Three officers injured as Legia Warsaw fans clash with police outside Villa Park
Legia Warszawa fans have been pictured lighting flares and clashing with police outside Aston Villa’s stadium in Birmingham ahead of a Europa Conference League tie tonight.
The city’s police force has said three officers have injured after missiles were thrown, and they were unable to let the Polish football team’s supporters into Villa Park as a result.
A large crowd has travelled across Europe for the match, with more than 1,000 reported to have come to the city despite not having a ticket.
The Express and Star has said around 3,000 fans are believed to have arrived despite West Midlands Police cutting the ticket allocation for the team.
Originally, there were 1,700 tickets available for the away support, but this was cut to just 1,000 following intervention by the police.
The newspaper said Legia fans believe they are being unfairly discriminated against.
However, images from Birmingham tonight show angry scenes outside Villa Park, with police bringing horses and riot shields to the scene.
A statement from Birmingham Police said: ‘We’re currently unable to allow away fans into Villa Park following disorder outside the stadium which has seen missiles thrown at officers.
.Three officers have already been injured & a significant policing operation continues. Please avoid Witton Lane where possible.’
The match kicked off at 8pm, with Aston Villa’s Moussa Diaby opening the scoring after just four minutes.
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