The assault and disorder that took place outside Villa Park on Thursday resulted in charges being filed against 46 individuals, with Villa and Legia both attributing blame to the other for the violence. West Midland’s Police reported that 43 men have been charged with a public order offense, while two have been charged with assaulting police officers and one with possession of a knife. The unrest occurred before the Europa Conference League match between Aston Villa and Legia Warsaw, which Villa went on to win 2-1. Five officers sustained minor injuries, along with two police dogs and two police horses.
The charged individuals range in age from 21 to 63, with approximately 40 believed to be from Poland and a small number being UK residents. Those charged were due in court on Saturday, with a special court being set up at Birmingham magistrates court to handle the cases. Aston Villa filed a complaint with UEFA over the conduct of Legia Warsaw officials and the “unprecedented violence” demonstrated by their fans. More than 1,000 Polish fans arrived at the stadium but were not given their tickets.
The Warsaw club expressed their disappointment over the reduction of ticket allocation, citing their inability to authenticate and distribute the tickets effectively. Legia Warsaw also disputed claims that those detained by the police had tickets for the match, and objected to being blamed for the incidents. Villa stated that Legia Warsaw had been informed of the ticket allocation details four weeks before the match, and that the Polish team’s officials had refused to confirm if they would accept their allocation until 4pm on Thursday.