Arsenal’s Europa League opener at the Emirates Stadium against Germany’s FC Köln Thursday had its kickoff delayed by an hour after away fans reportedly rushed the gates. As per The Mirror, away supporters got into the home sections, leading to Arsenal fans being kept outside and stewards delaying the kickoff to sort things out:
Cologne fans stormed the gates of the Emirates Stadium ahead of the Europa League opener, due to kick-off at 8pm, and stewards feared they could end up in the home section. The match was put on hold in the interest of crowd safety.
…There was an initial delay on Arsenal fans being allowed into the Emirates after they were forced to wait outside in large crowds ahead of the group game.
Here’s a video that appears to show Köln fans throwing barricades:
Cologne fans smashing barriers in a bid to get inside the Emirates https://t.co/aRojf2ShMT
— Telegraph Football (@TeleFootball) September 14, 2017
And a look at the crowd outside the stadium:
Earlier in the day, there were shots of away supporters marching down Oxford Street:
https://twitter.com/EmanDaGoonn/status/908330461134512128
But also videos of fights:
https://twitter.com/HooligansTV1/status/908397361650581504
Per The Mirror, several fights broke out, and the numbers of away fans far exceeded the numbers of tickets for their section:
But the scenes turned violent as fighting broke out on Wardour Street, Soho.
Men threw punches and tried to kick each other while fellow fans sang as they marched along the street.
While only around 3,000 tickets for the match went on sale, some estimates put the number of travelling supporters at nearer 20,000. Police later tonight estimated about 15,000 had attended.
In the U.S., the match is set to be broadcast on Fox Sports 1.
[The Mirror; photo from @info__deporte on Twitter]
