Three officers injured as Polish football fans unleash 'planned and systematic violence' on police ahead of Villa game

30 November 2023, 21:02 | Updated: 30 November 2023, 23:22

Three officers have been injured after clashing with Polish football fans ahead of Aston Villa's Europa Conference League tie.

Officers were bombarded with missiles and flares outside Villa Park as they confronted Legia Warsaw supporters.

One is in hospital in burns after being hit by a flare.

Away fans were banned from entering the stadium as West Midlands Police launched a "significant policing operation", but the game kicked off at 8pm.

Aston Villa said they unleashed "planned and systematic" violence after it announced a reduced ticket allocation over safety worries.

Read more: 'Provoke us again and we will respond in kind': Mick Lynch issues new threat to government after pay deal halts strikes

Birmingham Police said on X: "We're currently unable to allow away fans into Villa Park following disorder outside the stadium which has seen missiles thrown at officers.

"Three officers have already been injured & a significant policing operation continues.

"Please avoid Witton Lane where possible."

The Warsaw fans were instead kept in a coach.

Journalist Dominik Piechota said the disorder broke out after "a fight over tickets with the Aston Villa authorities".

Read more: William and Kate all smiles on red carpet as royals brush aside storm around Omid Scobie's book Endgame

He said: "Then clashes with the police moments before the match, because many fans were left without tickets and were locked in the area under the stadium."

Aston Villa confirmed in a statement that no away fans were allowed into the stadium and that the violence came after it had reduced the Polish side's ticket allocation over safety fears.

"Approximately an hour before kick-off, Legia fans engaged in planned and systematic violent acts against West Midlands Police officers and a decision was then made by West Midlands Police to exclude all Legia supporters," the club said.

"Aston Villa strongly condemns the behaviour of those visiting supporters and would like to thank West Midlands Police for their professionalism in very difficult circumstances."

It added: "The UK safety authorities, UEFA and Aston Villa, communicated on November 2 that the ticket allocation for away fans for this fixture would be reduced to 1,002 on the advice of safety authorities as a result of previous large-scale disorder caused by Legia fans last month at AZ Alkmaar.

"A number of Dutch police officers were injured during that disorder. As a consequence, UEFA banned Legia supporters from travelling to Mostar for their game against HŠK Zrinjski.

"In spite of numerous requests for cooperation from Legia Warsaw concerning their travelling supporters, especially in the last two days, no assistance on the serious safety matter of away fans attending Villa Park was forthcoming from the visiting club.

"The club has repeatedly, including this morning, raised concerns in conjunction with UEFA and all the relevant authorities to Legia that ticketless away supporters were attempting to attend Villa Park."

West Midlands mayor Andy Street said: "Deeply unpleasant scenes outside Villa Park tonight, which were dealt with absolutely appropriately by West Midlands Police.

"A huge thank you to the brave officers who put themselves in harms way to keep others safe.

"I trust UEFA will now move swiftly to take strong action."

Villa went on to win the game 2-1.