Alex Ross
The Independent / November 7, 2025
More than 700 officers deployed around Villa Park in massive policing operation for Europa League tie.
At least 11 people were arrested as a series of verbal clashes broke out during a pro-Palestine protest outside Aston Villa’s controversial Europa League match against Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside Villa Park ahead of Thursday night’s tie, which took place without visiting fans after Birmingham’s Safety Advisory Group raised public safety concerns.
The demonstrators, including members of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, gathered outside the stadium’s Trinity Road Stand, with a stage set up for speakers to lead chants against the IDF and in support of Palestinians.
They demanded Israel’s domestic football teams be excluded from UEFA competitions.
But despite calls for a peaceful protest, just before the game started at 8pm there were several verbal clashes between people outside the stadium and those taking part in the demonstration.
With more than 700 officers on duty as part of the major operation, West Midlands Police quickly intervened in each face-off, moving groups of people along and pushing the protesters away from stadium entrances.
The atmosphere calmed after the game started, but at half-time, with Villa fans coming out into the concourse, some confronted the protesters through a metal fence.
Police again quickly moved the groups apart, before later ensuring supporters and remaining demonstrators, who decided to stay on after the protest was called to an end at 8.30pm, were kept separated at the end of the match.
The force said a 21-year-old man was arrested for failing to comply with an order to remove a face mask, while another 21-year-old was arrested after trying to throw fireworks into the ground. A 17-year-old boy was arrested for failing to comply with a dispersal order and a man was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply drugs.
Five men were arrested for racially aggravated public order offences, one for breach of the peace. A 17-year-old boy was arrested after being issued with a dispersal order but refusing to leave the area.
Protest steward Naveed Sadiq said: “It’s unfortunate there were some skirmishes, but when you have a protest of this size, and so many people attending the game, I’m afraid you get the minority and these things happen.
“Overall, I’m pleased with how the protest has gone. I feel like we got our show of support for Palestine across tonight, while pushing our point that Maccabi Tel Aviv should not be in this competition, given what’s happened in Gaza.”
Ali Abbas, of the West Midlands Palestine Solidarity group, said: “The game should have been cancelled to begin with, and then there would not have been this situation. You have seen here the strength of feeling against it here locally tonight.”
Many people attending the protest waved Palestine flags and brandished placards, some saying “stop arming Israel” and “stop starving Gaza”.
Among those speaking was Perry Barr independent MP Ayoub Khan, who claimed Israeli teams should face a similar ban in European competitions to the one handed down by UEFA to Russian clubs following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
“When you see the images of children being massacred, when you understand that more than 800 athletes have been killed in Gaza… then you will understand the moral argument,” he told protesters.
Five flatbed vehicles were driven past the ground prior to kick-off, carrying electronic billboards showing messages opposing antisemitism.
One of the messages, beside a Star of David, read “Ban hatred not fans”, while another carried a quote from Thierry Henry saying football is not about goals but about bringing people together.
Around 40 protesters, one carrying an Israeli flag, and others carrying posters saying “Keep antisemitism out of football”, gathered on a basketball court on Witton Lane, close to the Doug Ellis Stand, to hear various speakers oppose the ban on Maccabi fans.
One Villa supporter, Adam Selway, said while he was not making any political statement, he felt sympathy with fans unable to attend and simply wanted to watch a football match.
“It’s not about politics, it’s about football,” he said. “It’s not the Villa fans that don’t want anyone here – the Villa fans want the away fans here.”
Maccabi announced it would decline any away tickets for the match after the government said it was “working around the clock” to ensure fans from both sides could attend.
Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer had called for the ban on away fans to be overturned, saying it was “the wrong decision”.
Alex Ross is a South West-based journalist for The Independent
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Tens of thousands sign petition to cancel Aston Villa vs Maccabi Tel Aviv match over Gaza war
Nadda Osman
The New Arab / November 6, 2025
Thousands of people have signed a petition calling on for the exclusion of Israel from international football as Maccabi Tel Aviv are set to play in Birmingham
Over 26,000 people in the UK have urged for the Aston Villa vs Maccabi Tel Aviv match, which is due to be held in Birmingham on Thursday, to be cancelled, citing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.
The petition, launched by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, has garnered widespread support with many criticising the decision to allow the match to go ahead, citing the tens of thousands of civilians Israel killed in Gaza.
The petition demands that the Football Association (FA) and UEFA, European football’s governing body, call off the game and “take steps to exclude Israel from international football”.
“Allowing Israeli football teams to compete in international competitions allows Israel to cynically present itself as a normal country, obscuring the reality of its genocide in Gaza, and imposition of a regime of settler-colonialism, military occupation and apartheid against Palestinians,” the petition states.
According to PSC, Maccabi Tel Aviv has been directly involved in Israel’s war on Gaza by sending ‘care packages’ to Israeli soldiers serving in the military.
The organisation further notes that the club is part of the Israel Football Association, which has at least six teams located in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which violates international law and UEFA statues.
Speaking to The New Arab, Lewis Backon, the PSC’s Campaigns Officer, said: “Allowing Israel to participate in international football and allowing its clubs to play in Britain normalises its genocide in Gaza, and apartheid regime against all Palestinians. It sends the signal that Israel will face no consequences for its crimes and atrocities”.
“Palestinians have long called for Israel to be removed from UEFA and FIFA, and we know that football fans in this country and around the world support this demand. Its time the footballing authorities listened,” Backon added.
Maccabi Tel Aviv fans have previously engaged in violent, threatening and genocidal chants, which celebrate the killing of Arabs, particularly during a match in Amsterdam which led to clashes in the city last year.
According to various reports, over 700 police officers will be on the streets of Birmingham on Thursday, along with police horses, dogs, drones and road units, in anticipation of the match.
The police will be implementing Section 60, which allows officers to stop and search people without “reasonable grounds”.
There will be two pro-Palestine protests in Birmingham on Thursday, the BBC reported, while a Maccabi solidarity rally has also been organised.
The latest developments come after the police made a decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from the match last month for safety reasons, a decision later portrayed as “antisemitic” by UK government ministers.
Maccabi Tel Aviv then issued a statement saying that its fans would not travel to Birmingham for safety reasons.
West Midlands Police had designated the game as “high risk”, following the actions of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans in Amsterdam last year.
Reports later revealed that Dutch police told their British counterparts that the violent Maccabi Tel Aviv fans in Amsterdam who caused chaos in November 2024 were “linked to the Israel Defence Forces” and that hundreds were “experienced fighters”.
Dutch police had clearly stated that “significant numbers of Maccabi fans were actively involved in demonstrations and confrontations”.
Local media in Birmingham have reported that schools in the Aston area are set to close early in anticipation of the match as tensions remain high.
Nadda Osman is British-Egyptian journalist and editor based in London
