Edinburgh City pre-season friendly abandoned after crowd trouble
Police were called to Albyn Park, Broxburn on Wednesday evening following reports of a disturbance between rival supporters
Last updated 4th Jul 2024
A pre-season friendly between Broxburn Athletic and Edinburgh City was abandoned last night due to crowd trouble.
Police were called to Albyn Park, Broxburn on Wednesday evening following reports of a disturbance between supporters.
Officials made the decision to call off the game at half-time with the score at 0-0.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 7.45pm on Wednesday, 3 July, 2024, we were made aware of youths causing a disturbance at Albyn Park, Broxburn.
“Officers attended and following discussions the game was abandoned and the crowd dispersed.”
No arrests have been made.
Broxburn Athletic fan Jordi Brown, 47, attended the game. He said: “I arrived around 10-15 minutes before kick-off and the Edinburgh City youngsters were already in. They were creating a bit of noise, chanting and singing - quite bouncy, creating quite a decent pre-match atmosphere and there wasn’t really too much untoward.
“Then, just before kick-off as the players were running onto the pitch, they let off some flares and firecrackers, so I think that ended up delaying the kick-off by just a couple of minutes – the stewards went over and that was it.
“By which point some Broxburn ultras were in the enclosure as well and from what I could see there was a bit of chanting back and forward, but it mostly seemed banter and nothing out of the ordinary. Until it got to half-time when it all seems to have gotten a bit more sinister after that.”
He added "When it's at the stage someone is getting hurt, then it's the right thing to do to pull the game. Unfortunately, it's City that are going to get the bad name for them, but they may have to be proactive and have spotters out early at every game to ensure any known problem children don't get in. Certainly not how I saw the evening going!"
"Older woman hit in face by bottle"
A Broxburn Athletic club volunteer, who did not want to be named, said he witnessed an older woman being hit in the face by a bottle and police threatened with knives.
They said " I was sitting in the Broxburn dugout and was on my phone at the half time break and was alerted to the melay in the stand.
"All the hassle was caused by the visitors ultras. Credit does to the older volunteers who acted as police till the police arrived. One was hit with a bottle. Never seen anything like it before in all my years following the game".
Edinburgh City were relegated from League 1 last season amid financial woes which saw them receive a six-point deduction in January for failing to pay players.
Broxburn Athletic were recently promoted to the Lowland League.
Both clubs have both been approached for comment.