City rules out big screen matches

The big screen in Piccadilly Gardens failed about 15 minutes before kick-off

Live football match screenings will never be shown again in Manchester, a council spokesman said a year after violence erupted between fans.

Glasgow Rangers supporters in Manchester for the Uefa Cup final clashed with riot police after a big screen in the city centre broke down.

Officers came under attack after the screen in Piccadilly Gardens failed.

Councillor Pat Karney, from Manchester City Council, said it was the "worst 24 hours in Manchester's history".

Ticketless fans

Up to 200,000 supporters were in the city centre for the Uefa Cup Final between Zenit St Petersburg and Glasgow Rangers, which was being held at Manchester City's stadium at Eastlands.

The combination of thousands of fans and alcohol does not work in the UK and in Manchester it will never happen again Councillor Pat Karney, Manchester City Council

Manchester City Council had set up three special fan zones with big screens for ticketless fans to watch the match.

While screens in Albert Square and Cathedral Gardens did show the game, the one in Piccadilly Gardens failed about 15 minutes before kick-off.

With the other two fan zones full, supporters were offered buses to take them to a hastily-arranged screen outside the velodrome at Sports City, near to the City of Manchester Stadium.

'Baying wolves'

A police spokesman said a group of fans in Piccadilly Gardens threw bottles at the screen and then at officers in riot gear, injuring some of them.

Damage was caused to a bank, bus stops and a sports car which was bounced across a road.

Trouble flared in Piccadilly Gardens (Pic: Jeevandra Sivarajah)

At the time, Assistant Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, Justine Curran, described the fans as being "like a pack of baying wolves".

A year on from the riots, Mr Karney added: "The number one lesson we have learnt is that no UK city, from the Rangers episode onwards, can show open screenings of football.

"The combination of thousands of fans and alcohol does not work in the UK and in Manchester it will never happen again.

"We had a warning when we had the World Cup screened in Exchange Square and I had to stop it because of Mancunians misbehaving in terms of alcohol, I had it switched to Castlefields and alcohol-free."

He said that the council would not stop fans from coming to the city, but future policy would be no static screenings of football matches in the open air.