed of themselves for their handling of it.
 
We should have been took to a large park somewhere in the city with buses running to the ground, how can screens fail aswell it’s the first thing you make sure that can’t fail . Thankfully I was at the game but if I was waiting to watch the game on a screen and it failed then I can imagine how I would have been feeling .
 
I actually wrote to the chief of police weeks BEFORE I headed down for the final warning then that every single Rangers fan I knew was heading to Manchester and the numbers would be astronomical.

I suggested opening up Old Trafford with big screens to take 75,000 off the streets as a starts to deal with the numbers.

Totally ignored. No response. The council and police were 95% to blame for the shambles. Some of our fans let us down, though. Would be stupid to ignore that simple fact.
 
Blu_ultra said:
First off, there are a number of throbbers in our support. HOWEVER, stepping off the train on the day of the game it was obvious that there was going to be an issue. They clearly planned for 30k, hoped 50 would turn up and had to put up with 200k plus. Toilets? About 15 in the square. Food, drink and basic facilities running out by early afternoon and the turning off of the screens. Mental. They should have had 4 or 5 events in parks on the outskirts. They are lucky nobody was killed.
Click to expand...
I've said since that day that turning the screens off and the resultant skirmishes were the best option.

If we'd scored that night, we would have seen fatalities in Piccadilly.
It was seriously overcrowded 8 hours before kick off.
 
Gary Oldman said:
Manchester police were woefully prepared for the numbers we would bring. Complete naivety on there part and a big reason why there was trouble. Funny how 150K went to Spain two years ago and had not trouble whatsoever with the Guardia Civil who aren't exactly shy about getting stuck in to travelling supports.
Click to expand...

Two aspects to that.

1. They were a shambles and refused to accept they were going to be swarmed by rangers fans even when there were fans there early.

2. Seville and the cost prohibited all manner of arsewipes going along. Manchester was £5 each in a corsa to get there.
 
Arminius said:
I actually wrote to the chief of police weeks BEFORE I headed down for the final warning then that every single Rangers fan I knew was heading to Manchester and the numbers would be astronomical.

I suggested opening up Old Trafford with big screens to take 75,000 off the streets as a starts to deal with the numbers.

Totally ignored. No response. The council and police were 95% to blame for the shambles. Some of our fans let us down, though. Would be stupid to ignore that simple fact.
Click to expand...
Absolute bonkers too that Old Trafford Cricket Ground was used for coach parking, but sat empty for the game.
Between that and the football stadium, they could have housed close to 100k people.

Ridiculous that we could all see it, except those in charge of organising the event.
 
I saw no violence at all.

The middle of Manchester was mental with tons of bears, the locals who worked in the town were not prepared and didn't like it as we took over but again no trouble.

No booze in stock at any shops didn't help. The screens being turned off to get people to move out of the area was a stupid idiotic move, imagine waiting till we got there to realise that it under prepared.

Got train back to Hudderfield after the game, no problems and no issues.
 
Davie Weir Loyal said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1787015999490838597

These articles surface every few years but this one is particularly full of nonsense.
Click to expand...
Funny how the BBC in Newcastle headquarters, blasted Manchester for being ill prepared, and couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery at the time. This was when CSC Pacific Quay was well and truly putting the boot in. Our Board have never learned to just Ban them totally, and Turn the Presbyterian Cheek!
 
Davie Weir Loyal said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1787015999490838597

These articles surface every few years but this one is particularly full of nonsense.
Click to expand...
Worse night? Manchester, the city that was bombed by the IRA and they also had the Manchester Arena terrorist bombing for christ sake! What a OTT dramatic load of bullshit.


Manchester Police and authorities need to accept that they didnt prepare correctly for the final and just wanted the blue pound without providing adequate facilities for Rangers supporters. They must have known how many would go and if they didnt, then that's on them for not doing their homework on how many fans follow our club home and away
 
For most of us, this was the first time we had the chance to see Rangers in a European final.

When they let too many people in, then made the decision to switch off the screen, the trouble that followed was pretty much inevitable.
 
Manchester police and council were woefully underprepared, despite the warnings, they just kept sticking their heads in the sand and saying people shouldn’t travel etc, rather than face reality.

Thats one significant part of it.

We also though have to accept part of the blame, some of the absolute half wits in our wider support shamed themselves that night.

However that article is also a load of bollocks given terrorist atrocities that actually killed multiple people that seems to be largely ignored
 
The blame lies with the Manchester police they used the occasion as practice for civil unrest and that is a fact, they indiscriminately baton charged innocent people.I was knocked into the middle of the road by a police shield my crime, stopping to let about 6 riot goons past.I ended up with a dislocated shoulder and the bastards left me lying in the middle of the street
 
GazzaG said:
I've said since that day that turning the screens off and the resultant skirmishes were the best option.

If we'd scored that night, we would have seen fatalities in Piccadilly.
It was seriously overcrowded 8 hours before kick off.
Click to expand...
Totally agree. I’ve never attended an event that was as badly organised. A complete failure on the part of the authorities. The pavements couldn’t take the volume of people, the train station was a death trap. My Train stopped at Piccadilly and folk were not able to get off due to the platform being completely rammed, no toilets, food and drink from early afternoon, Police officers completely overwhelmed with no contingency plan. I said before the final - put events on at parks/stadiums across the city. They came out and said they were expecting ‘up to 50k’ to visit the city. I honestly don’t know how there wasn’t multiple fatalities.
 
I was at the game, walking back after it and word filtered through that there had been some bother, asked a copper if there was trouble and he said yeah lots, my heart sank.

I knew 1 of the original 42 or whatever who were arrested, he was a ned Celtic fan, travelled down with his pals to get mwi.

True story.
 
Manchester City Council's abject failure to comprehend the volume of Rangers fans travelling from all over the world to be part of the occasion was to blame for most of the incidents reported. A minority of our fans were also poorly behaved, like in any huge crowd at a public event.
 
Bristol_bnose3 said:
A lot of hyperbole in that article (comparing it to the Blitz!!) but the judge got this bit right ;"It had nothing to do with football rivalry", he added, "and everything to do with drink."

i knew as soon as I got there mid morning and guys were already absolutely wrecked that it was going to be carnage.
Click to expand...
Yeah it was pretty obvious early doors it was going to end the way it did.
 
Sticky Fingers said:
Manchester was brilliant until their council and organisers made a total james hunt of it with the screen failure.

Had the screen worked properly in Piccadilly, I doubt there would have been any violence or trouble on the scale of which happened later.

People were antsy, annoyed and irritated because they’ve travelled a couple of hundred miles to watch the game, bevvyed up and ready to watch their team, and then all hell breaks loose.

It was a brilliant day out until the police started to get heavy handed and very very uncooperative.

They shut the train station down completely until about 50 guys bust open the shutters to get in, they blocked off every street towards the station and batoned any person who went near them. I got chased up a lane with around 30 folk with them chasing us and swinging as hard as they could, the bastards. I nearly got smashed in the leg with one and it missed me by millimetres as a ran.

The police were a shambles that night. There were zenit fans throwing street bins and fighting with whoever they wanted but the police wouldn’t go near them.

The whole thing after the game had finished was a shambles.

Rangers fans defended themselves rightly, and the Manchester council should have been ashamed of themselves for their handling of it.
Click to expand...
Piccadilly was unsafe and if we scored there would have been injuries all over the place.
 
Mreblue said:
Manchester Police didn't want Rangers fans to travel.

Manchester was not prepared for the numbers that traveled.
Click to expand...
Apparently the police wanted a fanzone in Heaton Park, but shopkeepers association ( or whatever you call it) wanted us in the city centre
 
Bristol_bnose3 said:
A lot of hyperbole in that article (comparing it to the Blitz!!) but the judge got this bit right ;"It had nothing to do with football rivalry", he added, "and everything to do with drink."

i knew as soon as I got there mid morning and guys were already absolutely wrecked that it was going to be carnage.
Click to expand...
Piccadilly was where the free buses dropped you off. It’s no wonder it was the scene of the trouble.

The other areas around the city had a much better atmosphere about them.

A blind man could see Piccadilly would need to be policed appropriately. Turning off the screen just before kick off was madness.

But that doesn’t excuse some people behaving the way they did or the police for being indiscriminate in their retaliation.
 
wee bud's pit boots said:
As was pointed out in post #13. The Grande concert hadn't taken place at that point.

Just glancing through the article in the OP, I thought this was some look back in anger scribble from the present day.

What I'll never forget is that fat slug Salmond and his party apologising to the people and city of Manchester for the behaviour of Rangers fans the previous night.

Not bad for a party who have fought to keep RC paedophiles out of jail.
Click to expand...
It wasn't just him apologising though, The fat junkie and former council leader Purcell had the brass neck to apologise on behalf of Glasgow!
 
Mreblue said:
Manchester Police didn't want Rangers fans to travel.

Manchester was not prepared for the numbers that traveled.
Click to expand...
In a nutshell.

They has made preparations for the anticipated 15,000 fans Fiorentina would've brought.

Not a sufficient number of public transport options after the final whistle.
No thought given to setting up more numerous fan zones scattered throughtout the city thus breaking up a large group into smaller,more manageable numbers
 
mdingwall said:
Any mention of the reasons the cops gave when they finally admitted it was them who turned the screens off?
Click to expand...
Did they not say at the time they were worried about injuries if Rangers scored? Cos it was so crowded?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Latest posts

Back
Top