Ticketless fan not ‘ashamed’ of forcing his way into Euro 2020 final

What did you miss?

The Final: Attack on Wembley has examined what happened in the hours before the Euro 2020 final, which saw England play Italy but was marred by the disruptive behaviour of ticketless fans in and around Wembley Stadium.

Netflix's new documentary explores the events of 11, July 2021, when a large number of England supporters wreaked havoc by forcing their way into the stadium. One such fan appears in the film to share his experience of the day, and he admitted that he didn't feel "ashamed" of his actions at the time because of how the government were acting during the COVID-19 pandemic.

What, how, and why?

England fan Dan was one of the talking heads to appear in the Netflix documentary, and he helped give insight into what it was like at the stadium, hour-by-hour before the match. He explained how he snuck into the stadium by rolling on top of a group of stampeding fans and then walking past security rather than running so as not to arouse suspicion.

Once he was inside the grounds he made his way into the stadium itself by pushing through the turnstile behind a fan who had a ticket. Dan shared that the man he had followed into the stadium was stopped by security but he kept walking until he reached the stands.

The next day Dan saw footage from the event on the news and realised that he could be seen forcing his way into the stadium. He said: "I'm thinking what have I done here?", and when asked if he was ashamed of his actions he claimed that what he did was not an issue when compared to how the government were breaking lockdown rules at the time through Partygate.

He said: "I'm not ashamed of what I'[ve] done, in 2020 we [were] all locked away in our homes, couldn't go anywhere, could only go outside for a little bit of exercise and the whole time we were doing that the leaders of our country are partying.

"How can I feel like I've done something wrong? To witness England win their first trophy since 1966, I wouldn't be missing that for nobody."

What else happened on The Final: Attack on Wembley?

The Final: Attack on Wembley shared a play-by-play of the events in July 2021, beginning in the hours before the match when England fans began celebrating in the area around Wembley Arena.

Fans swarmed Wembley Way 12 hours ahead of the match, with many drinking and taking drugs during their celebration. Footage in the documentary showed that any of the fans were ticketless, and as they continued to drink their behaviour became more erratic.

Drunken behaviour went to extreme lengths, fans threw bottles into the air and even stopped a bus from moving by climbing on top of the roof. One video from the celebrations outside the stadium saw a fan being held upside down, completely naked, with a flare stuck into his rectum.

Watch the trailer for The Final: Attack on Wembley

When ticket holders began to be let into the stadium that's when things took another turn. COVID restrictions at the time meant 25,000 of Wembley's 90,000 seats were left empty, and this gave some fans the idea that they could force their way into the stadium without a ticket.

People tried to fight their way into the stadium, destroying barriers and confronting police and Wembley security in order to get in. Staff first tried to face this behaviour by closing the ticket turnstiles into the stadium, but they were eventually reopened.

Despite the efforts from staff to tackle the issue, a huge number of ticketless fans were able to get into the stadium by pushing in through turnstiles directly behind those who did have tickets.

The Final: Attack on Wembley is out now on Netflix.

Read more:

• The Final: Attack on Wembley, review: will make you ashamed to be an England fan (The Telegraph, 3-min read)

• 'More Inbetweeners than Green Street': How police plan to deal with England fans at Euro 2024 (The Independent, 2-min read)

• What happened at Wembley at the Euro 2020 final? (Yahoo, 4-min read)