Champions League Final crowds: ‘It could have been as bad as Hillsborough disaster’ - Yorkshire fans describe Paris chaos

A survivor of the Hillsborough disaster from Yorkshire who attended the Champions League Final on Saturday (May 28) has condemned the actions of the French authorities who used pepper spray and tear gas on fans.

Liverpool took on Real Madrid at the Stade de France at the weekend but the game was delayed, with distressing scenes outside of the stadium of fans being tear gassed and “dangerous” queues building up, according to fans.

UEFA has now launched an independent review into what happened.

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French authorities have blamed the delay on the late arrivals of fans and the policing tactics were due to fraudulent tickets on an “industrial scale,” although they regret the “disorganised welcome,” according to France’s interior minister Gérald Darmanin.

Chairman Alex Green, Founder and Hillsborough Disaster survivor David Houlgate, alongside members of the Harrogate Branch of Liverpool FC Supporters ClubChairman Alex Green, Founder and Hillsborough Disaster survivor David Houlgate, alongside members of the Harrogate Branch of Liverpool FC Supporters Club
Chairman Alex Green, Founder and Hillsborough Disaster survivor David Houlgate, alongside members of the Harrogate Branch of Liverpool FC Supporters Club

But Yorkshire fans who attended the game said the incident in which fans were funnelled into a dangerously narrow space had the potential to have been another Hillsborough disaster.

“More than 20,000 supporters were funnelled through a 10 yard space.Policing was shambolic,” said David Houlgate who founded the Harrogate branch of the Liverpool FC’s Supporters Club after witnessing the Heysel disaster in 1985 in which 39 people lost their lives 600 injured, 37 years ago on Sunday (May 29).

A few years later in 1989, Mr Houlgate then aged 21, travelled by coach with his mother and fans from the Harrogate branch of the supporter’s club to Hillsborough for Liverpool’s FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest which resulted in the tragic deaths of 97 Liverpool fans attending the game.

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Of the weekend’s match, he said: “It could have been as bad as the Hillsborough disaster. There could have been fatalities.”

Queues outside the Stade de France prior to kick off of the Champions League FinalQueues outside the Stade de France prior to kick off of the Champions League Final
Queues outside the Stade de France prior to kick off of the Champions League Final

Mr Houlgate, who has attended 2,000 Liverpool matches for the past 40 years originally with his mother Diana as a child, arrived at the Stade de France three hours prior to the 9pm (local time) kick off with his friend and chairman of the Harrogate branch of Liverpool FC’s Supporters Club, Alex Green.

“Police often take a heavy handed approach when we’re overseas. Nothing surprises you but Liverpool supporters remained unbelievably calm,” said the 54-year-old, who looked on to the situation unfolding outside of the stadium thanks to arriving early.

“I went to the police and the stewards to try and intervene as they’d shut Gate Z. The turnstiles were chaotic.”

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He said police ignored him but the stewards were concerned fans weren’t being allowed in.

Fans queued in a "dangerously" small funnel according to supportersFans queued in a "dangerously" small funnel according to supporters
Fans queued in a "dangerously" small funnel according to supporters

Mr Houlgate said Liverpool observers were clearly “frustrated” at the situation.

“The more supporters build up the more pressure is put on that group of people. It’s a near miss - people couldn’t get into the ground,” said Mr Houlgate, who is a health and safety union representative through his job as a tax collector.

He said authorities were “completely unprepared.”

Mr Houlgate and his friend Mr Green said the worst thing was when officials put out an announcement on the tannoy, saying the match was delayed due to fans arriving late.

Three hours prior to kick-offThree hours prior to kick-off
Three hours prior to kick-off
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“We have heard these lies before,” said Mr Houlgate who has since given an official statement to Liverpool FC, following the final in which Liverpool were defeated by Real Madrid 1-0.

He added: “One of our friends got tear gassed in the fan park. Some friends had kids there too. Tear gas and pepper spray can cause widespread panic.”

Mr Houlgate said that alone can trigger a dangerous situation without the added problems of people being trapped in a narrow space.

He added: “There were families there, people in wheelchairs and the police still seemed to take a heavy handed approach. It’s shocking really.”

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The pair said they saw one man who finally managed to get into the stadium collapse and have to be stretchered away.

On May 30, UEFA launched an independent review into the chaos, which the 200-strong Harrogate Supporter’s Club chairman described as “a small step in the right direction, so long as they acknowledge what actually happened.”

"It had the potential to be another Hillsborough Disaster" say fans"It had the potential to be another Hillsborough Disaster" say fans
"It had the potential to be another Hillsborough Disaster" say fans

Mr Green, 38, said at least three fans at the game on Saturday from his supporters club had also experienced the Hillsborough Disaster.

“Thankfully everyone was ok and survived Hillsborough but obviously there was a lot of mental scarring on the back of that and some of our members are still affected by that to this day.”

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Mr Green said the Champions League Final had the “potential” to see history repeating itself.

“The game almost felt secondary to your own safety. There was no duty of care. It felt like authorities weren’t interested in the fans' safety,” he said.

Mr Green, who works as an architect, blamed poor organisation, a narrow funnelling system for Liverpool fans and a lack of perimeter checks to get into the ground for the chaotic scenes which have since been viewed and condemned worldwide.

“When we turned up at the Stade de France, Real Madrid fans were told to go straight on and Liverpool fans were told to go left,” he said.

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“After this point things got worse. We followed the natural flow of traffic to the end of the street.

“There were no perimeter checks on the street then we went through the underpass before just one checkpoint.

“My ticket was folded the wrong way and like all tickets didn’t have a hologram on it.”

He said due to the narrow funnel and number of people in a confined space a woman next to him started screaming and was in tears.

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“She was pretty petrified and things were about to get much worse, for those entering the ground shortly after us,” said Mr Green, whose friend Paul missed the first half of the match despite arriving at the stadium two and a half hours early.

You can watch Paul in our exclusive video who said that it was “carnage,” as authorities had shut the gate.

“We stood on the concourse so we could see the problems unfold,” said Mr Green, who criticised the fact that two out of three turnstiles had been closed.

“To cap it off UEFA were putting out false announcements on the tannoy blaming fans.”

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But he insisted Liverpool fans can be seen in his footage queuing in an orderly manner and he said it was locals who had been trying to get in.

France’s interior minister Gérald Darmanin, at a press conference on Monday (May 30), said: “We deplore a lack of organisation in the way the English fans were received.”

But he claimed 30,000 to 40,000 Liverpool fans turned up without tickets or with counterfeit tickets.

“I am struggling to see how they got to that number, that’s ridiculous,” said Mr Green.

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He said four or five of their supporters have said that they are never going to a match again as a result of the “distressing” treatment “which had the potential to be another Hillsborough Disaster.”

The Hillsborough Survivors Support Alliance took to twitter to offer support on Sunday (May 29): “The events of last night have increased the anxiety levels and flashbacks of many who were at Hillsborough. We feared another tragedy and hearing many stories it's a miracle no one was killed. Please get in touch if you need to talk.”

The Harrogate branch of the supporters club was formed as a result of the Heysel Disaster and continues to campaign for the safe travel of fans.

Mr Green added: “But it actually seemed like the police wanted trouble. I was at the final in Athens in 2007 and even that wasn’t this bad.”

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He now hopes that lessons can be learned but criticised UEFA for acting too slowly.

He added: “A friend got punched by a security guard as he was getting into the ground and he thinks he’s got a broken rib.

“In the last minute of the game riot police started forming around the Liverpool end but none in the Real Madrid end - they didn’t bother.”

Mr Green and Mr Houlgate said they had a lucky escape after the game too, choosing to get the train rather than the metro back into the city centre as their friends were attacked by gangs.

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“We had all been calling each other to check if one another was OK. Another guy from Harrogate was pepper sprayed in the face by a local thug and another was pushed to the ground and mugged,” said Mr Green.