Council Caused Manchester Riots By Switching Off Screen

[fraser54 0]

A SENIOR police figure has blamed Manchester council for the Uefa Cup final riot. Chris Burrows, chairman of the Greater Manchester Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file bobbies, said the big screen showing the match in Piccadilly Gardens was deliberately switched off.

 

Drunken fans went on the rampage before and after the game between Zenit St Petersburg and Rangers in May 2008.

 

Town hall officials have consistently said the screen failed, prompting a night of serious rioting. A council report blamed drunken fans for thwarting efforts to overcome a weak signal to the screen, with contractors ordered to abandon the site and run.

 

Following the latest claims, the councl again issued a strong denial and GMP Chief Constable Peter Fahy said no blame could be apportioned to any organisation.

 

Mr Burrows made his comments at the Federation's annual open meeting in the V&A hotel in Manchester. It included a question-and-answer session with Chief Constable Peter Fahy, Coun Paul Murphy, Mr Burrows and other Federation officials who were also on the panel.

 

Asked by one officer who had been to blame for the Uefa cup 'fiasco', Mr Burrows said: "It was the local authority. I was listening to the (police radio that night. That screen was switched off."

 

No-one on the panel rebutted Mr Burrows' comments.

 

After the meeting, Coun Jim Battle, deputy leader of the council, said: "The claim that the screen was switched off by the council is entirely unfounded. The screen broke down and as the technicians tried to fix it they were pelted with bottles. Nothing excuses the mindless violence that followed.

 

"Never have we experienced the widespread rioting and hooliganism we saw in the city that night. police officers, council staff and others showed admirable courage and carried out a splendid job under extremely difficult circumstances."

 

Mr Fahy later said: "A council investigation revealed the signal failure was responsible for the screen not working. No blame can be apportioned to any organisation. The disorder was a consequence of individuals taking part in violence."

 

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1182500_police_boss_council_caused_rangers_riot_by_turning_off_big_screen

[elderslieblue 0]

The minute Nacho scored that penalty in Italy it was obvious that the authorities in Manchester didn't want Rangers fans there.

 

We were told, "Don't travel without a ticket".

 

Several days later there was still no plan in place for either a fan zone or big screens.

 

I'd urge all Bears to petition against Manchester ever being awarded a major sporting event again.

[Frankie 8,151]

Excellent post EB...

[rbr 1,247]

Let's be honest about this , the whole set up was a shambles right from the get go , no city in Britain could or would have expected the influx of supporters that we took and certainly Manchester were as unprepared as they possibly could have been .

 

On the way home the day after there was a gentleman on Radio Scotland , his name I unfortunately didn't catch , anyway it turned out he was Glasgow District Council's major events manager and had been down to liase and assist the Manchester authorities , whilst not condoning the behaviour of the fans beecause we have to accept some of the blame , he absolutely slaughtered the setup and the shambolic preperations as well as the exceptionally poor control of resources on the day , now the reason I mention this is because the Evening Times contacted him later to do a follow up story on what he had witnessed only to be told that he was under instructions from his employer's ( the cooncil ) not to make his views known to anyone especially the press , but that he was compilying a full report , it later transpired that this report was never either published or made available .

 

No matter what happened that day will still live with me forever and no matter what my feelings are about Wattie I will forever be grateful to him for getting the opportunity to see my club take part in a major european final , something I never thought I would get to experience .

 

Even better was getting my picture taken holding the trophy with Ray Wilkins just before it was taken away to be placed on the pitch , fantastic

[Frankie 8,151]

Another great post rbr...

[Gazza_8 233]

We were told, "Don't travel without a ticket".

 

That happens all the time for British teams travelling throughout europe though.

 

I agree though, the council were to blame for the huge fuck-up.

 

The beer ran out in Albert(z) Square, beer ran out in the shops, no food available, no toilets and then the giant screen went tits up.

[Super_Ally 0]

And the polis lost the plot. :fish: