Shocking new footage has emerged of police attempting to keep the peace being punched in the face by travelling Young Boys fans as their team faced off with Aston Villa on Thursday night.
Supporters of the Swiss side have been sanctioned five times since 2020, totalling £110,000 in fines for five separate incidents of misbehaviour, including at fixtures against both Manchester United and Manchester City.
But Thursday’s Europa League clash marked a dark new high watermark for violence on English soil, as both police and players were targeted in ugly scenes.
A number of the 1,200 fans who made the journey to Birmingham were seen pushing against the line of police and stewards who ringed the pitch during the match, as bottles and other missiles flew through the air and onto the turf.
Hooligans wearing black and draped in black-and-yellow club scarves threw punches as they attempted to fight back against the barricade.
But trouble was not limited to trouble between fans and the police, with Villa’s Donyell Malen on the receiving end of a nasty blow when he was struck on the head with something thrown from the stands while celebrating his opener in the 27th minute.
Travelling fans of Swiss side Young Boys threw punches at the police at Villa Park on Thursday
Fans were dragged from the stands in handcuffs amid shocking scenes of violence in Europe
The forward was left with a visible cut on his head, and was targeted a second time when he scored the second to put Villa 2-0 up.
The match was temporarily brought to a halt as fans wreaked havoc, with two supporters believed to have been separated from the pack and dragged away in handcuffs.
Captain Loris Benito went over to the away end and pleaded with the travelers to calm down, while referee Georgi Kabakov also discussed the unravelling scene with both managers.
Later on in the clash however, trouble restarted as fans ripped up seats and threw them at the police officers, as well as flinging more plastic glasses down from the stands.
Play resumed as tensions were quietened, with the fans mostly subdued following the half-time break.
When asked about the violence after full-time, Malen shrugged off the berating he had received, saying simply: ‘It is what it is. It’s fine, it’s fine.’
But Young Boys manager Gerardo Seoane offered a more fulsome apology on behalf of the fans after suffering the 2-1 defeat.
‘I think it’s normal when you score a goal that you want to be with your teammates,’ he said. ‘Maybe (our fans thought) it was a small provocation. This, I don’t know.
Aston Villa forward Donyell Malen was struck with a missile from the away fans after scoring
After the final whistle, Malen and team-mate Morgan Rogers compared projectile wounds
Malen’s cut came up in a lump after the final whistle but the Netherlands international was in high spirits after scoring both goals
The pitch was littered with plastic cups thrown down by the visiting fans which forced a pause
‘But I think this is part of football and our fans should not react so heavily. The referee asked our captain to go to our supporters. He was going there to calm it a bit. I think some supporters came down to talk and the police reacted like they would jump into the pitch – but was not the intention.
‘This is what I know. It’s a pity from everybody – from the provocations, from throwing the objects, from thinking that somebody would jump on the pitch. I think the result is not nice for anybody and, for sure, we apologise.
‘We don’t feel good as the way our supporters are normal is not what we how we want to act when we are guests somewhere. I think nobody wins at the end – everybody loses this situation.’
Benito was less apologetic in his remarks however, choosing to point the finger at the police instead.
‘The referee told me we risked the game being suspended or even abandoned if anything else happened on the pitch,’ the skipper explained.
‘The police officers had their backs to the pitch. They didn’t see me coming and trying to talk to the fans. From then on, it just escalated. The police also acted incorrectly. Their job is to de-escalate, not escalate.’
Young Boys are likely to be hit with substantial punishment for the chaos wrought in the Midlands, although Uefa is yet to comment on the incident.
Riot police were on duty in Birmingham in preparation for trouble from the 1,200 supporters
The Young Boys fans continued to cause trouble throughout the first-half before it abated
Seats were ripped from the stands and flung onto the pitch in scenes of destructive chaos
But previous instances of fan trouble have come with enormous consequences in Europa, such as this season’s fracas between Roma and Frankfurt.
The disturbances saw Roma hit with a £26,274 fine and a partial stadium closure, while Frankfurt will have to pay £21,895 for their fans’ role in the trouble.
Last season, Red Star Belgrade’s fans were found to have lobbed missiles onto the pitch, set off fireworks in the stadium, and blocked up passageways in their stadium when facing off with Turkish Super Lig side Trabzonspor, which earned the club a massive £48,169 fine.
