PLANS to show all of Englandés World Cup games on the big screen in Manchesterés Exchange Square have been sensationally CANCELLED.
None of the teams future games in the tournament will be shown in the square after trouble erupted at the first screening on Saturday.
(SEE our gallery of the event here)
Instead a temporary screen will be set up in Castlefield arena, with up to 7,000 allowed in on a ticket-only basis.
That replacement will not be ready in time for the crunch tie with Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday afternoon.
The decision to call off the Exchange Square screenings was taken after a crunch three-hour meeting between the council, police, the BBC and health chiefs this morning.
Big Wheel
The council - which decided to remove the popular big wheel from the square in order to show World Cup games - had been lobbying for the shows to continue with more policing and restricted crowds.
But police and local traders were known to have serious reservations about whether the area could be made safe for shoppers and families.
Senior councillor Pat Karney said the decision to switch to Castlefield had been a genuine compromise. éExchange Square is problematic in terms of public safety,é he said. éThe kick off on Thursday is at 5pm and there will be thousands of shoppers and people leaving work in the area.
éWe decided it was too difficult to put on.
'Committed'
éWe are still going ahead with screenings but we are switching to the Castlefield arena. Thursday is too soon but we will be showing the game [against Sweden] next Tuesday.
éEveryone is committed to making this a success. There will be a 7,000 capacity. Castlefield will be a ticketed free event to be booked in advance. We will announce in the next day or two how they will be allocated.
éThe behaviour of the crowd will affect future screenings. We want real football fans with a pride in England and in Manchester.é
Four people were arrested and more than 40 injured when a crowd of 10,000 flocked to Exchange Square for the England-Paraguay match on Saturday.
Liverpool and Canary Wharf in London - both of which saw more serious scenes of violence at similar events - have cancelled future screenings.
ARE police and local traders right to stop the Exchange Square screenings? Have your say.
PLUS: Take part in our poll of the day.
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What kind of people are we when we cant even enjoy watching our country play football with our families and friends without pathetic so-called patriotic human beings causing trouble. No wonder our race has a bad name with other countries. we should be ashamed!
if the numpties cannot behave than this is the right thing to do. its not fair on most of us but there is no choice. the police should have let all the hooligans go to germany instead of taking their passports and keeping them here
I think the right decision has been reached - there's no way the space could have been made a family-friendly zone, not with all the brain-dead chavs who seem to be drawn to these things. And just how stupid do the council look now? They got rid of the big wheel, and for what??? Absolutely nothing! Exchange Square is not appropriate for large scale events; the design makes it awkard to move around, especially with large crowds. So what other fantastic events are lined up I wonder, to justify the wheel going...?
Unfortunately too many idiots that spoil it for the rest.
yet again the small minority of idiots spoil things for the decent majority. The organisers must be asking themselves "why do we bother?"
just looked at the picture gallery and what a shame that a few mindless idiots can spoil what looked to be a great day out for lots of people across all ages.
Surely it would have been better to utilise the police to steward the event and arrest the idiots.
A sensible decision. The ticket-only setup in Castlefield that they're doing should have been done in the first place. Ah well, they say you live and learn...
How did the council not have the foresight to see that showing the football in Exchange Sq was always going to cause problems? Had they done this Manchester would still have it's wheel, which I believe to be a huge loss to the city.
So will the council finally see sense and try and re-instate Manchester's Big Wheel?
Unfortunately I doubt it.
I love football but it must have been obvious that with the volume of people who were there, there would be some trouble. For every 5 normal people these days you get 2 idiots. Don't think its the ideal place anyway as its not a very large area, I would have thought that Castlefield would have been a much better venue. Away rom the shops. We could have kept the wheel then as well which everyone wanted. Also why didn't they make it ticket only in the first place, giving them away either on the radio or via local sports shops over the last few months and limit the number that way. Then again I suppose that would be too obvious. Three cheers for the Council for their brilliant forward planning (stroke of genious as usual!!!!!!). How do some people get jobs.
as per usual the police blame everyone else but themselves saying that they were unaware the football was being screened until the day before?? probably more of a case that they wanted to watch the game and didn't have enough cover.40 people out of a 10,000 alcahol fuelled hyped up crowd is not aproblem at football matches,concerts and other open air events,pretty run of the mill i suspect??? come on the police...join in instead of being blatant killjoy's!!!!
Why should the rest of us suffer. Because of other people behaviour.
It's about time. If people want to watch the football let them do it in their homes. There they can get drunk without disturbing others or causing annoyance and discomfort to people not intersted.
absolute disgrace that this has been cancelled - we are being judged on the behaviour of our scouse neighbours. 4 arrests in 10,000 people is very low on a hot saturday with the football on. the scousers have managed to spoil it again.
The council should have accepted the money from World Tourist Attractions when it was offered, to keep the wheel where it was and site a temporary screen.
What a farce !
Once the football is over we'll be left with nothing.
"sensationally CANCELLED". No, footy attracts shaven headed ,drunk, neanderthalls.Who is surprised by this... NO ONE.
drink has a big part to play in the trouble.added to the fact the temparature on saturday afternoon.
why on earth people would want to crowd into that space and endure that.better to be at home or watch it in the comfort of a local pub.
Knee jerk over the top reaction. proper policing and stewarding would mean no trouble - sorry thats me applying common sense. If there had been no trouble in Liverpool or London then this game would be being shown in the square. Pathetic reasons for not showning. mother with 9 month old baby in crowd - what were they doing there in the 1st place !????!
Well Done.
I hope all the so called 'fans' who were involved in the trouble are please with them selves with this cancellation of the showing of England matches. Once again the minority ruin it for the majority. And whose to say some of these people wont get in to Castlefield?
There always some who spoil it for the many. Hope the spoilers were charged.
Is it any wonder the English have the crap reputation that we do, if we can't even behave on our own doorsteps. The usual mindless minority ruining it for the majority...............doesn't it make you proud??
this is a absolute pathetic choice, no wonder it kicked off last game because there was already 8,000 people in the square before the police and the showsec people got there so how could they search for people with alcohol and chuck people out who was already drunk. i am ashamed with such a great footballing city with manchester city in the area. that manchester have stooped to liverpool standards and turned this game off. MANCHESTER COUNCIL I AM ASHAMED.
So, when can we expect the public mea culpa from the council? What a humiliation for them. They should have listened to the 90% or so of MEN readers. Why precisely couldn't they have moved the big screen to Castlefield and kept the big wheel where it was? Why wasn't this option even considered?
What a bunch of clowns.
It's an aboslute disgrace. I am fed up to the back teeth of kill joy public servants, politicians and authority in general denying free enjoyment. 5 people were arrested out of 10,000, blimey that's a crime epidemic. Bet there are far more arrests on any given Friday or Saturday night drinking in Manchester. Take it the authorities are going to close pub, bars and restaurants next!
I hate to say I told you so...but I told you so!
Good riddance!
It was obvious that this would happen, football turns normal people who support it into morons and morons into dangerous morons.
And to think we lost the wheel for this.
I think that it is absoloutly discraceful that we cannot watch the football at the triangle just because of a few hooligans. There is now nowhere for familes and freinds to watch the match apart from at home woth know atmosphere. Discraceful !!!