July 14, (THEWILL) – As England recounts the horrors of the day of vandalism, hooliganism and racism that was the reaction of a section of extremist football fans to their loss to Italy in the Euro 2020 finals, Manchester United captain Harry Maguire has revealed that his father was caught up in the ensuing violence and escaped with injuries.
Maguire was playing in unarguably the biggest football match of his career and was pleased to have the honour of his father’s presence until things turned sour. The defender said the older Maguire suffered suspected broken ribs in the disturbance and was grateful that his children were not around.
With some reports likening the riotous and appalling behaviour of England fans to the destruction of a warzone, the fracas caught many innocent fans at the centre of the violence leaving a trail of injuries, vandalised property, broken bottles and debris in their wake.
Maguire, who scored his own penalty in the final shootout, revealed the injury in an interview and noted how scary a situation it was to witness: “My dad was in the stampede. I have not spoken with him too much but I am pleased my kids didn’t go to the game.
“It was scary –he said he was scared and I don’t want anyone to experience that at a football match. I have seen a lot of videos and have spoken to Dad and my family. It was my dad and agent who suffered the most.
“It was not a nice experience –it shook him up. But he was fortunate as every game he has been to, he has had my nephew or one of my kids on his shoulders. So I’m thankful that did not happen as it could have been a really serious moment.”
Some fans who did not have tickets and ought not to be at the match forced their way through in their numbers after overpowering the stewards and running through barriers. Maguire explained how some of these sat in seats in the section reserved for the friends and families of England players.
Some of these individuals waited around the entry of the Wembley Stadium to snatch away valid tickets from ticket owners the moment they brought their tickets out to be read by the barcode scanners. There appeared to be a mob in the stands that was also intimidating others and forcefully taking people’s seats.
The violence has been roundly condemned by the government as has the acts of vandalism and racially motivated attacks targeted at persons of colour and of Italian heritage even as the Metropolitan Police have continued making arrests based on the progress of their investigations.
Nick Scott, a children’s football coach, was arrested over a racist tweet directed at England star Marcus Rashford and he was detained on suspicion of inciting racial hatred after Twitter users flagged a post from his account telling the Manchester United player to “get to ya own country”.
The 50-year-old denied sending the message and insists his account was “hacked”. The tweet read: “Marcus Rashford that MBE needs burning ya fake. Pack them bags and get to ya own country.”
He has since been released while the investigation continues.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
