Undeniably strange and redolent of wider horrors at one remove, this was a groaning platter of geopolitics with a tiny little sprig of sport dusted across the top
You could almost, almost have played it for laughs. If it wasn’t so bleak, or so profoundly unsettling. But then, this is Birmingham, so there does have to be some gallows humour buried in there.
Either way an hour before kick-off on the streets outside Villa Park it became clear that the 700 police officers present were being asked to keep apart three distinct, and equally energetic factions: pro-Palestine, pro-Israeli and pro YouTubers.
Written by Barney Ronay at Villa Park
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/nov/06/fraught-tense-and-visceral-theres-never-been-a-football-match-quite-like-maccabis-visit-to-aston-villa under the title “Fraught, tense and visceral: there’s never been a football match quite like Maccabi’s visit to Aston Villa | Barney Ronay”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
