Everton FC insist they are seeking answers from the French authorities on a number of issues faced by supporters who travelled to Lille last week.
Feedback received by the club from a significant number of fans has identified a number of areas of concern, in addition to the incidents revealed by the ECHO when fans were attacked by local hooligans and tear-gassed by French police.
Everton’s head of security, Dave Lewis said: “We are still keen to hear from people who witnessed, or were victim of, any safety or security issues in Lille last week.
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“It is really important that we have accurate, first-hand information as we report back and look to get answers on what happened and why.
“The information we have been getting from a range of sources since last Wednesday confirms that a section of our fans had an unacceptable experience in Lille last week.
“In addition to the unprovoked attack on Wednesday night and what we believe to be a disproportionate police response to issues in the square on the Thursday – which caused unnecessary fear and avoidable injuries to bystanders – there are a number of other issues including access into the stadium that we are continuing to investigate.”
Everton’s security team will continue leading the investigation and will be working closely with Merseyside Police and Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson, who has already been in contact with Mayor Martine Aubry of Lille.
Aside from these investigations, the Blues added that they would like to express their gratitude to LOSC Lille for the club’s support before and after the Europa League fixture, including a ticket allocation which allowed considerably more Evertonians to travel to Lille than provided for in the competition rules.
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