Police operation for Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv match 'unprecedented'

The policing operation under way around the controversial Aston Villa match against Maccabi Tel Aviv is “unprecedented”, Birmingham’s police commander has said.

More than 700 officers are out in the city for the Uefa Europa League match, which kicks off at 20:00 GMT, alongside police horses, dogs, drones and roads units.

Ch Supt Tom Joyce said at least half a dozen groups were expected to protest including pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli groups as well as the far right.

“We police football matches a lot. We police protests a lot. We deal with all sorts of public order scenarios, but certainly the level of interest, the level of concern around this match is pretty unprecedented,” he said.

Outside the stadium, hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered before the game, waving flags and banners calling for an end to violence in Gaza.

Five flatbed vehicles were driven past the ground prior to kick-off of the Europa League match, carrying electronic billboards showing messages opposing antisemitism.

One of the messages, beside a Star of David, read “Ban hatred not fans” while another carried a quote from Thierry Henry saying football is not about goals but bringing people together.

On Thursday, numbers of officers from the West Midlands force were boosted by police from 10 forces across the country.

Ch Supt Joyce said police had prepared for the possibility of people turning up looking for a fight.

“We’ve absolutely planned for that contingency,” he said.

“We recognise that those groups who won’t engage with this are probably turning up with different motives to those who want to protest lawfully.

“The policing operation you can see is partly a reflection of the need to deal with that.”

Officers were deployed to the city centre by 13:30, amid reports of some protesters arriving early.

Police are using Section 60 powers in an area stretching from Aston and Perry Barr to Birmingham New Street and the city centre, which started at midday and run until 03:00 on Friday.

Ahead of the game, those living and working in the city near Villa Park saw shops and schools close early.

Meanwhile, Jewish Villa fan Elliot Ludvig said he was apprehensive about attending the match.

Mr Ludvig, who will attend with his son, told the BBC: “I’m apprehensive about what’s going to happen. I’m apprehensive about the potential for violence for one thing.

“I’m apprehensive about various unpleasantries that we might encounter along the way, both outside the stadium and inside the stadium.”

He said his other major emotion was “disappointment”.

“Is it worth going to a football game to potentially put myself at some sort of risk and or expose my son to to all sorts of unpleasantries which you might not want to?,” he asked.

Those who called for calm included one fan group, the Punjabi Villans, which urged people to respect each other and for everyone to get home safely, posting on social media: “We’re in this together. Football unites us.”

On Wednesday night, the chief executive of Maccabi Tel Aviv said it was “incredibly sad” his side’s fans could not be there, adding: “Politics should never be drawn into football.”

Planned protests include two by supporters of Palestine, who have been calling for the match to be called off.

The BBC has also been told a Maccabi Solidarity Rally has also been organised to coincide with the match.

On Monday, Naeem Malik, chair of West Midlands Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said there had been national outrage over the hosting of the Israeli team.

“The calls to cancel this match have been ignored despite the risks that it carries, therefore we must urge activists to unite in protest against this match,” he said.

Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War Coalition, Muslim Association of Britain, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Kashmir solidarity campaign and Palestinian Forum in Britain had called for the match to be cancelled and jointly organised one of the protests.