The Football Association has been told to take its medicine after England were handed a stadium ban and fine by UEFA.
The ban will see England forced to play at least one, possibly two, matches behind closed doors for the chaotic scenes inside and outside Wembley Stadium at the Euro 2020 final, with the FA also fined £84,500.
Thousands of supporters – described as ‘drunken yobs’ by FA chief executive Mark Bullingham – were able to illegally gain entry to the stadium for the match between England and Italy.
It is said valid ticket-holders were left afraid to confront people who had stolen their seats, with the families of England players and the son of Roberto Mancini among those whose were taken.
talkSPORT host Laura Woods revealed first hand the disgraceful scenes she witnessed before the showpiece, saying it was ‘carnage’ outside the gates of the Home of Football.
The FA’s punishment was revealed on Monday following a UEFA disciplinary, with the English football chiefs condemning the actions of the individuals, although begun its statement by expressing ‘disappointment’ at the outcome.
This didn’t sit well with talkSPORT’s Adrian Durham, who also witnessed the scenes live from Wembley Way in Euro 2020 final day, where he was reporting live for the station.
And he suggested they’re lucky the punishment wasn’t more severe.
Getty
Durham said: “The statement from the FA, the first line says ‘we are disappointed with the verdict’. They’ve got away with it with a one-game ban.
“The FA do a lot of good work, the England team have done really good things the last couple of years, but to say they’re disappointed with the verdict and then say they’re commissioning an independent review into what happened…
“How can they be disappointed with the verdict if they don’t know what happened?
“I think they shouldn’t have said they’re disappointed. They should’ve said it’s a fair cop, we didn’t have the right organisation on the day, it was an absolute shambles and we’ve actually got away with it here. That’s what should’ve been said.”
The Drivetime host continued: “Did the FA not have the meetings with the police or ideas that there would be more interest in this game?
“It’s post-lockdown, the weather was glorious, you probably needed a big outside perimeter within a certain distance of the ground where tickets were checked before people even got to Wembley Way. That would’ve stopped the problems.”
England’s next UEFA competition match will be in the Nations League next June.
However, UEFA can allow a certain number of children under the age of 14 into the ground.
They must be either from local schools or football academies and must be accompanied by a responsible adult.
Download talkSPORT Edge NOW!

It’s the free football app that keeps you one step ahead of your mates with short, sharp and shareable content.