Aston Villa vs Maccabi Tel Aviv: Why no away allocation? Will there be protests? What are the police’s plans?
Aston Villa host Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv at Villa Park in Birmingham on Thursday in a Europa League game that caused headlines last month when it was confirmed there will be no allocation for away fans.
West Midlands Police (WMP), led by chief constable Craig Guildford, had advised Birmingham’s safety advisory group (SAG) against approving an away allocation, owing to the fixture being classified as high-risk. UEFA, European football’s governing body and the competition’s organiser, followed the recommendation of local authorities.
An emergency meeting was organised on October 15, which took place at 1.30pm the following day. Villa’s head of security, Sye Roberts, was on the call alongside representatives from Birmingham City Council, the SAG and other relevant parties. It lasted around an hour.
The Athletic revealed on October 16 that WMP had requested that Maccabi fans be prevented from buying tickets to the match. This decision led to criticism from senior UK politicians and others, before Maccabi said on October 20 they would decline any ticket allocation even if the decision were reversed.
Here, The Athletic explains the background to the controversy and the security plans around tomorrow’s fixture.
What is the background to the security concerns?
The decision not to allow the Israeli club’s supporters to attend the game was announced on October 16. WMP said it based its decision “on current intelligence and previous incidents”, including violent clashes and hate-crime offences that occurred during a Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel-Aviv in Amsterdam last November.
Dutch police made 62 arrests after Maccabi supporters were “attacked, abused and pelted with fireworks” after that game. Five people were taken to hospital, with as many as 30 more suffering minor injuries. The evening before, police said Maccabi supporters attacked a taxi and set a Palestinian flag on fire.
Maccabi supporters at the Ajax game in 2024 (Robin van Lonkhuijsen / ANP / AFP)
This September, Maccabi were met with protests calling for Israeli clubs to be expelled from UEFA competition when they played PAOK in Greece in another Europa League tie. Just over 100 Maccabi fans also made that trip and Greek police conducted a large-scale security operation outside the stadium to ensure order was maintained.
These incidents came in the context of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Why was the Villa-Maccabi game deemed especially risky?
Birmingham has seen frequent pro-Palestinian demonstrations since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict. According to a 2021 census, around 30 per cent of the city’s 1.1million population is Muslim, with the visit of an Israeli team regarded as a high-risk safety concern. According to the data from 2021, the surrounding areas near Villa Park, in the Aston district, have a Muslim population of 73.2 per cent.
At 6pm on Thursday, two hours before the match kicks off, there is a planned demonstration from The Birmingham Palestine Coalition situated on Trinity Road, only a few hundred yards away from the stadium.
UK far-right activist Tommy Robinson — real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon — has encouraged his followers to “support Maccabi Tel Aviv at Villa Park”. Several related community and Villa-fan groups declined to comment when asked by The Athletic if they shared safety concerns.
“We know protests by different groups will take place on the day,” the WMP said on Monday. “We have plans in place which balance the right to protest with our duty to protect all communities in Birmingham.”
What was the reaction to the decision not to allow Maccabi fans?
Opponents of the move insisted authorities underestimated the scale of the response to news of it, while local counsellors were not in total agreement and, in private conversations, believed there was growing pressure to reconsider.
According to the UK Football Policing Unit, the government was informed of WMP’s concerns the previous week. But several high-profile political figures condemned the judgement, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
“This is the wrong decision,” said Starmer, posting on X. “We will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets. The role of the police is to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (Stefan Rousseau/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
“The fact that the prime minister referred to this decision as antisemitic is wholly disingenuous,” Ayoub Khan, the independent member of parliament for Perry Barr, another area of Birmingham just north of Aston, told The Athletic on October 17.
“He is conflating the Maccabi fans with the Jewish community. You’ve got to look at the violent acts that took place in Amsterdam. The prime minister has taken this out of context, and he has been irresponsible, as have Kemi Badenoch (the leader of the Conservatives, the UK’s main opposition party) and other parliamentarians who have shifted this conversation. It’s not about Jews, it’s about hooligans, and that is what the SAG had determined. And we should be supporting our public sector workers.”
The following day, police and crime commissioner for the West Midlands, Simon Foster, called for “an immediate review” of the decision and ordered a special meeting of Birmingham’s safety advisory group and WMP.
What attempts were made to allow away fans to attend?
The day after it was confirmed that away fans would not be attending the match at Villa Park, several people involved in the region’s politics, who were briefed on the situation but did not have permission to speak publicly, told The Athletic that they believed the decision would be reversed. This notion was dispelled once Maccabi said on October 20 that they would not accept any tickets if it was.
A statement from the UK government on October 20 read: “The government has been working around the clock to defend a basic principle – that football fans should be able to enjoy a game without fear of intimidation or violence.
“We are deeply saddened Maccabi Tel-Aviv have turned down their away fan allocation, but we respect their right to do so.
“It is completely unacceptable that this game has been weaponised to stoke violence and fear by those who seek to divide us. We will never tolerate antisemitism or extremism on our streets. We will continue to work closely with the police to ensure that this game goes ahead safely, and that Jewish communities across this country get the safety and security they deserve.”
Chief constable Guildford pushed back against the government’s comments two days later, insisting “Birmingham hasn’t failed anybody and neither has West Midlands Police. Decisions have to be respected if they are made. They are made with good, grounded understanding of the threat and what the risk is. Our job as the police is to try and keep everyone safe.”
On Tuesday, November 4, the matter was discussed further at a meeting of the City Council. Birmingham resident Simone Schehtman asked the leader of the council, John Cotton, if he would support “the release of all relevant documents” behind the decision made, “including from the safety advisory group and WMP”.
How have Villa reacted to the situation?
On October 17, Villa implemented additional security checks and precautions at their training ground, Bodymoor Heath, while matchday stewards, according to internal emails seen by The Athletic, were given the option of not working this Maccabi fixture. It is unclear how many, if any, have taken up this option.
Other departments involving security around Villa Park had not, at that stage, received an email and were awaiting clarification as to whether this also applied to them.
Multiple safety employees at the club are under the impression that Villa’s pitch runners — who escort players and officials on and off the pitch — will not work the match, with external pitch runners being used instead.
Villa’s stewarding group has changed in recent years, with external, third-party agencies now accounting for a significant percentage of matchday staff. Regular club personnel numbers have reduced significantly since the Covid-19 pandemic, in line with a broader trend across football.
Some security staff at Villa were offered the option of not working this fixture (Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
Last week, the Board of Deputies of British Jews claimed a suggestion to offer a ticket allocation for the match had been ignored by WMP and Villa. They had proposed that 500 tickets could have been provided in the away end to British Jewish football fans, but after conversations on the matter, this was rejected.
The Board of Deputies alleged WMP did engage initially, whereas Villa did not. According to Villa sources briefed on the matter, the club were not officially contacted directly, and only copied into a broader email on October 28, nine days before the fixture. The club’s view from a safety perspective was that it remained a high-risk fixture, with local authorities not changing this stance, despite the external response to the initial decision.
Villa have taken a strong stance to ensure safe entrance into their stadium for this match, with no one able to buy a ticket in home sections without a booking history that stretches beyond the start of this season. If a supporter only has a booking history within this season, they will not be able to purchase tickets.
Consequently, Villa felt that allowing in supporters who may not have a previous ticket booking history with them would go against security measures.
Is extra policing being provided?
Initially, the UK government sought to provide solutions in an attempt to reverse the decision not to offer an away ticket allocation. Lisa Nandy, the secretary of state for culture, media and sport, met with officials from the Home Office. They asked WMP to outline what “additional resources could allow them to police the game safely, with both sets of fans present”. This would have included extra policing.
The Home Office’s disagreement with WMP’s stance largely stemmed, according to government sources not authorised to speak publicly, from the concern that it sent the wrong message to Jewish communities. When contacted by The Athletic last week, the Home Office declined to comment.
It is common practice for regional police forces across the UK to call in additional support from neighbouring ones to help meet needs. WMP employs 700 fewer officers today than in 2010, when its budget was cut. In the latest available figures, as of September 2024, there were 7,995 full-time officers.
Drafting in extra support on Thursday is now likely, despite Maccabi supporters not having access to tickets, but it comes with high costs. Each additional officer would need expenses and salary covered by WMP. On top of that, officers stationed outside the Villa Park footprint tonight will have to be funded by the public purse. Officers operating on private land owned by Villa, meanwhile, would need to have costs met by the club. The local area near the stadium is a compact, highly populated one with few access routes.
According to government sources briefed on the matter, the Home Office also looked at ways to help the local police in ensuring they could manage Maccabi supporters.
WMP provided further details on Monday about its safety measures for “a large policing operation”. It said there will be over 700 police officers, plus police horses, a drone unit (drones will be restricted from flying within a one-mile radius of Villa Park between 2pm and 11.59pm on the day), the road policing unit and protest liaison officers. Home supporters will also face multiple ticket checks as they enter the ground.
Are there concerns about protests in the stadium?
Local authorities hope Maccabi fans will be dissuaded from making the trip to Birmingham. Tickets had not gone on sale to them prior to the decision being made not to allow their entry. Villa do not want their stadium to be used as a place of protest.
When stating ticket details, Villa reminded supporters that “the displaying of political symbols, messages or flags during the match is strictly prohibited and will result in immediate ejection and the issuing of a stadium ban”.
UEFA has stated that the team concerned are responsible for what is authorised in their stadium. Clubs have not been punished this season for displaying a country’s flag, but anything that is deemed to have “political messaging” will be confiscated. Further discussions were being held among delegates this week to assist with pre-match planning.
