Athens was a complete shambles, but UEFA's shame was in the fact that they had been warned well before the final of exactly what would happen. But because they know best, they totally ignored all advice and, instead, pretended that it would be all right on the night.

As with all clubs, a tiny percentage of fans are looking for trouble, and the bigger the fan base is, those numbers go up. But there would have been no trouble in Athens if UEFA had listened to the advice and warnings that they were given.

The problems started when UEFA gave only 17,000 tickets to each club in a stadium that holds 63,000. UEFA provided 20,000 tickets to the 'UEFA family' and a further 9,000 via a ballot. So UEFA actually gave nearly half the tickets to non-fans of either club.This is madness and it highlights how this organisation has no regard for the clubs tit is supposed to represent - or their fans.

'English football was, without doubt, the worst villain in Europe in the 1980s. But if we look at the three top leagues in Europe now, the Premiership comes out head and shoulders above the rest.'

They were also pre-warned that there were forgeries on the open market but decided that the best course of action was to take no action at all. Fans with forged tickets entered the ground, leaving thousands of supporters with genuine tickets stranded outside, only to be told that the stadium was full. The whole affair was a complete mess but could have been avoided if UEFA had not presumed to think they knew best.

But the claims made by UEFA spokesman William Gaillard that "Liverpool supporters are the worst behaved in Europe" beggars belief. This is the same man who, just before the final, said that Liverpool supporters "have a tradition of good behaviour." So which version, from the same man only a couple of weeks apart, are we to  believe? Don't forget we are talking about a debacle caused by Gaillard and his partner in stupidity, Michel  Platini, because they believe that they always know best and never let the facts interfere with their beliefs.

English football has had its problems in the past and was, without doubt, the worst villain in Europe in the 1980s. But if we look at the three top leagues in Europe now, the Premiership comes out head and shoulders above the rest. It's a league in which racism has, for the most part, been removed, unlike Spain and Italy where the ignorant masses are rampant and can still give vent to their monkey chants and other racist remarks at certain players with no fear of consequences.

In Rome, Manchester United were warned beforehand of the deadly hooligan Roma fans but, like Spurs in Spain, no one warned them of the hooligan-type police who battered all before them. Recently, the Italians took hooliganism to a whole new level by throwing explosives at police and killing one officer. But despite this, idiots at UEFA have decided that to cover-up their own mistakes, Liverpool must carry the banner of the worst fans in Europe.