Jordan Henderson has said that his friends and family have been shocked by trouble before the Euro 2020 final and 2022 Champions League final and that his father claimed after the scenes in Paris in May that he did not want to attend such occasions again.
The Liverpool captain’s England teammate Eric Dier revealed his family do not attend away games because of abuse, which he called a “huge problem” for the game.
Henderson agrees, citing his personal experiences. His wife, Rebecca, and two young daughters had difficulty getting into Wembley and away from the disorder before the Euro 2020 final against Italy.
And while Liverpool fans were blameless for the problems before the Champions League final, when they struggled to get into the ground, some were teargassed by French police and kick-off was delayed, it was another unpleasant experience for Henderson’s family that is likely to deter them from going to such games in the future.
Henderson’s father, Brian, provided one of the most memorable images after Liverpool won the 2019 Champions League final when he hugged his son.
But as he reflected on the 2022 final, the midfielder said: “My dad said that after the Champions League final that that was him done. Some of my family got caught up in it which wasn’t ideal. A lot of the players’ families, I think it is everyone, got caught up outside the stadium. I think it was pretty horrific. When I spoke to some of my friends and my family and my dad, it was it was pretty bad.
“In Paris in the final I think if the fans weren’t respectful there could have been a lot more problems, so I think the fans were amazing.
“It was the authorities and the people around the stadium that weren’t and were causing issues. But I suppose as a fan, if you’re going to the game and you don’t feel comfortable and you feel threatened by whatever situation, you’re not going to want to go again. And it’s as simple as that, really.
“My family and friends have had a couple of experiences over the last couple of years which have really shocked them and probably put them off going to future games.
“Hopefully that changes in the near future when it gets closer to the tournament. But when you see scenes like you have in the Euros final and in the Champions League final then they don’t really want to go and put themselves in that situation again.”
England supporters caused some of the problems before the Euro 2020 final and, while Henderson was shielded from it, he later found out that his family had trouble getting to safety.
He explained: “My wife and kids had to try and get in a side door which they wouldn’t let them in at the beginning and they were trapped.
“She was trying to get the kids away from all the middle of that was happening and eventually I think after about 15 or 20 minutes, somebody recognised that she was my wife and she was lucky that because they knew it was me they let them in quickly.
“But if that person didn’t [know her], it could have been trouble. My dad was involved a little bit, I think some of the some of the players’ dads like Harry Maguire’s were hurt badly, and so when people see that and when people are in that situation and they feel threatened or something’s not right. They were okay, but they were lucky.
“So I think we all know that that wasn’t great, that was a bad experience for a lot of people that final. Then we have Paris, which is probably even worse. So I don’t I don’t blame anyone that doesn’t want to put themselves in that in that situation and to be fair, there are two totally different reasons, but again, if it was me, I wouldn’t want to put myself in that situation.”
