21 fans arrested at Villa match against Celtic

19 of the arrests were Celtic fans

Author: Amelia SalmonsPublished 30th Jan 2025

West Midlands Police said they made 21 arrests at the Aston Villa match against Celtic on Wednesday evening (29th Jan).

The Police force said they had an extensive operation at the match during the day and at night.

The team included police horses, police dogs and officers as well as drones, traffic officers and motor cyclists.

In total, 19 of the arrests were Celtic fans.

The arrests varied from violent disorder, assaults, possession of Class A drugs, throwing pyrotechnics onto the pitch and having fraudulent tickets.

Superintendent Jack Hadley, who led the operation, said: “Last night we welcomed Celtic fans to Birmingham for the Champions League game against Aston Villa.

"It was really great to have such a large number of visitors into our city. We put on a large policing operation to ensure all our visitors were safe.

“We had numerous resources on duty from motorbikes, dogs, public order officers and we’re especially proud to have horses back for yesterday’s policing operation.

"They were a really versatile tool for us to use to engage with the Digbeth community yesterday afternoon, but also to support public order officers at Villa Park last night.

“It’s been really great to welcome Celtic supporters to our city. We’ve met some great people and had some really good engagement with people who have come and said hello to us.

"We’ve had a number of arrests for offences across the city but overall we’re really pleased with how last night has gone. We look forward to meeting more football fans visiting our city in the near future," he said.

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