Disturbing new video has surfaced showing law enforcement officers being attacked by rowdy Young Boys supporters during their Thursday night match against Aston Villa.

The Swiss team’s fans have been penalized on five occasions since 2020, accumulating fines totaling £110,000 due to various incidents of misconduct, including those against Manchester United and Manchester City.

However, the Europa League encounter on Thursday took violence to unprecedented levels in England, with both police officers and players caught up in the chaos.

Fans clad in black and adorned with black-and-yellow club scarves aggressively clashed with officers, throwing punches in an attempt to breach security barriers.

The unrest extended beyond confrontations with police; Villa’s Donyell Malen was hit on the head by an object hurled from the spectators while celebrating his first goal in the 27th minute.

Travelling fans of Swiss side Young Boys threw punches at the police at Villa Park on Thursday

Fans were dragged from the stands in handcuffs amid shocking scenes of violence in Europe

Malen suffered a visible cut from the incident and was targeted again after scoring a second goal, extending Villa’s lead to 2-0.

The match was temporarily brought to a halt as fans wreaked havoc, with two supporters believed to have been separated from the pack and dragged away in handcuffs. 

Captain Loris Benito went over to the away end and pleaded with the travelers to calm down, while referee Georgi Kabakov also discussed the unravelling scene with both managers. 

Later on in the clash however, trouble restarted as fans ripped up seats and threw them at the police officers, as well as flinging more plastic glasses down from the stands. 

Play resumed as tensions were quietened, with the fans mostly subdued following the half-time break. 

When asked about the violence after full-time, Malen shrugged off the berating he had received, saying simply: ‘It is what it is. It’s fine, it’s fine.’ 

But Young Boys manager Gerardo Seoane offered a more fulsome apology on behalf of the fans after suffering the 2-1 defeat. 

‘I think it’s normal when you score a goal that you want to be with your teammates,’ he said. ‘Maybe (our fans thought) it was a small provocation. This, I don’t know.

Aston Villa forward Donyell Malen was struck with a missile from the away fans after scoring

After the final whistle, Malen and team-mate Morgan Rogers compared projectile wounds

Malen’s cut came up in a lump after the final whistle but the Netherlands international was in high spirits after scoring both goals

The pitch was littered with plastic cups thrown down by the visiting fans which forced a pause

‘But I think this is part of football and our fans should not react so heavily. The referee asked our captain to go to our supporters. He was going there to calm it a bit. I think some supporters came down to talk and the police reacted like they would jump into the pitch – but was not the intention.

‘This is what I know. It’s a pity from everybody – from the provocations, from throwing the objects, from thinking that somebody would jump on the pitch. I think the result is not nice for anybody and, for sure, we apologise.

‘We don’t feel good as the way our supporters are normal is not what we how we want to act when we are guests somewhere. I think nobody wins at the end – everybody loses this situation.’ 

Benito was less apologetic in his remarks however, choosing to point the finger at the police instead. 

‘The referee told me we risked the game being suspended or even abandoned if anything else happened on the pitch,’ the skipper explained. 

‘The police officers had their backs to the pitch. They didn’t see me coming and trying to talk to the fans. From then on, it just escalated. The police also acted incorrectly. Their job is to de-escalate, not escalate.’

Young Boys are likely to be hit with substantial punishment for the chaos wrought in the Midlands, although Uefa is yet to comment on the incident. 

Riot police were on duty in Birmingham in preparation for trouble from the 1,200 supporters

The Young Boys fans continued to cause trouble throughout the first-half before it abated

Seats were ripped from the stands and flung onto the pitch in scenes of destructive chaos

But previous instances of fan trouble have come with enormous consequences in Europa, such as this season’s fracas between Roma and Frankfurt. 

The disturbances saw Roma hit with a £26,274 fine and a partial stadium closure, while Frankfurt will have to pay £21,895 for their fans’ role in the trouble. 

Last season, Red Star Belgrade’s fans were found to have lobbed missiles onto the pitch, set off fireworks in the stadium, and blocked up passageways in their stadium when facing off with Turkish Super Lig side Trabzonspor, which earned the club a massive £48,169 fine.