Polish football hooligans set police officer on fire and injure three others as they pelt force with flares at Aston Villa match

Polish football hooligans set a police officer on fire and injured three others last night as they pelted them with flares before a game against Aston Villa. 

Dramatic photos show thugs supporting Legia Warsaw charging at police in ugly scenes in Birmingham that led to 46 arrests. 

One officer who was engulfed by flames after being hit by a flare suffered burns and is now recovering in hospital. 

All of the Polish fans were refused entry into the stadium, with some managing to launch containers of beer into the home end from outside. 

A small group were able to break in and could be heard cheering from behind a wall when Legia scored a goal. Villa later won 2-1. 

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The fans forced their way in after West Midland’s Police posted on social media that they were not letting any Legia fans inside the stadium.

The force  tweeted: ‘We’re currently unable to allow away fans into Villa Park following disorder outside the stadium which has seen missiles thrown at officers.

‘Three officers have already been injured & a significant policing operation continues. Please avoid Witton Lane where possible.’

West Midlands Police released a further statement shortly before midnight.

‘We’ve so far made 39 arrests on suspicion of offences including violent disorder and assaulting a police officer and they have been taken into custody for questioning. We will further review all available footage to identify perpetrators.’

The force released an update this morning saying they now have 46 people in custody. 

The match commander, Chief Inspector Tim Robinson, added: ‘This should have been a great evening of football which was enjoyed by fans from both clubs.

‘Unfortunately, there were appalling scenes which saw away fans dangerously throw flares and other missiles at our officers.

‘We were there to help keep people safe, yet officers own safety was put at risk because of the deplorable actions of others.

‘Due to the extreme violence, there was no other choice but to prevent away fans entering the stadium. The safety of everyone is our priority, and clearly we had no other option.

‘There can never be a place for such appalling behaviour, and this is something ourselves and the wider community should never have to experience.’

Mail Sport understands that Legia were unhappy with their reduced allocation after Villa reduced their ticket allocation to just 890 based on advice from the police and Safety Advisory Group.

UEFA rules allow the visiting team five per cent of the stadium’s capacity, which would equal 2,100 tickets at Villa Park.

In an official statement from Legia, they accused Villa of refusing to allocate tickets to away fans in accordance with UEFA regulations for a UEFA Europa Conference League match.

‘Instead of diffusing potential pre-match tensions, restrictive measures of Aston Villa F.C. as the host club needlessly exacerbate the atmosphere. In our view, such measures are counterproductive and unfounded,’ they wrote.

‘In a recent development, Aston Villa FC has firmly declined to adhere to UEFA competition regulations by refusing to allocate the stipulated pool of tickets for visiting supporters. 

‘Legia Warsaw had put forward a compromise solution, proposing an allocation of 1,700 tickets for their loyal supporters—a figure mirroring the number allocated to English club fans journeying to Warsaw. This proposal was officially accepted and duly documented in the UEFA delegate’s report, dated September 21.

‘In light of this agreement, Legia Warsaw’s supporters commenced their preparations for the journey across the English Channel, incurring various costs, including airline tickets and hotel reservations.

‘However, on November 2, Legia Warsaw received an unexpected and revised decision regarding the ticket allocation, which blatantly disregarded the prior agreements. The number of tickets was slashed to a mere 890, representing a staggering reduction of over 50%.

‘Faced with this untenable situation, Legia Warsaw has lodged repeated appeals with Aston Villa F.C., urging them to honour the regulations set forth on September 21.’

Villa hit back with a statement of their own later in the evening, condemning the violent scenes on the streets outside their stadium.

Villa said: ‘Aston Villa Football Club can confirm that no away fans were allowed into Villa Park for this evening’s UEFA Europa Conference League fixture with Legia Warsaw on the advice of West Midlands Police following large-scale disorder outside the stadium caused by visiting supporters.

‘The UK safety authorities, UEFA and Aston Villa, communicated on November 2 that the ticket allocation for away fans for this fixture would be reduced to 1,002 on the advice of safety authorities as a result of previous large-scale disorder caused by Legia fans last month at AZ Alkmaar.

‘A number of Dutch police officers were injured during that disorder. As a consequence, UEFA banned Legia supporters from travelling to Mostar for their game against HSK Zrinjski.  

‘In spite of numerous requests for cooperation from Legia Warsaw concerning their travelling supporters, especially in the last two days, no assistance on the serious safety matter of away fans attending Villa Park was forthcoming from the visiting club.

‘The club has repeatedly, including this morning, raised concerns in conjunction with UEFA and all the relevant authorities to Legia that ticketless away supporters were attempting to attend Villa Park.’

Legia supporters had made their way towards Villa Park ahead of kick-off, but were met with a barrier and a wall of police officers wearing helmets with visors to protect themselves.

The fans appeared to grow frustrated and flares were let off as they were penned in by the police.

On the pitch, Villa avenged their earlier group defeat in Poland by beating Legia 2-1 thanks to goals from Moussa Diaby and Alex Moreno.

After the game, Legia manager Kosta Runjaic refused to be drawn on the events that occurred outside Villa Park.

‘I think its a different topic, it’s not my business. I’ve been in a big focus to lead the team,’ he said.

‘We represented Polish football in a good way, all other things outside the stadium I don’t want to comment.

‘We have great fans, they support us home and away. We can always count on them. So far since I’ve been at Legia I’ve had a good experience with our fans. I don’t know the content of it all happening.

‘I don’t know the details, which is why it’s better I don’t speak too much about it. Unfortunately our fans weren’t in the stadium and the atmosphere would have been better.

‘It’s not about the fans, it’s a pity but we can’t change it.’