- Rangers will face Manchester United in the Europa League on Thursday night
- The Scottish giants return 17 years on from violent scenes at the UEFA Cup final
- LISTEN NOW: It’s All Kicking Off! Ruben Amorim looks desperate… it’s a last resort to publicly out your players
It’s 17 years since Rangers fans brought carnage to the streets of Manchester when more than a 100,000 Scots descended on the city even though only 13,000 of them had tickets for the Europa League final against Zenit St Petersburg at the Etihad Stadium.
After a day of heavy drinking, trouble flared when a giant TV screen in a fanzone in Piccadilly Gardens failed.
Police clashed with fans and made 42 arrests on what a judge later described as ‘the worst night of violence and destruction suffered by Manchester city centre since the Blitz’.
As Rangers return to Manchester on Thursday, Mail Sport has spoken to one officer caught in the eye of the storm.
‘Rangers were renowned for it. When we were told the final was going to be Manchester and it was Rangers, I thought ‘Oh, my God!’ I didn’t think it was going to turn out like that, though.
‘I don’t know which bright spark decided to have more than 100,000 people and let them drink as much as they want. It was hardcore who decided they were going to get completely off their heads and cause as much trouble as possible.
Over 100,000 Rangers fans descended on Manchester ahead of the 2008 UEFA Cup final
Troubled had flared on the night of the final after a giant TV screen in the fanzone failed
Police clashed with fans and made 42 arrests amid destruction in Manchester city centre
‘The officers who were patrolling Piccadilly in the day said they had tankers turning up full of beer for them. It was like an oil tanker but instead of oil it was beer!
‘We were told to get into town because it was all kicking off and they needed as many bobbies there as they could. They were saying the screen had gone down and that’s what started it all.
‘We didn’t have shields because we were sent in so quickly, just our helmets and batons. The TAU (Tactical Aid Unit) were already there. There were quite a few other section patrol officers too but we were well outnumbered.
‘There was chaos. As soon as we came into Piccadilly from Oldham Street, everyone was running around. There were police officers running at this crowd and bottles were coming over. As soon as I walked into the square, I got hit by a full can of beer – at least I’d like to think it was beer!
‘Bottles were being thrown at us and the floor was littered with plastic beer glasses. I remember it looked like it had been snowing, there was so much of it.
‘We managed to keep it under some control and dispersed them, but they kept coming back and as soon as the game was over a whole load of them piled out of the pubs and joined them.
‘I’d done derby games and all sorts before, but nothing like that.’
A judge said it was ‘the worst night of violence and destruction suffered by Manchester city centre since the Blitz’
Only 13,000 fans had tickets to attend the final, with Zenit St Petersburg earing a 2-0 victory
Rangers return 17 years on when they face Man United in the Europa League on Thursday
