"It was hell": Liverpool fan from Wirral describes chaos outside stadium in Paris after being tear gassed

Adam Brown, 19, from Claughton, was at the Liverpool vs Real Madrid Champions League Final with his dad, dad’s cousins and two friends.

After splitting up from his dad and friends who had tickets for another gate, Adam and his dad’s cousins made their way to Gate Y at the Stade de France.

Adam and his dad David Brown before the match

Despite arriving three hours before kick-off to make sure they would be in on time, Adam described the scenes at the stadium as “chaos”.

He told the Globe: “There were thousands of fans stuck in the underpass. There was no steady flow it would just move forward a couple of yards every now and then.

“There was no water, no toilets, just crowds of people cramped together in a really hot and uncomfortable situation and no one telling us what was going on.”

After an hour of queuing, Adam finally made his way onto the stadium concourse towards Gate Y.

He said: “When we got there the queue was massive - it was ridiculous.

Adam before the match

“We didn’t know that the gate has been closed at this point though as there were no announcements, so the queue just continued to build and build.”

Adam said despite the crowds at Gate Y being unable to move no stewards or police were to be seen.

He said: “Liverpool fans were trying to put their tickets into the turnstiles, but locals would just bolt past them and jump straight in.

“People were just cramming in any direction towards the gate.”

Adam made it to the middle of the queue where stewards had returned to open the gate.

He said: “Everything was running smoothly for about 15 minutes and people were getting into the stadium with no issues.

“But before that, the locals had moved the barriers so what had once been a normal queue just became a free for all and people were just barging straight forward into the gate.

“There was a massive surge forward which meant people were getting pressed up against the fence while others were trying to get in where they could but there was literally nowhere to go.

“You couldn’t stand still because you would just fall.”

Crowds in the underpass approaching the stadium

As the stewards and police returned to shut the gates again, Adam said fans were begging them not to.

He said: “They were pushing and kicking Liverpool fans back and hitting people’s hands with batons who were trying to hold onto the gate so they wouldn’t get trampled on.

“We were all shouting to not close the gate because there’s going to be a crush because people kept surging forward, but they didn’t listen and shut the gate again.”

After half an hour of the gate being shut, Adam said the fans still received no communication about if they would make it into the stadium on time.

He said: “We hadn’t been made aware that kick-off had been delayed so people were starting to get anxious and frustrated because they had been stuck in an underpass for an hour and then another queue at the gate for an hour and a half with no one explaining to us what was happening.”

Adam, Adam's Dad, Adam's Dad's cousins and friends at the Fan Park before the game. (L to R) Leo, Tim Mounsey, James Rogers, David Brown, Adam Brown, Joe Rogers

At this point, Adam said the stewards returned to the gate with around 20 riot police.

He said: “They just kept telling us to move back but there was no space, so people were falling over.

“We tried to tell them that there was no room, but they just kept ignoring us and hitting their batons on the gate.

“There was an elderly man near us who fainted and had to get dragged out because it was so packed as well as a little boy with his dad who was crying because he wanted to leave and was afraid of getting hurt.”

Despite the chaotic scenes in the crowds, French riot police began deploying tear gas at the panicking supporters,

Adam said: “We weren’t expecting it at all - it was horrible and scary. It was hell -we couldn’t breathe and our noses burnt.

“We tried to put our scarves up to our faces to stop the coughing, but it didn’t help. It felt like we were choking.

“We didn’t know what was going on.”

After being gassed, Adam and his dad’s cousins decided to leave the queue to try and enter the stadium through another gate.

He said: “Luckily we managed to get through another gate once stewards saw we had genuine tickets, but they made us crawl under the turnstile to get in.”

At this point, Adam said he was still suffering from the effects of the gas as well as many other fans.

He said: “It was a weird atmosphere when we eventually got into the ground. We could see people meeting up with their mates hugging and crying, people with ripped clothes, red sore eyes, and some people with blood on them. It was just chaos.

“Even during the game, it felt really subdued. No one was really up for it, and it just seemed that people were happy to be at a place of safety.”

For lifelong red Adam, the trip to Paris was something he and many other Liverpool fans had been looking forward to.

He added: “We had got the tickets in the ballot a few weeks beforehand. It was my first European away trip.

“We had arrived in Paris on the Friday afternoon and been at the fan park which was an amazing part of the trip but those five hours at the game were just hell.

“The reason why we had actually gone turned out to be the worst part of the trip. I’m just glad we got home safe.”