Supporters left distressed after post-match disorder

Newcastle United will launch a formal complaint after their travelling supporters were, in the club’s words, “indiscriminately assaulted by the police” following the Champions League defeat at Marseille. The incident has sparked considerable anger among fans, raised new concerns about supporter safety in France and prompted the club to demand urgent explanations from Uefa, Marseille and the local police.

The 2-1 loss on the pitch was overshadowed by worrying scenes off it, as Magpies supporters were subjected to pepper spray, baton strikes and police shields in what the club has described as “unnecessary and disproportionate force”. The treatment of fans has ignited a broader debate about crowd management in French football, already under scrutiny after recent high-profile incidents.

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Newcastle outline their concerns

The club detailed the planned post-match procedure, which was supposed to be straightforward. Fans in the away section were to be held back for up to an hour for their own safety before being escorted in groups of 500 to the metro station, then transported back to the designated fan meeting point at Place de la Joliette.

However, once the first group was released, police began preventing others from leaving and used force to stop the remaining Newcastle fans from progressing. The club revealed that supporters in the upper concourse area were left distressed as crushing developed, with some struggling to breathe in the tightly packed space.

Newcastle staff attempted to intervene, speaking directly to officers, but the club said these efforts had “limited impact” on the aggressive tactics being used.

“Supporter safety and welfare should always be of paramount importance,” the club said in a statement. “We strongly condemn the treatment of our supporters by the police during this incident.”

Fans describe ‘inhumane’ conditions

Supporters who made the trip to France offered deeply troubling eyewitness accounts. Season ticket holder Liam Phillips, 42, said he would never return to Marseille and would “probably never go back to France to watch a game” after experiencing the chaos.

Phillips stressed that local people were welcoming, but said police “whacked people indiscriminately” while crowd movement pushed fans into the frontline of officers. He described an exhausting ordeal that had begun at 4pm and ended only when he arrived back at his hotel close to 2am.

“It just felt inhumane,” he said. “We were being treated like criminals when the vast majority were only there to watch their team. There was no aggro and no need for it.”

Another supporter, Darren Curry, co-founder of the Newcastle Supporters Club, highlighted how fans were left standing in pools of urine after toilets overflowed. He called the safety operation “very poor”, and described witnessing numerous supporters in visible distress.

“If you're at the front and there’s a surge forward, I’m pretty sure the police will baton charge you,” he said. “It was very lucky no one was seriously hurt.”

French police deny excessive force

The local police presented a starkly different version of events. In their statement, they acknowledged the use of tear gas but insisted it was “very limited” and deployed only once in response to a large crowd surge. They denied using any batons or other force, claiming the overall operation “went smoothly” and resulted in no injuries or complaints.

Marseille supported this account, citing Uefa’s debriefing and insisting the planned system had been followed correctly. The club added that concourses remained open so supporters could access toilets and refreshments during the holding period, and blamed overflowing toilets on deliberate vandalism.

Supporters’ groups call for change

The Football Supporters’ Association criticised Marseille’s handling of the event and said local authorities must “drastically improve the welcome afforded to away supporters”. They praised Newcastle for their strong stance, adding to growing pressure on French football to reform its matchday operations.

Uefa has yet to comment publicly but is expected to face renewed scrutiny, particularly given the pattern of complaints from visiting English fans over the past two seasons.

A wider problem for French football

Concerns about supporter safety in France have intensified since the chaotic 2022 Champions League final in Paris, where Liverpool supporters were penned in dangerous conditions and tear-gassed by police. Subsequent independent findings concluded that a “mass fatality catastrophe” was narrowly avoided, with Uefa and French authorities criticised for failings.

Despite this, little appears to have changed. Manchester United fans raised alarm over their Europa League trip to Lyon last season, while Tottenham Hotspur supporters voiced concerns just this week following their Champions League visit to Paris Saint-Germain.

Ronan Evain, executive director of Football Supporters Europe, said there is a persistent, systemic problem in France.

“We are seeing things that would be completely unacceptable elsewhere in society,” he said. “Those police practices are putting people’s health and lives at risk.”

Evain believes French authorities have not absorbed the lessons from previous incidents.

“The inquiry into the 2022 final has been completely ignored,” he said. “Nobody was held to account and nothing has significantly changed.”

He warned that Uefa may eventually have to move fixtures away from French cities if they are consistently deemed unsafe for travelling supporters.

“We are getting dangerously close to that solution,” he added.

What comes next

Newcastle’s formal complaint is expected to outline the testimonies of their supporters and call for accountability from the authorities involved. It could also contribute to a broader push from clubs and fans for higher standards of matchday safety across Europe.

With France bidding to host multiple major European finals in the coming years, pressure is likely to rise. The treatment of Newcastle fans at the Stade Velodrome has become the latest reminder that safety concerns cannot be ignored, and that meaningful reform may be overdue.

For now, supporters await answers, while the football world watches to see whether the events in Marseille will finally force change.