‘We were close to fatalities’
AT THE Spanish Steps checkpoint, ticketless fans surge forward in a lawless attempt to burst past outnumbered stewards.
The queue and the barriers collapse under the pressure. At the front of the 100-strong pile, the tangle is four-high.
A young boy manages to crawl free. Moments later his little body, overwhelmed by the impact, contorts into a seizure.
At a nearby turnstile, a man in a high-visibility jacket snatches the wheelchair of a child from his father and pushes it towards the disabled entrance.
The man is not a steward, he is just an England fan without a ticket who will steal someone’s disabled child to try to break into the stadium.
This is England – July 11, 2021 – the day when Wembley descended into anarchy. Yesterday, almost five months after the shameful scenes which marred the European Championship final, Baroness Louise Casey’s muchawaited report was published.
While what happened – thousands of drug and boozefuelled thugs stormed the national stadium – was widely reported at the time, it turned out we did not know the half of it and it could have been much, much worse.
With Gareth Southgate’s men five penalties away from their first major trophy since 1966, no fewer than 6,000 of the baying mob – unable to follow 2,000 thugs who had earlier stormed 17 disabled entrances – were waiting outside.
Had England won the shootout, they were ready to pour in when the gates opened at full time.
One London emergency services official said they believed it would have been ‘horrific’ had Southgate’s men prevailed, and that a ‘major incident’ would have been declared.
Casey went further. ‘We were close to fatalities,’ she wrote.
‘That it should happen at our national stadium on the day of our biggest game of football for 55 years is a source of national shame.’ The deplorable behaviour of the lawless hordes is rightly highlighted as the main factor for what transpired.
There was also a disgraceful dereliction of duty from those who were meant to keep law-abiding fans safe.
Twelve hours before the 8pm kick-off, fans had begun to congregate and drink heavily.
The Met Police plan was for officers to turn up at 3pm.
Speaking to journalists, Baroness Casey said: ‘There is something here about our national game that seems to be a vehicle for thuggery, hooliganism and racism and I would like to see Euro Sunday as a turning point.’
It is certainly to be hoped that is the case.