On This Day – 14th September
FC Koln fans wreaked havoc across London on this day back in 2017. The German fans were in the capital to see their side play Arsenal in a Europa League tie.
2017/18 was the first season since 1997/98 that Arsenal were not playing in the Champions League. They qualified straight for the group stage and were drawn in a group alongside FC Koln of Germany, Belarussian side BATE Borisov and Red Star Belgrade, the Serbian side who won the European Cup back in 1991.
The opening match against FC Koln brought massive attention from the German side’s fanbase. Over nine thousand of them converged on London on the day of the game. The match against Arsenal was their first European game in 25 years and everyone wanted to watch it! With the allocation of only 2,900 already sold out, there was a real concern that Koln fans might get hold of tickets for other parts of the ground.
Arsenal sent an email out to all members and season ticket holders that if any Koln fans used their tickets then their membership would be revoked.
Despite Arsenal’s best efforts, many Koln fans still managed to get into the home end having got hold of tickets from various sources. There were thousands of ticketless fans who were outside the ground and delayed the kick off by more than hour as the Metropolitan Police dispersed the crowd.
Arsenal won the game 3-1 and eventually reached the Semi Final that year before losing to Athletico Madrid, the eventual winners.
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