The head of Liverpool's Disabled Supporters' Association spent much of last week asking questions of UEFA's decision to only make a quarter of wheelchair bays at Stade de France available to supporters for Saturday night's Champions League final.
Now Ted Morris is thankful for the "operational issues" and "poor infrastructure" that meant the bays were instead designated to TV crews, including BT Sport, because it spared dozens more vulnerable fans from being subjected to the violence and chaos that affected several thousand outside the stadium before and after the defeat to Real Madrid.
As UEFA face increased pressure to apologise for poor logistical planning that saw innocent supporters attacked and teargassed and the French sports minister reasserts a baseless claim that ticketless Liverpool fans were to blame, Morris has outlined some of what he witnessed to Mirror Football in scenes that he described as the most distressing he has experienced as a football fan.
Those included…
A 13-year-old wheelchair user who remains traumatised after being stuck in a crush outside the ground
Another wheelchair user having a French steward fall on him
A distressed blind supporter being ignored as he waved his cane in search of assistance
“Hundreds” of young men throwing missiles and aiming to attack innocent supporters outside the stadium after the match with no police presence
And a young girl, estimated to be about seven years old, being consoled by her father after police used tear gas spray at the entrance to a train station as they tried to make their way back to Paris
Morris said: “You'd not think, even today, that we've been to a Champions League final because the football was irrelevant. I’m not being overdramatic but we spent the 90 minutes worrying about the situation after the game and getting back to the station."
He said there is little footage of what happened after the game because fans were so petrified of having their possessions stolen that they were not willing to take phones out of their pockets.
He left the stadium on 86 minutes and had been informed by Liverpool's liaison officers that "it was going to be moody outside". As they headed towards an overground train station "hundreds" of young men to their right hurled bottles and several ran towards them attempting to pick pockets.
There was no police presence until they reached the station, where supporters were targeted by officers in riot gear using pepper spray without any clear justification. Morris entered an elevator to get to a platform when he heard a series of loud bangs and noticed dozens of fans climbing the stairs with their eyes streaming.
"I've been to many games across Europe but I've never been as scared in my life," he added. "They were running at us just trying to rob us. Sometimes if you go to the match you might see ultras looking for a fight. These were here to rob us and steal. My two daughters were going the other way [to St Denis metro] and the stories coming back are horrifying. People have been slashed, ended up in A+E. The real story hasn't come out yet. All the injuries. After the game was far worse."
Morris is grateful to the Merseyside Police officers who were on duty in addition to club stewards who did their best in testing circumstances. There is also an appreciation that the media have reported the story accurately, putting pressure on UEFA to admit to their logistical failings ahead of planned discussions with French officials later on Monday.
He added: "I spoke to one of our police at 7pm and he'd already gauged it was already going to get bad. At the turnstile our SLO [supporter liaison officers] was there to get wheelchair supporters in, the club kept us informed - especially Chris Markey - and that meant we could relay things to the disabled supporters. The stewards who came to us were so protective of us. It felt safe in the ground.
"Journalists have seen it with their own eyes so UEFA can't whitewash it. They need to make sure to hold the officials and especially French police accountable."
