Headmaster says police 'did nothing' as fans were attacked after Champions League final
A county headmaster has spoken out about the lack of police protection for Liverpool fans attacked by locals at the Champions League final in Paris.
Brendan Wignall, headmaster at Ellesmere College, had travelled to the game with his son, Hugh, 28.
Like many Liverpool fans they witnessed distressing and frightening scenes after the game, as local gangs targeted both English and Spanish fans leaving the Stade de France after the final whistle.
Mr Wignall, 61, had watched the game from the neutral zone in the stadium – fortunately missing out on the potentially dangerous queues faced by Liverpool fans waiting to get into the Premier League side's end of the ground.
But he explained how fans were repeatedly targeted by gangs of locals as they left the ground after the end of the match.
Mr Wignall's experience was similar to that of Telford Liverpool fan, Mickey Baker, who earlier this week told how he and his 14-year-old son were faced with violent gangs as they tried to get away from the stadium after Real Madrid's 1-0 win.
Mr Baker had described the gangs as "like a pack of dogs looking for prey".
He added: "They attacked women, they attacked minors, it was a very very horrible and unpleasant place to be."
Mr Wignall said the fans had been let down and put in a scary situation with police seemingly not interested in stopping the violence and muggings.
He said: "I would not go quite as far as saying the gang muggings were police-sanctioned but it did not seem far off it.
"It was simply remarkable, the police were simply not interested."
He added: "We were lucky, we had a smooth entry, coming out was irritating but then watching as other people were mugged and the police were doing nothing was awful. It was just bizarre."
It came after Mr Wignall and his son had experienced more frustrating stewarding and policing as they tried to leave the ground, with fans funnelled through a single exit while armed police blocked routes out of the stadium.
He said: "We were walking past gates that would have let us out and dispersed the crowd but they had armed police in front of them. I genuinely did not understand why they wanted to funnel people out of one exit."
Mr Wignall also said that he believed it was only down to the patience of Liverpool fans that disaster had been averted as they faced huge queues to get into the ground.
He and his son could see the situation develop from above inside the ground, after they managed to get into the stadium by 7.15pm.
Many Liverpool fans were still queueing to get into their end of the ground at half time, some two hours later.
Mr Wignall said: "Hillsborough casts a huge psychological shadow over Liverpool fans, whether they were directly affected or not, but they were really, really patient and just got on with it. I am not sure many other groups of fans would have been that patient."
The fallout from the organisation and policing of the match has seen UEFA commission an independent report into what happened.
The kick-off for the match was delayed with the French authorities blaming first the late arrival of Liverpool fans and then saying that thousands of English fans had turned out without tickets.
Those claims have been rejected by Liverpool Football Club, Liverpool and Real Madrid fans, and a number of high profile journalists who have posted accounts of their own experiences which were at odds with the claims of the French authorities.
It has now emerged that French President Emmanuel Macron has called for "full transparency" over what happened.
