Just cancel Aston Villa’s match

[olderandnonthewiser]

A massive waste of public money policing a game where violence is so expected that schools have had to close early.

It’s just a game. Just football. Shouldn’t be a drain on public services.

Very little has happened. The protests haven’t amounted to much, the numbers haven’t been as big as expected and most people have behaved themselves.

The SAG made the right call and the public has been kept safe. I bet there’s a lot of disappointed people that it hasn’t cracked off but it hasn’t.

I don't know, I wasn't there. I do know someone who was INSIDE. A British Muslim from Birmingham who is also a life long villa supporter.

I saw an interview with a police guy on sky news earlier. He was very clear that the primary reason fans were banned was because of the threat they posed to the general public rather than football hooligan on hooligan type of violence.

Are the Macabi Tel Aviv fans that were benned not Israelis? It's funny that you never objected to people saying Jews are banned but object to me saying Israelis, it's almost like some people have some kind of agenda when it comes to this topic rather than taking it at face value. Violent, racist fans banned from football match because they are violent racists, shocker 😲

Jolly good.

Most of the Villa fanbase do not live on the doorstep of the ground, they mainly come from North Birmingham, Sutton Coldfield and various other places.

Aston is a predominantly Muslim area. Most of the residents do not attend football matches, part of this will be because it is a deprived area and football matches attending costs a fortune.

There are definitely some Muslim Villa fans but they do not make up a significant proportion of the fan base.

Hardly any of the protesters of either side in attendance near Villa Park tonight are football are Villa fans or had any interest in the actual game.

Loads of Villa fans were nervous about attending this game, many stayed away (including myself) but listening to the accounts of people that have gone, it’s been absolutely fine. Some protests obviously but well handled by the police and nothing that made them fear for their safety.

Their fans would have been allowed to attend if they hadn't absolutely trashed Amsterdam at a previous match.

They are not the first team that have been refused entry by a long shot.

A few years ago we played a fixture where the fans were allowed tickets but they were behaving so poorly on the way to the match that Police corralled them into a car park and kept them there for the entirety of the match, even though they had tickets.

Clubs and Police have a responsibility to protect the surrounding area and locals.

If they could behave, they would have been there.

Villa fans absolutely had the right to be there because they hadn't done anything wrong. Travelling fans for most clubs are capable of behaving themselves.

As for the protests - I was under the impression we still live in a country where protest was allowed?

As a football supporter of teams that have a very well known troublesome collection of so called "fans" (Linfield, Rangers) the solution is to just ban the away fans for certain games. Nobody wants to see Celtic fans at Ibrox, I believe there are enough "bad" supporters for both sides that it will lead to problems. Anyone with a casual knowledge of events in recent years will know of the hooliganism associated with Maccabi Tel Aviv, both home and abroad. Just like Russian fans in the past in major competitions, nobody wants them visiting.

Certain teams and certain sports attract this more than others. Too bad that Villa won though ... was hoping they'd lose :(

And to clarify, I think it is very reasonable for Celtic to ban Rangers fans too. It makes a lot of sense, in terms of potential safety risks, event management costs, etc. If a club demonstrates excellent fan behaviour over many years, then of course the host club/country can review their decision.

Research reveals racist chants on rise in Israeli football – with Maccabi Tel Aviv the worst offenders. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/oct/23/research-reveals-racist-chants-on-rise-in-israeli-football-with-maccabi-tel-aviv-the-worst-offenders

They certainly should not..All the years lived here and.they have not learned that anti semitism's nastiest manifestations are not practised here in Britain. Will Jews be required to wear a yellow star? Be banned from sports fields.and swimming pools and public transport?
Did our principled leader do anything to support the rights of Jews to participate fully in public life? I thought not.

My husband and son were there. there were pockets of locals dotted about ‘protesting’ waving banner, chanting etc.. they were protesting that Israel are playing (not saying I disagree with that but it has no place at a football match).

there were minimal Maccabi fans - they were banned as we know (but that did not stop some turning up).

the small scuffles that broke out were amongst mostly local protesters so yes it is true. I’m not interested in debating the whys and wherefores of it, I am simply answering why there was such a big police presence as that was what the post was originally about.

it’s sad many families did not turn up (AV supporters) because of this. My DH & DS said wasn’t too bad at all.

I posted this on a different thread, but also relevant to this one. Obviously not the end of this matter;

Tuesday, 4 November 2025

Letter to the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner relating to the upcoming Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv Europa League fixture...

Dear Commissioner and Chief Constable

I am writing on behalf of the Home Affairs Select Committee to request more information regarding the decision-making around the forthcoming UEFA Europa League fixture between Aston Villa and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Though Maccabi Tel Aviv have now declined tickets for the fixture, there is a public interest case for greater clarity about the process that led to the initial decision not to allow away fans, which we would be grateful for your assistance in providing.

It has been set out how the initial decision by Birmingham City Council not to allow Maccabi Tel Aviv fans was based on a risk assessment provided by West Midlands Police to the safety advisory group. We would therefore be grateful if you could set out:

1. What assessment West Midlands Police made of disorder in Amsterdam in November 2024, following a match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv?

2. What options for policing the fixture did West Midlands Police consider as part of its risk assessment? For example, was a ‘bubble’ considered for away fans?

3. Did West Midlands Police assess that Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were likely to be the victims of antisemitism? If so, was this seen as the most significant risk?

4. Did West Midlands Police assess that Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were likely to present a danger to the local population?

5. To what extent did resource constraints mean that West Midlands Police felt they were unable to police the fixture effectively? How often and in what circumstances would a request to other forces or the Government for mutual aid or additional resources be considered?

In addition, and in line with the Home Affairs Select Committee’s powers under the Standing Orders of the House of Commons, we would like to request a copy of the full risk assessment conducted by West Midlands Police in relation to this fixture.

As well as questions around the initial decision-making for the fixture, we would be grateful for your answers to some questions about the wider political environment and the impact on West Midlands Police:

1. Did campaigning about the fixture, including a petition to cancel the fixture promoted by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, affect your assessment of the risk posed by the fixture? In particular, was your assessment that Maccabi TelAviv fans were put at greater risk by public campaigns against their attendance?

2. Was any evidence submitted to you by campaigning organisations material to your risk assessment for the fixture?

3. Following the offer of Government support to resource the fixture, were you able to consider additional options to police the fixture? What options were considered at this point?

Finally, given the questions this incident has raised, will you be conducting any review of West Midlands Police’s footballing operation, to ensure that potential future high-risk fixtures can be policed safely?

We are grateful in advance for your assistance in this important matter and would appreciate a response by Wednesday 19 November. Our intention would be to publish the material you provide in response.

Yours sincerely ...

Chair of the Home Affairs Committee

https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/83/home-affairs-committee/publications/3/correspondence/

Thanks @Clavinovathat’s interesting to read.

I think anyone claiming there were no political motivations behind this decision are deluded or disingenuous.

Also, just seen this;

Maccabi Tel-Aviv were ordered to arrive at Villa Park five hours early ahead of Thursday’s tense Europa League clash with Aston Villa.

11 arrests were made outside the stadium while Maccabi were left ‘with nothing to do’ having been told to arrive at the stadium by 3pm on Thursday afternoon.

“It was not normal,’ head coach Zarko Lazetic revealed post-match. ‘Sitting, nothing to do. [We came] five hours before the match. ‘It was very difficult. It was not our decision.’

They are not going to replay the match

Nothing to do in a first class football stadium

Any complaints of fireworks being let off outside the players hotel?

I couldn't find anything about fireworks being let off outside the players' hotel. I've found this instead;

It has now emerged in a leaked WhatsApp message seen by the JC [Jewish Chronicle] that organisers of the Gaza protest outside the stadium planned a “search for Maccabi team” the day before the match.

Activists intended to track down the players in Birmingham hotels and shared a link with the players’ faces so they would be able to identify the Israeli side.

In a WhatsApp group chat used for West Midlands Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) discussions, one message read in capital letters:

“ATTENTION. SEARCH FOR MACCABI TEAM WEDNESDAY.”

The message continued: “We need volunteers for Wednesday (tomorrow) for MISSION CRITICAL search actions. We can still cancel this match if we obstruct team Maccabi from attending the match.

“Tomorrow we know they will be in the UK, but we don't know where. Flight monitoring is in progress for signs of any flight anomalies. But in the absence of concrete intel, we must search likely locations.

“It is currently understood VILLA away teams normally stay at either: Hyatt hotel, Park Regis hotel. Both on Broad street. But they could be at ANY OTHER HOTELS.

“We need people to volunteer to be spotters to search the hotel lobbies and dining areas and see if they can identify the players by face around dinner time. Their photos are in the link. We need people who can search the hotel dining areas between 7pm-9pm.”

The group also planned to track the team around the stadium...

https://www.thejc.com/news/uk/revealed-pro-palestine-mob-plotted-to-hunt-down-maccabi-players-ifzgvv35

Do you follow football Clav?

Fireworks, noise are used regularly to try and disrupt opposition player's sleep

Although this suggests the team were advised not stay in Birmingham;

Jack Angelides, CEO of Maccabi Tel Aviv, questioned the ban again on Friday.
"Why is it that in decades of European travel with the club, that this is the only country that has banned our fans and this is the only country where we were told it was unsafe for us to stay in the city where we were playing the match?" he told the BBC.

Advised not to stay in Birmingham.

posted too soon.

I genuinely think that there are people that would only have been happy if the MTA fans had come, caused havoc, clashed with pro Palestine protesters, Villa fans with no skin in the political game got caught in the cross fire, plenty of people injured and loads of damage to the city.

For those people, the worst possible outcome was that it all passed by with no major incident.

Do you think the Culture Secretary was secretly hoping for a riot?

Lisa Nandy was interviewed this morning on LBC. She was adamant that the 'high risk' identified in the West Midlands Police advice to the Safety Advisory Group was to the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans - because they are Israeli/Jewish. She said she had read the WMP advice before intervening in this matter and although there were a number of factors, including an 'element of hooliganism' amongst the Maccabi fans, she wanted to make it 'crystal clear' that the 'highest risk' identified was to the MTA fans themselves - which is obviously unacceptable.

Although, if Lisa Nandy has got this wrong she needs to resign.

I think that after a variety of politicians came out and accused the SAG of antisemitism, it would have vindicated them (Nandy, Starmer and co) if there had been a significant disorder despite the absence of the MTA fans. There wasn’t and in my opinion, it has vindicated the decision of the SAG as the MTA fans absolutely would have been at best provocative and at worst (and most likely) violently aggressive.

They were happily going to sacrifice the safety of Villa fans and local people of all races and nationalities for political point scoring. Shame on them I’d happily see her resign.

CarlaLemarchant
MTA fans absolutely would have been at best provocative and at worst (and most likely) violently aggressive.

I don't think there's much evidence available to the public (yet) to confirm that the Macabbi fans would 'most likely' be 'violently aggressive'. If they had that track record they would have a string of bans and fines by UEFA like some of the other clubs who have played at Aston Villa, e.g. Legia Warsaw.

Also, the Mayor of Amsterdam said in July this year that;

Maccabi Tel Aviv was not known as a club with a history of violent incidents and that if they had chosen to ban the supporters from the game [in Nov 2024] it would only have been due to their Israeli nationality. “I felt that, given the Dutch government’s position on Israel that would have been irresponsible."

if there had been a significant disorder despite the absence of the MTA fans

Although of course, substantial resources were brought in to avert significant disorder.