Manchester Evening News hatchet job on UEFA final

My old mans pal was in Manchester that day for work (even though he's a bear, he wasn't there for the game) He was trying to get through to actually get where he had to go, walked up up to a policeman in full riot gear to ask if there was a way he could get through and the policeman smashed him full force in the face with the edge of his shield was taken to hospital with a broken cheekbone and three teeth knocked out. Heavy handed policing, they were out of order.
 
Saw no bother, was at the Shambles in the afternoon & spoke to a GMP Sergeant, mentioned that not having bins, toilet facilities or folk just wandering about picking up empty bottles etc was a bad combination given how hot it was, how many people were there & how much drink was being taken.
Asked him where to watch the game, preferably in a pub & he directed me to the old print works.

Game finished, went straight to the station & back to digs in Halifax.
Definitely some football hooligans mixing in with the support, spoke to a few of them throughout the day.
Bad planning & lack of adaptability by Council/GMP, together with the scale of the attendance made the trouble more likely.
 
It was a lovely sunny afternoon and the atmosphere was fantastic.
However, the fiasco started when fans in the city centre realized they were not going to be allowed into very many places.
And then the brown stuff really hit the fan when the big screen failed in the Square.
I had media credentials at the time and went to a press conference at lunchtime.
It was absolutely clear that the GMP had no idea of how many people were going to be in the city as the day progressed.
After the match, the cops were actively looking for trouble.
 
The journey down the day before was amazing. Bridges with flags and banners all the way down. Cars decked out in red white and blue with songs blaring. All the services were full of supporters in great spirits.

It was a beautiful sunny day. Ended up in the smaller of the 3 fan zones and it was great all day. Around 5/6pm you could sense something was going wrong elsewhere as the fan zone we were in was suddenly getting really busy. I thought it was because it was getting nearer kickoff. Never actually seen any trouble all day where I was and wasn't until the next day I found out what happened.
 
cskasofia said:
Very interesting reading that. Number of references to the largest migration of people to a football match!
Section where they were quoting feedback from local businesses, and it mentioned Waxy O Connors pub. Said as its an Irish pub they were expecting the Rangers fans not to use it. Turned out it was absolutely rammed, with a party atmosphere!!
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it is and shows that is some planning for the amount of fans based on where they from in advance, I think the day they said 'don't travel' was the catalyst for the amount that did end up going in the end

While there is always going be issues the local area businesses would always welcome the amount of trade in the end
 
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The very next day after wee Nacho dispatched that spot kick, some police chief was on STV evening news saying Rangers fans would not be welcomed to Manchester in large numbers. That c@nt basically said, if you don’t have a match ticket do not come. It was a total stitch up from the moment we made the final, it’s not even a debate!

As for these piss taking articles which are written just to agitate Rangers fans and to TRY and damage our reputation it’s no different from what the filth with crayons do up here but in terms of the worst scenes Manchester has seen…that is laughable and should be scoffed at compared to the devastation caused by an IRA bombing and the summer rioting and looting that took place in the city back in August 2011 which cost just shy of £9m in policing costs and damages to businesses.
 
No.8MK3 said:
Man Utd did offer the use of Old Trafford but City wanted it to be all about them and I say that as someone who goes to watch City occasionally

LCCC Offered the use of the Cricket ground and it would have brought in a great deal of income but again that plan was shelved for reasons known only to UEFA / Council

ETA….if the final was at Ibrox we wouldn’t want those begging bastards to cash in
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Read the report.Utd were otherwise engaged.
 
I've mentioned my story before a few times.
I lived in Manchester (Prestwich) for 10 years working on a contract for GMP.
Their Sporting Intelligence section was run from Stretford Sub Divisional HQ, on Talbot Road across from the Cricket ground.
I was working in there at the time of the semi, and mentioned to them that if Rangers got through, we would be bringing a huge number of fans to Manchester, I got laughed at, told we were a small club, and we would be lucky to bring 30000.
I was back there nearly a year after the final and had a good bit of banter with them.
They admitted they were under-prepared, and didn't seriously consider the draw of how close to Manchester would have been for Rangers fans.They were based in a high rise office block in Piccadilly,and were shocked at how early the place filled up with fans.

I walked around both the City stadium and the town centre the day before, the weather was glorious,and there were already thousands of fans milling around.
I met a mate in town the day of the game, and we got in to a boozer near the Arndale, thanks to being mates with the bar manager, he was only there for the day,and couldn't believe the sheer numbers of fans.They ran out of lager and ale around 3pm in the afternoon,and the brewery couldn't get into the town centre to deliver,due to the streets being packed.
We headed back to Prestwich,and a mate that was coming in to join us for a beer calle dus and told us to start walking,as there was no chance of him getting in and parked.
We met him around the casino just down from Strangeways,,and headed back to Prestwich, the evening was obviously disappointing, had a right skinful and went to bed,could't believe the news in the morning about all the trouble.

My overall view is that the authorities were arrogant and dismissive of predictions of huge amounts of fans heading for Manchester, and didn't plan accordingly.

The flip side to this is would Glasgow have coped any better if the roles were reversed?
 
I never went down to Manchester as i was on bail at the time and my dad warned me that it could be chaos.




I knew 2 bus loads that went down and most of them never went to games and i reckon most of the trouble was caused by non match going fans just folk who seen it as a great chance for a piss up.
 
After the game I waited about an hour or two for a train which was never happening so I managed to get a taxi to Preston and our driver said the 'trouble' was nothing out of the ordinary and it happened most weeks when fans with decent sized supports came to town.
 
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