Chaos at Villa Park: Young Boys Fans Spark Fresh UEFA Trouble After Malen Strike in Fiery Europa League Clash

Aston Villa’s 2-1 win over Young Boys should’ve been remembered for Donyell Malen’s brace — instead it was marred by ugly scenes as the Swiss club’s travelling fans kicked off again, pelting the Dutch forward with cups and leaving him with a cut to the head barely seconds after he’d opened the scoring.

Malen, who ran straight to the corner flag to celebrate, was met with a shower of plastic tumbling out of the away end. When he stuck away his second of the night it happened again, only worse this time, with seats ripped out and coins and bottles flying while police moved in to calm things down. Two supporters was arrested on suspicion of affray and assaulting an officer, with another four detained on Friday as footage was reviewed.

It’s not the first time Young Boys have been in hot water. In fact, they’ve barely been out of it. Last week they only just completed a two-year probation for previous offences — and that probation was triggered during their last trip to England, at Manchester City in November 2023. That night, they copped a suspended ban for crowd disturbances plus fines for lobbing objects and damaging parts of the Etihad. Earlier this year, the lighting of fireworks at a home match saw them slapped with a partial stadium closure and yet another probation period. UEFA will charge them again for Thursday’s mess, but it’s anyone’s guess whether a firm ban lands or if they’re simply stuck on another suspended punishment.

The governing body doesn’t release full historical data, but right now there are 116 active suspended stadium bans across European competitions. Offences range from fireworks (67 cases) to racist behaviour (31), object-throwing (25), crowd trouble (12) and stadium damage (seven). Most carry the threat of playing behind closed doors or losing away allocations — and once a team repeats an offence, the hammer generally falls. Young Boys might be heading that way fast.

The wider picture isn’t pretty either. Since football returned after Covid, disorder has crept up across England and Wales, with arrests rising nine years to a high in 2023 and then jumping 14% and 18% again in the seasons that followed. It hasn’t translated into Europe for Premier League clubs, though — not one of the 132 UEFA disciplinary cases this year involves an English side. England’s fan behaviour even ranks sixth in UEFA’s fair play table, behind only tiny footballing nations like the Faroe Islands and Moldova.

Still, old reputations linger. Liverpool fans will remember the chaos in Paris before the 2023 Champions League final, while Newcastle supporters reported heavy-handed policing in Marseille this season. And English fans haven’t been angels either — Fiorentina’s Cristiano Biraghi was left bleeding after being struck by a cup from the West Ham section during the 2023 Conference League final, costing the Hammers fines and a European ban.

Thursday’s violence also raised eyebrows because Maccabi Tel Aviv were blocked from bringing supporters to Villa Park earlier this month, yet Young Boys were allowed in despite a long rap sheet. Police said Maccabi fans was considered high risk following violent clashes at past games, a decision backed unanimously by Birmingham’s Safety Advisory Group. That tie also carried the backdrop of political tension, with 11 arrests during protests outside the ground. When asked if Young Boys received the same risk assessment, the council simply declined to comment on individual cases.

UEFA’s tougher stance on racism is beginning to show, with 16 pending stadium bans — almost all for discriminatory behaviour. Even so, punishments can feel soft. Qarabag were fined just €5,000 for racist abuse in an academy match against Chelsea this month, while Atletico Madrid got a suspended ticket ban plus €30,000 for monkey noises and Nazi salutes during their 4-0 loss to Arsenal.

For Villa, the focus now snaps back to football and their position in the Europa League group, but the fallout for Young Boys could stretch on for months. Given the Swiss club’s history, and the way Thursday’s night descended into chaos, UEFA’s patience won’t last forever — and their travelling support may soon find themselves grounded again.