GLASGOW City club manager Laura Montgomery last night insisted that the huge police presence at Sunday’s Uefa Women’s Champions League quarter final against Paris Saint-Germain was justified.
The game, which PSG won 2-0, was attended by 80-100 Paris St Germain ultras, who, ironically, are barred from the Parc des Princes in Paris, where the men’s team play their home matches.
They travelled to Scotland to watch the women’s side, sparking a high profile Police Scotland operation.
“These are supporters who are banned by PSG and deemed high risk,” Montgomery pointed out. “We worked very closely with the police and Uefa in numerous meetings leading up to the match.
“Our main priority was that everyone in the stadium was safe and secure. PSG did raise concerns with us, but to be honest they didn’t need to because the police were aware of them already.
“There was a massive amount of intelligence and Police Scotland were absolutely outstanding in the way they dealt with it.
“They permitted these banned supporters to come to the match under strict instructions. They in turn enjoyed the game and added to the atmosphere, so it worked very well.”
As Montgomery inferred, the ultras chanted incessantly throughout the 90 minutes, but they appeared to be in good humour despite having been escorted by large numbers of police officers, including some on horseback, from Airdrie’s train station to the Excelsior Stadium.
They were segregated in the stand opposite the home supporters and again hemmed in by officers.
They were rewarded for their loyalty at the end by the PSG players. Led by captain Sabrina Delannoy, they crossed the pitch at the final whistle to shake hands with the fans and applaud them.
The ultras, and other fans’ groups, were banned from the Parc des Princes in 2010. A supporter was killed in clashes between rival factions that year, while in 2006 another was shot by police following a Uefa Cup tie at the Paris ground.
PSG ultras were also blamed for attacking Chelsea fans with chairs and bottles eleven months ago.
Although a record crowd of nearly 1,800 – at least in modern times – for a women’s club match in Scotland was at the Excelsior, most of the supporters were parents and children.
Such matches rarely require anything other than minimal policing and stewarding.
One exception was Scotland’s European Championship qualifier against Israel at Tynecastle in 2012, which the home side won 8-0.
Pro-Palestinian protesters in the ground were accompanied by a large police presence on that occasion as well.
More recently, flares were set off in the Tynecastle stand by young males when Scotland played the Netherlands in last year’s World Cup qualifying play-off match.
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