The Final: Attack on Wembley

The Final: Attack on Wembley

The imdb rating of this documentary is low because of some English football fans (hooligans) who don't want the world to see their shameful acts. A country whose people have time and again judged and commented negatively about people of different races, color, religion etc, did something similar but even more embarrassing on the night of the Euro 2020. The documentary shows the true level of football hooliganism that exists in the UK and how some maniacs can go to any extent in hurting the true spirit of the sport if the outcome does not turn out as per their expectations. The documentary is an eye opener for all the football fans who are unaware of the egregious football watching fans/audience in the UK. A must watch.

So, in the opinion of the two "fans" (let's call them idiots for the record) damaging property is okay, endangering other people is okay, vandalism is okay, breaking and entering is okay, but racism is a step too far for them? Are you serious? Why are these two idiots not in jail? They should.be banned from every sporting event going forward and locked up to show and example to the other idiots that put countless lives in danger. As far as a documentary goes, why would you create it and show that these idiots (and the others with them) haven't been punished? How will this have a positive effect on society?

This documentary could have been quite good but the focus was really odd. It flicks between glorifying two of the thickest men alive (the two contributors who show no remorse for their actions on the day) and the racism shown to players afterwards. It almost had the makings of a good documentary and the graphics packages were solid enough. It would be nice to see what happened to the rioters afterwards and what has been done to combat this in the future, as opposed to the resolution being 'the women won a trophy later on' and the thicker of the two daft boys banging on about how his dad climbs on stuff too. Overall, loads of promise, poor outcome.

I was under no illusions that this was going to be a frustrating watch. What happened on that day was a feeling of disappointment for the end result, coupled with anger, embarrassment and shame with off field antics. This documentary brought those feeling back again. It covers the entire build up of the day of the final. It looks to understand what and how it happened, and allows some of those involved to give their personal stories and ridiculous justifications for what was, and still is, unacceptable anti-social behaviour. As an England football fan, the rollercoaster of anger and shame while watching it all continued to unfold. In listening to the modern day Neanderthals think their actions were perfectly okay and just driven by passion and a release of frustration post lockdown was just alien to me. It's reasonably well produced, but difficult if you're English with any sense of morality. It will be a constant reminder why people will be very nervous that England co-host the euros in 2028 or at least why the security is bound to be significant.

What was Netflix thinking? A poorly executed documentary failing to ask a single critical question. Two young lads boasting about their pathetic behavior. One guy even stating he'll be showing the vid of him dancing on a bus to his children and grandchildren. The other guy tattoeed up to his chin mentioning he was quite careful not to tread on people while storming the stadium. Ummm yeah okay, how about not storming the stadium like a complete and utter idiot at all? Why didn't they hire a competent interviewer? Not to mention Netflix wriggled in the racism subject, completely uncalled for. Take your subscribers More serious, please.

STAR RATING: ***** Brilliant **** Very Good *** Okay ** Poor * Awful July 11th, 2021. A country emerging from a second lockdown during the second wave of the Covid pandemic, and World Cup fever was in the air. Hordes of fans were eager to flock to Wembley Stadium for the big game against Italy, but were factored out by unaffordable ticket prices, and large parts of the stadium sealed off to comply with Covid regulations. Before long, chaos had broken out, with largely ticketless fans stampeding into the arena, and the security becoming overwhelmed, leaving all those who'd come to celebrate the game stuck in the crossfire. I've never had much of an interest in football, and have always felt uneasy at the tribalism and sense of raw aggression it generates in people, even if it would be better channeled through a medium like this than out on the street. Through an outward veneer, the game still generally appears a lot calmer and less eruptive than the things you see from back in the 1970's and 80's, but occasionally it can flare up again and events like those documented here can occur. I certainly remember those shameful scenes being broadcast, and how they spoiled the happy mood that I did get absorbed in, even if I wasn't following things in general. Here they're explored in more detail. As I've already mentioned, it was the feeling of something happening that felt largely consigned to the past, something you felt most people had evolved beyond, but you always knew somewhere in the national consciousness was just simmering beneath the surface, and that something like this was sadly going to bring it out. Will an Asian security guard be racially abused, just while doing his job? Sadly, yes. Will three inexperienced younger players get the same thing when they miss on penalty shoot outs? Sadly, yes. It's all encapsulated by the likes of the guy at the end, boasting about how he'll show his kids the picture of him parading about on the top of the bus, like his dad showed him the one of him breaking into the private members area. Two generations of mindless idiocy. As if to highlight how progress has improved things, things are rounded off with the women's team winning their match. What we focus on here is a resurgence of bygone times, and while this documentary does a decent job of things, there's an overly jubilant feel to the subjects and their actions that feel distasteful. ***

I'm embarrassed to be English after watching this. I lost interest in football a long time ago, but felt compelled to watch this and what I found was embarrassment. This my nation denigrating in to feral barbarism in the name of sport. A couple of the people that were giving their accounts of their day out were simply morons. One, who described is moment of dancing on top of a moving bus as, "I felt like a King up there" ; just left me shaking my head and rolling my eyes. I kind of felt sorry for him in a way. Another, felt so proud of himself to have barged his way into the stadium without paying. Congratulations mate, everyone knows your face now. A compelling watch for all the wrong reasons.

I'm a huge fan of documentaries but this just missed the point entirely. This one is basically allowing some so called men boasting about what they did! The kid that climbed on the bus and then said his Dad did something the same and saying "I guess we just like to climb things", no you're both idiots! The other guy that travelled to the game without a ticket and just before he sneaked into the ground realised he had no place to watch the game... What a genius this guy was, it took him that long to realise that! Maybe stay home and watch the game! I'm not English but embarrassed for them. The only people I could connect with was the Italian father and daughter, I felt sorry for them having to go through that, it does seem though that the makers of this documentary wanted to focus more on the idiot England fans and for some reason allow them to apparently give a reason to why they did it, even Covid got the blame! Honestly give this a miss and save yourself from the anger it will cause you towards the idiots that are in it and how the makers of this gave them the time of day!

A mildly compelling but disturbing watch, proving English hooliganism hasn't really moved on that much since the 70's & 80's. The actual football story aside (which was the only decent thing in this doc - well done lads!) this documentary missed a real opportunity to educate the public on football crowd dynamics, and what another shameful episode the psychy at English football grounds is sometimes still really like., especially when groups of young people are a several beers deep so long before the game. The doc completely failed to go into the additional experience of a number of player's families and dignitaries that fell foul of the mob developing outside, nor some corrupt event hosts/guards that took cash bribes from ticket-less fans to ease their passage through, and also the fans with genuine tickets (including in disabled areas) who were threatened with violence for simply attempting to access their assigned seat once reaching their zone, with zero help from stadium stewards frozen to do anything about it. The planned Covid spacing protocols went down the toilet, thugs just sat/stood wherever they pleased, taking other fans seats, overcrowding behind the goals especially, and over the access ways that were meant to be kept clear in the event of rapid evacuation etc. The list goes on. Security was a complete shambles - remember, it was just less than 6 yrs earlier, in 2015, that a coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris took place, one of which was at the national 'Stade de France' Stadium as 3 suicide bombers attempted to gain access to a France vs Germany football game to no avail, ultimately detonating themselves outside instead. Imagine the carnage had something of this scale developed at Wembley? I did not see any news of reprimands in the press following this shameful Wembley fiasco over their security and organisational shambles that could've turned out very differently. It was purely by fluke that no one died that day. It's no surprise to me that the English FA and Wembley Stadium authorities were total unprepared for the scale of chaos that ensured in England's long wait for final appearance in a major tournament. It's also no surprise to me that the 2 young men (and I use the term 'men' loosely) who effectively stole other people's money to gain access to the stadium, feel no shame in their behavior, such is the vast blatant disrespect for authority and that appears to exist in this age group. There simply aren't sufficient consequences for this kind of immature, childish behavior. And should it really be any surprise that the English FA and Wembley Stadium authorities have no shame in monetizing their failures if they can make a few bucks out of Netflix? Not really. Disappointing lacking in accountability throughout.