Five people have been injured and four arrested after 100 German football fans stormed a pub in Wembley.
Men wearing masks and donning England hats and scarves started a brawl at the Greenman Pub and Hotel on Dagmar Avenue ahead of the match between England and Germany at Wembley Stadium on Monday night.
Patrons were left with “blood over their faces and jackets” after being struck by the men, or after objects were thrown at them in the beer garden, one witness told the Standard.
David Wilson-Turner was inside the pub with a group of friends when the chaos unfolded.
“We initially saw a group of people running through the car park in all black, with scarves and balaclavas covering their faces wearing England hats, before hearing shouting and [seeing England fans] running in all directions.
“Hearing that some had weapons, people were then trying to get away from it, being scattered inside, round the back of the pub and across the beer garden, while others were trying to run towards them to get them away.
“It all happened very quickly, and in less than five minutes the Germans who had ran towards the pub were gone. A small number...had been struck by either the Germans directly or by things that had been thrown, some with blood over their faces and jackets.
“As we left around 15 minutes later, there were people being attended to.”
Mr Wilson-Turner said he and friends were worried the mob would enter inside the pub. He said he has never experienced anything like it.
Videos posted to Twitter show that mayhem ensued when the mob entered the beer garden and began assaulting patrons. Screams could be heard as victims tried to escape and some tried to fight back.
The violent ordeal lasted around two minutes before police intervened. Five people were treated and taken to hospital.
Germans storming the Green Man pic.twitter.com/1vV4K0BmUb
— T ⭐️⭐️ (@carefreeblues97) September 26, 2022
A number of people sustained head and facial injuries, Metropolitan Police said, and three people were left with serious leg, wrist and thumb injuries.
Officers on horses were seen in footage trying to restrain a number of men in the carpark outside the premises.
Four people were arrested, Metropolitan Police said.
A Met Police spokesperson told the Standard: “A group of approximately 100 males, many wearing masks, approached a pub in Dagmar Avenue, Wembley through an alley leading towards the car park.
“While a number of the group were wearing England hats and scarves, it is believed they were German ‘fans’.
“The group entered the beer garden of the pub and began assaulting customers, most of whom were in the area to attend the England vs Germany match. Punches and projectiles including traffic cones were thrown. Officers responded and the group fled.
“The disorder lasted for around two minutes. A number of people sustained head and facial injuries.We are also aware of three people with serious leg, wrist and thumb injuries. None of those injured are believed to be in a life-threatening condition.
“There have been four arrests so far in relation to the disorder.”
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said two ambulance crews, a medic in a response car and an incident response officer responded.
Five people were treated at the scene before they were taken to hospital.
Statistics published last week by the Home Office show there were 2,198 football-related arrests in the 2021 to 2022 football season - the highest in eight years.
Before the pandemic there had been a downward trend of football-related arrests - with fewer than 1500 in 2018/19 season - but they increased by 59 per cent last season.
West Ham fans were the worst offenders, with 95 arrests, followed by Manchester City (76), Manchester United (72), Leicester (59) and Everton (58).
Incidents of disorder were reported at 53 per cent of all matches — 1,609 of the 3,019 games played. By contrast, in 2018-19, there were reported incidents at 1,007 matches, equivalent to a third of the games played, marking a 60 per cent increase last season.
