{"id":167075,"date":"2025-11-07T01:50:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T01:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/167075\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T01:50:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T01:50:11","slug":"schools-close-early-amid-crowd-trouble-fears-at-aston-villa-v-maccabi-tel-aviv-match","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/167075\/","title":{"rendered":"Schools close early amid crowd trouble fears at Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv match"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several protests against the ongoing war in Gaza are expected before the kick-off of the Europa League game on Thursday evening.<\/p>\n

Local school the BOA Creative, Digital and Performing Arts Academy said it would close at 1.15pm ahead of the match.<\/p>\n

The school\u2019s principal told parents in an email that \u201ca number of schools in the local area\u201d were would be doing the same ahead of the planned protests.<\/p>\n

Another school, Mansfield Primary Academy, which is less than a mile from the stadium, also said it would be closing at 2pm \u201cdue to the Villa match\u201d.<\/p>\n

This comes after protest group Palestine Solidarity Campaign announced it will protest the match to demand Israel be excluded from international football.<\/p>\n

In a statement, the group said: \u201cIsraeli football is deeply involved in Israel\u2019s oppression of Palestinians.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Israel Football Association, of which <\/a>Maccabi Tel Aviv is a member, contains at least six clubs based in illegal Israeli settlements on stolen Palestinian land.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaccabi Tel Aviv has itself supported Israel\u2019s genocide in Gaza by sending care packages to serving Israeli soldiers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lord Austin, UK trade envoy to Israel, spoke out against the decision on social media. Writing on X, he said: \u201cLocal politicians and community leaders should be doing everything they can to improve education in areas like Aston and Lozells,<\/p>\n

\u201cNot inflaming tensions and calling for boycotts, bans and protests that result in schools being closed early. What a disgrace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police have said that closures were not in any way informed by their advice.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Birmingham City Council has said they have not been aware of any school closures due to the match.<\/p>\n

The match will be policed by 700 officers despite the pre-existing ban on away fans.<\/p>\n

Police horses and dogs will be on standby, with additional officers in a \u201clarge policing operation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Football Unit of the West Midlands Police said it will be enforcing \u201cmultiple ticket checks on the approach to the stadium\u201d.<\/p>\n

A red-alert will be issued for offices as protests are expected from all sides, including pro-Palestine, pro-Israel and possibly British nationalist groups.<\/p>\n

There is also expected to be a strong police presence at local Aston and Whitton train stations, with the intention of keeping opposing groups apart to reduce hostilities.<\/p>\n

Aston Villa\u2019s manager, Unai Emery, has said his focus is on the game and leading his team to a win after a shock loss at Go Ahead Eagles two weeks ago.<\/p>\n

Last month, Birmingham\u2019s council-led Safety Advisory Group consulted with police to announce that Maccabi fans will not be able to attend the Europa League game.<\/p>\n

The decision was informed by events at previous Maccabi European games, including one last season in Amsterdam, which raised concerns around the match being possibly \u201chigh risk\u201d.<\/p>\n

The SAG cited incidents at previous Maccabi European games, including in Amsterdam last season, arguing that it made the match \u201chigh risk\u201d and that a ban on travelling fans was required.<\/p>\n

Keir Starmer,<\/a> his government and the opposition have opposed the move.<\/p>\n

Last month, Maccabi said in a statement that fans would no longer be safe at the upcoming match due to \u201chate-filled falsehoods\u201d and a \u201ctoxic atmosphere\u201d expected at the game. The club said that it would ensure Israeli fans are blocked from buying tickets, even if the ban is lifted.<\/p>\n

Fears have been sparked around Tommy Robinson supporters infiltrating the game. Robinson took to social media to ask: \u201cWho\u2019s coming to support Maccabi Tel Aviv at Villa Park?\u201d<\/p>\n

Villa Park sits in an area of Birmingham with a large Muslim community, and its local MP, Independent Ayoub Khan, has supported the ban on away fans, calling it a \u201cmoral issue\u201d as opposed to one of safety.<\/p>\n

Police have announced that they intend to \u201cbalance the right to protest with our duty to protect all communities\u201d but anticipate the protests will impact the game\u2019s attendance.<\/p>\n

Birmingham police commander Chief Superintendent Tom Joyce said: \u201cOur message to those from all communities in Birmingham is that we have listened and will continue to engage with you.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe remain committed to maintaining the city\u2019s reputation as a safe and welcoming place for everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone who breaks the law will be dealt with directly, as will those who incite hate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Villa confirmed that tickets will only be sold to fans with a history of attending matches, and the away stands will remain empty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Several protests against the ongoing war in Gaza are expected before the kick-off of the Europa League game…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":167076,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[4699,9,10,13,14,6,11,12,15,16,5,7,8,65,66,67],"class_list":{"0":"post-167075","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-aston-villa","9":"tag-breaking-news","10":"tag-breakingnews","11":"tag-featured-news","12":"tag-featurednews","13":"tag-headlines","14":"tag-latest-news","15":"tag-latestnews","16":"tag-main-news","17":"tag-mainnews","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-top-stories","20":"tag-topstories","21":"tag-world","22":"tag-world-news","23":"tag-worldnews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115505910491959692","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167075\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}