The England defender’s dad was caught up in the chaos
Harry Maguire has revealed his dad suffered suspected broken ribs after he was caught up in the fan chaos ahead of the Euro 2020 final kickoff at Wembley.
Before the match between England and Italy, ticketless fans managed to storm through a disabled entrance at the stadium and get into the ground. Maguire’s dad, Alan, was knocked over in the stampede and was left struggling to breathe.
The footballer has described the incident as “scary” and said that his family will be “more aware” when attending future games.
Speaking to the Sun, Maguire spoke of his relief that neither his daughters or nephew were with his dad at the time.
The 28-year-old said: “It was not a nice experience — it shook him up. But he was fortunate as every game he has been to he has had my nephew or one of my kids on his shoulders.”
He continued: “My dad was in the stampede. I have not spoken with him too much but I am pleased my kids didn’t go to the game.
“It was scary, he said he was scared and I don’t want anyone to experience that at a football match.
“I have seen a lot of videos and have spoken to Dad and my family. It was my dad and agent who suffered the most.
“I hope we can learn from this and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
This is disgraceful. Twitter let’s find them #Euro2020Final pic.twitter.com/0mF6aYitCb
— Nadeem Ahmed (@Muqadaam) July 11, 2021
Despite his pain and discomfort, Maguire said that his dad was understandably desperate to see his son play in the final, so he “got on with it.”
“My dad’s a big fan, he got on with it,” he said.
“He was struggling with his breathing afterwards because of his ribs, but he’s not one to make a big fuss.
“The experience at Wembley is always amazing, filled with great people and great fans normally.
“But this time was obviously the final and everyone got overwhelmed and the way some people acted was totally wrong.
“Dad will always support me and go to the games but he will be a little bit more aware of everything going on around. We should all be more aware and learn from it.”
UEFA have opened disciplinary proceedings against the FA following crowd trouble at the Euro 2020 final.
https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1414276912575361028
Maguire added that he hopes the ugly scenes at Wembley do not affect England’s chances of hosting a future World Cup.
He said: “Wembley is an amazing place. It has been an amazing home and the fans and the way they have acted have been unbelievable, apart from the odd few in a final.
“We need to learn and we will — and it would be an amazing place to hold the World Cup.”
