A DERBY OF HOOLIGANS, HAMMERS AND BOTTLES
DErBy clashes between Birmingham City and aston Villa last season were marred by four pitch invasions by individual fans, police reports obtained by Sportsmail reveal.
as such, the attack on aston Villa captain Jack Grealish by Birmingham fan Paul Mitchell should not have come as any great surprise to the clubs or the authorities.
Trouble at England’s traditional derby matches has been on the rise, with police reports obtained through a Freedom of Information request by Sportsmail exposing a shocking catalogue of hooliganism.
Clashes between Birmingham and Villa fans were among the most violent. In October 2017, travelling Villa fans were ‘picked off all over the place’ following their match at Birmingham.
West Midlands Police’s debrief also revealed that masked Birmingham fans attacked officers with metal brackets, scaffold poles, breeze blocks and glasses. One smashed a police carrier with a claw hammer. after a post-match probe, policee made 44 further arrests.
When the teams met at Villa Park in February last t year there were five arrests and 17 ejections from the stadium.
Details published for the first time today reveal that the first sign of trouble came when a group of Birmingham fans ns identified as ‘ risk’ groups ups ‘ attempted to board aston-include aston-bound trains’ for home fans, only to be thwarted by police spotters.
at the ground three fans were ejected for vandalising a toilet, while another was arrested after a ‘steward was assaulted’ in Holte lower. The report said fans in the ‘Holte lower chose to stand despite repeated requests for them to desist’, while ejections from the ground continued.
a second-half Villa goal saw a fan enter the field of play from ‘the North stand area’. He was detained before he reached the pitch and arrested. Two stewards were injured during the incident, one with a cut to the head, the other hurting a knee.
Two more home fans were arrested for entering the pitch side, but none got close to players or the away support. another fan was arrested for throwing missiles at Birmingham fans. after the game, ‘baton strikes and strong verbal commands’ were employed to keep rivals fans apart in the city. Punches and bottles were thrown.
When the two teams met at st andrew’s in October 2017, the problems were even more serious. Officers no doubt hoped the arrest of nine Villa fans the week before, for incidents around the Cardiff match, would ease the situation.
It began with verbal altercations on Coventry road, with a mixture of ‘risk groups’ from Birmingham involved, and a fan was arrested by a coach park used by Villa supporters.
Birmingham placed 20,000 cardboard clappers on seats. ‘These were thrown at every available opportunity during the game,’ the report added.
‘Every FC corner, free-kick and goal-kick saw numerous missiles thrown at the Villa player. These included plastic beer bottles, coins and clapper boards’. The referee and the fourth official ‘stopped the game oon more than one occasion’, with ‘ Villa players and the linesman all struck with various missiles’. Coins were thrown between fans while 30 seats were broken in tthe away end, and at the final whistle a Birmingham fan ‘ran the length of the pitch’ before being arrested.
after the game the trouble escalated. a blue smoke bomb was let off and officers were peppered with coins. They also had ‘bottles, glasses and bricks’ thrown at them as they tried to disperse Birmingham fans near the coach park, with one spotter struck in the face in an incident that lasted 20 minutes.
With Villa fans still locked inside the stadium, police spotters were then confronted by ‘masked males’ throwing missiles at them, with metal brackets, scaffold poles, breeze blocks and glasses thrown. Officers deployed long shields to protect themselves, while the windscreen of a police carrier was ‘smashed with a claw hammer’.
Villa fans were held in the ground for 90 minutes but officers reported that they were ‘getting picked off all over the place’ while returning to the city. The behaviour of Villa fans was described as ‘exemplary’. Birmingham fans were ‘exceedingly poor’.
‘When they couldn’t get to Villa fans they were all too happy to attack police officers using a very high level of force’.