The Final: Attack on Wembley is a Netflix documentary that details how the England football team's first major international cup final in decades was derailed by violent fans.
Featuring first-hand accounts from law-abiding supporters at the game. this documentary film launches a month before the 2024 Euros in France and shows how in July 2021, the England men’s football team reached their first big final since the historic World Cup win at Wembley in 1966. Just like back in 66, the entire country was longing for Gareth Southgate’s squad to win the European Championship final against Italy at Wembley Stadium. But what started out as a day full of excitement and anticipation soon led to mayhem, with violent scenes, ticketless fans storming the stadium and drunken and drug-fuelled carnage. Soon, the nation was left reeling, disappointed in both the result — a dramatic loss on penalties — and the shocking behaviour of the team’s so-called fans.
Here’s everything you need to know about Netflix documentary The Final: Attack on Wembley…
The Final: Attack On Wembley release date
The Final: Attack on Wembley is a one-off documentary that will premiere on Netflix on Wednesday May 8 2024.
Is there a trailer for The Final: Attack on Wembley
Yes there is a trailer for The Final: Attack on Wembley, and it does make for disturbing viewing as we see how a day full of euphoria descended into violence. "It felt like we were under attack," says one supporter. Take a look at the The Final: Attack on Wembley trailer below...
What the Netflix documentary shows
Documentary The Final: Attack on Wembley shows how on July 11 2021, the England men’s football team reached their first cup final since 1966, playing Italy in the European Championships at Wembley on July 11. With Gareth Southgate's squad in fine form, the nation hoped and prayed that at last football would finally ‘come home’. However, after being cooped up in lockdown for so long thanks to the COVID pandemic, England’s fans lost control, causing chaos in the capital and at the venue. Thousands of ticketless supporters forced their way into the stadium and as the eyes of the world were on Wembley, the England fans brought shame on their nation.
Because of restrictions due to the pandemic, just 67,000 tickets were sold for the final, though Wembley can usually accommodate more than 90,000 fans. As a result, the knowledge that around 25,000 seats would be left empty presented a huge opportunity for gangs of thugs to force their way in.
Around 2000 troublemakers managed to get into the match, trampling over other fans, pushing past stewards and threatening anyone who challenged them with violence. The invaders even took over the VIP area, taking seats from England players’ family members and forcing the son of Italy manager Roberto Mancini to sit in the aisle. Meanwhile, thousands more caused carnage outside the stadium, fighting with police officers, resulting in dozens of arrests.
In the aftermath, a clean-up operation took five days, with 31 tonnes of rubbish littering Wembley Way including heaps of broken glass and trees uprooted from the ground.
A government review of the violence reported a ‘collective failure’ in planning for the match and that aggression among the crowd ‘recklessly endangered lives’.
And it could have been even worse. It was revealed around 6000 ticketless thugs were preparing to storm the stadium at the end of the match to see the trophy being presented – and the report concluded that the death of supporters was a very real possibility.
"In the end the penalty shootout went Italy’s way, the rain came down, and the crowds dispersed largely quietl,y" says Baroness Casey, author of the review. "But we should not lose sight of how close the alternative was."
Behind the scenes and more on The Final: Attack on Wembley
The Final: Attack on Wembley is co-directed by Rob Miller and Kwabena Oppong and executive-produced by James Rogan and head produced by Nicholas Franklin and line Produced by Emma Scott. it's edited by Fergal McGrath, Danny Collins and Simon Barker.
