The first reports of anti-social behaviour - missiles being thrown at the entertainers on the stage in Piccadilly Gardens and fighting between fans - came at 11.30am on the day of the final - more than eight hours before kick-off. Problems with drunken, anti-social and criminal behaviour continued throughout the afternoon and early evening in Piccadilly Gardens as tens of thousands of fans in Albert Square, Cathedral Gardens and elsewhere in the city were enjoying a more carnival atmosphere with little trouble. Although there was a problem with the signal to the big screen in Piccadilly Gardens at the beginning of the match, it was within minutes of being fixed when drunken and violent behaviour by a significant number but small minority of people meant technicians had to abandon their attempts to fix it. "It is clear that several hundred visitors to the city were either so drunk or so intent on causing trouble that they spoiled the enjoyment of many thousands of genuine supporters and caused major disruption to other users of the city centre. http://www.manchester.gov.uk/site/scripts/meetings_info.php?meetingID=716
not one second of the match came on the big screen so there's the first lie the screen was surrounded by a fence (apart from the screen side obviously) so how can you pelt people who are totally surrounded? the screen was pelted yes. there wasnt a techinician in sight.
12.3 All screens were delivered to their respective sites on Tuesday 13th May, the system was set up and full, clear signals were recorded at each site. 12.4 Lightmedia have reported that between 9am and 5.30pm all screens were operating fine. There were several incidents of bottles or cans being thrown at the screens or technicians but no problems with the operation. 12.5 In the light of the pressure being experienced in all the city centre fan zones, the Velodrome contingency screens were deployed at 5.30pm. In Piccadilly Gardens, difficulties with signal reception started at about 5.30pm with a momentary glitch returning to normal. Fans were not aware of this as the screen was showing slides and DVDs provided by the Council. Many were very drunk outside the techniciansâ station however and radio contact told the screen company that bottles were being thrown and services such as First Aid and Merchandising were under threat. 12.6 A signal booster was sent for to strengthen the signal. New antenna and a new receiver were obtained and installed at 6.10pm. 12.7 The signal got worse however and a decision was taken to use a microwave system that was available from the Velodrome, already planned as a back up system in case of failure at any of the sites. 12.8 Lightmedia reported increased incidents of violence outside the technical cabin at 6.30pm. When one of the technicians went out onto the cabin roof to realign the aerial he was pelted with bottles and missiles, one of which hit him on the forehead. At this stage they couldnât get hold of events control or security as mobile phones were not working. Aware that they were working in a very volatile area the technical team continued to seek a solution to the signal malfunction and just after 7pm the microwave and power supply arrived. A message on the screen announcing that the system would be up and running shortly and to be patient, appeared to make the fansâ behaviour worse. 12.9 In the light of comments in the media and elsewhere it must be clarified and emphasised that the issue at Piccadilly Gardens related to the strength of the signal, not the screen. The provision of two, three or more screens would have made no difference. Without the signal there could be no picture. 12.10 Attempts to access the roof to install the receiver became impossible because of the violence being perpetrated against them. At 7.30pm the message was relayed on the screens telling fans of other screen locations. The Director of Lightmedia who was present for the whole of this operation believes they were in serious danger and instructed his staff to abandon the screen and run. The Director of Lightmedia also maintains that, but for the violence of the crowd, the signal could and would have been rectified within 5 to 10 minutes at 7.30pm. 12.11 The inability of the screen company to complete their work and to abandon the screen was followed by an announcement that an alternative venue was being provided and fans should go to the Velodrome. 12.12 Lightmedia has spent time since the match investigating the problem and one specific line of enquiry has focused on the Vodafone transmitter locations and the possibility that the sheer volume of traffic meant the phone systems went down and potentially interfered with the signals being received by Freeview. 12.13 This report of the signal failure has been raised with Vodafone. They expanded the network around the stadium, aware of the UEFA Cup Final and the requirement for maximum capacity, however they were unaware until the day, of the decision to utilise big screens in the city centre and the consequent gathering of large numbers of people. The network capacity for mobile phone traffic on Wednesday 14th May therefore was for a normal working day. With huge numbers of people trying to use mobile phones (New Years Eve effect) they confirm that this will have led to communication difficulties in key parts of the city centre. 12.14 Vodafone are unable to account for the failure of the signal to the screen however and the City Council will undertake further investigation into this.
so it was our fault then. too many phone calls. damn it. who's idea was it to move 50,000 angry drunk chelsea fans to a velodrome that holds 3000 people?
Its a sweep sweep job. Everycunt and their da knows that they deliberatley switched the screens off, and quite why you wish to spend so much internet time investigating the GMC site for "clarifuckayshaun" is quite sad and shows you up as being a bitter wee man. How doesn one plead?
No clarification needed, i'm simply telling you what the "Official" report says. You and any Gers fan can tell me "you saw no such thing" or that certain things happened for a "fact" but unless you are omnipresent you have no way of knowing. I have no idea if the report is accurate or a tissue of lies and if truth be told neither do you.
the official report is bullshit. they pulled the plug to stop a deadly crush end of story. The fact that the riot police were waiting outside Piccadilly gardens at KO time proves it for me, you know the same ones who "were drafted in later that night"
I was at the place where it started though and witnessed alot of ****. which i still have on film on an old memory stick somewhere. 1 video showing a local asian man in a suit being ragdolled to the floor by a copper for trying to get to his car.
Have you ever considered it was because your fans went to Manchester with something of a reputation for causing trouble, especially at European games? It would have been remiss of them not to be ready to take action, a point that was surely proven as the day and night progressed.
I was at the Trafalgar Square site. I left from one exit with my brother, 3 of our mates were forced out a different exit. Riot police were at both exits as soon as people started leaving. It's not the first time police have been accused of unneccesary tactics for crowd control and it will not be the last.
