Police officers injured in disorder outside Villa Park
Disorder broke out ahead of Aston Villa's Europa Conference League tie with Legia Warsaw.
Last updated 30th Nov 2023
At least three officers have been injured following disorder outside Villa Park ahead of Aston Villa's match against Legia Warszawa.
West Midlands Police said away fans were not being allowed into the stadium after missiles were thrown at officers.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, police said: "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."
Aston Villa said away fans had been stopped from entering the ground.
In a statement, the club said: "Aston Villa Football Club can confirm that no away fans were allowed into Villa Park for this evening’s UEFA Europa Conference League fixture with Legia Warsaw on the advice of West Midlands Police following large-scale disorder outside the stadium caused by visiting supporters.
"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.
"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.
"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."
In a statement, Legia said their official delegation, owner and president refused to enter Villa Park in solidarity with their supporters, while they also complained about the ticketing situation.