West Ham, Man City and Arsenal fans unite against UEFA after European final horror stories

West Ham and Manchester City supporters have united to demand changes from UEFA after worrying situations experienced by fans at both the Europa Conference League and Champions League Final earlier this month.

Ahead of West Ham’s historic win against Fiorentina in Prague, fans spoke of being attacked by a large group of Italian supporters while in a bar in the city. More than 30 people were detained after the frightening violence broke out.

Meanwhile, in Istanbul, disabled Manchester City fans shared horror accessibility stories of having to drag wheelchairs over dirt tracks and fight their way through the city’s busy streets to make it home after the match.

Attending the European Football Fans Congress 2023 last week, the West Ham United Supporters’ Trust and the Manchester City Football Club Supporters Club (1949) united to urge the Football Supporters Europe (FSE) group to work with UEFA to ensure such a situation did not happen again. The motion was also supported by the Arsenal Supporter Trust.

The groups noted that progress had been made by the FSE in working with UEFA to improve supporter experience but that ticket allocation for the 2023 finals left many fans unable to attend games.

In particular, the group highlighted the unsuitability of the Fortuna Arena in Prague with its measly 19,370 capacity. West Ham fans were allocated just 5,000 of those for fans.

The motion also highlighted poor matchday travel, particularly in Istanbul. Level Playing Field, a charity that works to get the best for disabled sports fans, had previously shared terrifying testimonies from fans.

City fan Patrick Godrey attended the match at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium as a carer for his friend Barry Foy, who has used a wheelchair at football matches for the last two seasons. The duo attend every match home and away and were left distressed and in fear for their lives in Istanbul.

Patrick said: “We experienced a total disgusting 12 hours in the hands of UEFA, despite adhering to all of their requests and advice, around pre and post-match transportation from the centre of Istanbul and the return journey.

“The bus to the stadium took almost two and a half hours to do 19 kilometres and when we finally arrived, there was a dirt track leading from where the bus had pulled up halfway up the hill.

“The loose building rubble surface had not even been rolled flat. I tried pushing the wheelchair forward and the front wheels just dug into rubble, nearly causing the chair to fall forward, so the only way was for me to walk backwards dragging the chair backwards for a good 500 metres to where the supposed adapted bus was waiting to take you to the stadium entrance.”

The Supporters Groups called on the FSE to ensure improvements from UEFA for cup finals in the future, hoping that the FSE would be able to have a say in the selection process for the host stadiums.

The groups also highlighted that large stadiums must be selected for the events and that at least 66% of capacity should be made available to supporters of the two competing teams.