More than Bukayo Saka’s deciding penalty miss, the final of Euro 2020 between England and Italy will be remembered primarily for the chaos seen around Wembley stadium before and during the game. Thousands of ticketless fans forced their way – or “jibbed” – into the ground, in the process causing criminal damage and injury to stewards, other fans and themselves. It was one of the highest-profile scenes of crowd disorder since the bad old days of 80s hooliganism, only this time captured in lurid detail on camera phones and by 24-hour rolling news.
That footage – fans stuffing flares up their backsides, hordes descending on the Wembley turnstiles like a deleted scene from the Battle of Helm’s Deep – has proved to be catnip for Netflix, which uses it as the basis for this feature-length documentary. Including testimony from some of those who successfully forced their way into Wembley, the security staff who tried to prevent them, and innocent fans caught in the middle, Attack on Wembley offers a compelling tick-tock of events, from the crowds forming across London as early as 8am right through to the final’s grubby aftermath.
