Met Police: ‘They’re thugs not fans’ after England supporters attack officers

Nineteen officers were injured after they “confronted volatile crowds” in London after the game, with 49 people being arrested

Nineteen officers were injured after they “confronted volatile crowds” in London after the game, with 49 people being arrested

England supporters who had attacked officers after last night’s Euro 2020 final defeat are “thugs not fans”, the Metropolitan Police Federation has said.

The body, which represents thousands of police officers within London, tweeted: “These people should be ashamed of themselves.

“They are not fans. They are thugs. We wish our injured colleagues well.”

The Met Police have said that 19 officers were injured in total, after they had “confronted volatile crowds” within the nation’s capital after the football game, with 49 people having been arrested as a result of a “variety of offences”.

Police said that some people within the capital city had been “jumping off street lamps or hoardings”, something police officers had warned “could easily end in injury”.

Earlier on Sunday, fans were pictured within London’s Leicester Square throwing bottles and road cones, leaving the area littered with rubbish.

This comes after UEFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against England after fans shone a laser at Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel during the Euro 2020 semi-final and booed the Scandinavian country’s national anthem.

Clean-up operations had been well underway in the capital by 7.30am following the huge mess that had been left by football fans, with only a handful of diehard England supporters remaining around Leicester Square.

Before the kick-off, up to 100 ticketless fans had broken through the security barriers at Wembley to get inside the stadium while there were reports of the arena’s match stewards being abused.

Video footage shows people jumping over walls and running towards the stadium barriers to gain access, while police were on a manhunt to track down those who had gotten into Wembley without tickets.

Some of those people with booked seats could not sit in them as ticketless fans had taken their places, as others stood in gangways in order to get a glimpse of the finals game.

Sonny Stockford and his son Samuel, spoke to Sky News, saying that they had tickets but their view had been obstructed by ticketless fans who had lined up within multiple rows in front of them.

“You’ve got a mass of people that have rushed in and they have got no seats, and they are stood in front of you, lined up”, Mr Stockford said.

“The security would do nothing about it. I went to security and spoke to seven different people, I asked people with radios to contact people.

“They all came back and said the same thing: ‘We don’t have enough staff, we can’t do anything about it.’

“I said to them this was one of the biggest security risks you could ever wish to see, and what are you going to do? You can’t leave hundreds of people in aisles and in seats that cannot get in or out, this is not acceptable.”

There were also many scuffles and clashes with police officers throughout the central London area where people had gathered in large crowds to watch the match, including at Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus.

This comes as after supporters had been estimated to buy 6.8 million pints during their semi-final match with Denmark, the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) had predicted.

Junior minister Edward Argar told Sky News that these fans do not represent the majority of supporters.

He said: “I think the police did a fantastic job and sadly we saw a number of police officers, as I understand it, injured last night and I think there have been 45 arrests made so far, and action will be taken against those who have perpetrated these offences, who broke the rules or broke the law.

“The police did, I think, a fantastic job – they know what they are doing, they know how to operationally police events.

“It is sad when a very small number of people, a tiny minority, bring the sport into disrepute by trying to do something like this.”

He added: “Again, I would say they are not reflective of the fans of our national game and our national team.

“The police will take, I know, all action necessary against those who have been arrested where they can prove an offence has been committed.”