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14th Sep 2017

FC Köln supporters fight with stewards inside Emirates ahead of Arsenal match

Kick-off had been delayed by an hour

Robert Redmond

Chaotic scenes.

People in this part of the world don’t get too excited by the Europa League, but FC Köln supporters certainly are, and 20,000 of them made the trip to watch their side play Arsenal in the competition.

The German fans made their presence felt in London ahead of the kick-off, which was delayed due to safety concerns.

The match is due to start at 9:05pm, rather than the scheduled time of 8:05pm, due to concerns about crowd safety. FC Köln supporters were allocated 2,900 tickets for the game, meaning thousands of ticketless away supporters turned up outside the Emirates.

When the gates eventually opened, there were disturbing scenes. According to BBC journalist Richard Conway, fights broke out between some away supporters and stewards inside after the stadium.

 

The fixture is the club’s first in Europe competition since 1992, and the scenes around the Emirates were chaotic ahead of the delayed kick-off.