Ξ Barclays Premier League Season 2015-16 Ξ

[Jurgen]

Police: Old Trafford 'bomb' was dummy device left over from training exercise

May 15, 2016 22:14:00

A private security company accidentally left the package, that resembled a pipe bomb, at the Manchester United stadium, leading to the abandonment of Sunday's match

A bomb scare which led to Manchester United's final match of the season to be abandoned has taken a farcical turn after it was revealed that the device which led to a controlled explosion was a dummy bomb forgotten by a private company after a security training exercise.

A bomb disposal unit was called to Old Trafford to deal with a suspicious package that Goal understands resembled a pipe bomb and was found in an executive-suite toilet before kick-off.

The discovery of the item led to the evacuation of the stadium and the abandonment of the game, which has been rearranged for Tuesday evening.

After initially describing the 'bomb' as a hoax, Greater Manchester Police have now revealed it was accidentally left behind after a recent training exercise.

“I am grateful to the Manchester United and Bournemouth supporters for their support and assistance today,” assistant chief constable John O'Hare of the Greater Manchester Police said.

“Following today’s controlled explosion, we have since found out that the item was a training device which had accidentally been left by a private company following a training exercise involving explosive search dogs.

“Whilst this item did not turn out to be a viable explosive, on appearance this device was as real as could be, and the decision to evacuate the stadium was the right thing to do, until we could be sure that people were not at risk.

“Everyone remained calm, followed instructions, and worked with officers and stewards to ensure that a safe evacuation was quickly completed. Those present today were a credit to the football family and their actions should be recognised.

“I would also like to thank all those involved in the operation today for such a professional response, which includes police officers, stewards, MUFC staff, media representatives and commentators and the Bomb Disposal Team.”

United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward added: “The safety of fans is always our highest priority.

“I’d like to thank the support from the police which was first class and the impeccable response from fans of both teams.

“The Club takes security very seriously and staff are regularly trained with the police and emergency services to identify and deal with these incidents.

“We will investigate the incident to inform future actions and decisions.”

 

[Baines]

Leicester City join the usual suspects across Europe´s title-winners: 2015-16 at a glance

15 May 2016

The 2015-16 season is in the books for the Bundesliga, La Liga, Ligue 1, Premier League and Serie A.

From Leicester City stunning England to dominant wins for the elite across Europe, we take a look at how the campaign panned out.

Bundesliga

Winners: Bayern Munich
Champions League: Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Monchengladbach

Europa League: Schalke, Mainz, Hertha Berlin

Top scorer: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) 30 goals

Relegated: Hannover, Stuttgart

Promoted: Freiburg, RB Leipzig

Eintracht Frankfurt (16th in Bundesliga) and Nuremberg (3rd in 2.Bundesliga) will face a play-off for a top-flight place.

La Liga

Winners: Barcelona
Champions League: Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Villarreal

Europa League: Athletic Bilbao, Celta Vigo

Top scorer: Luis Suarez (Barcelona) 40 goals

Relegated: Rayo Vallecano, Getafe, Levante

Promoted: Four matchdays remain in the Segunda Division, Leganes and Alaves are in the box seat for automatic promotion.

Sevilla will join their compatriots in the Champions League if they beat Liverpool in the Europa League final.

Ligue 1

Winners: Paris Saint-Germain
Champions League: Lyon, Monaco

Europa League: Nice, Lille

Top scorer: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris Saint-Germain) 38 goals

Relegated: Reims, Gazelec Ajaccio, Troyes

Promoted: Nancy, Dijon, Metz

Marseille will qualify for the Europa League if they beat PSG in the Coupe de France final, but Saint-Etienne will benefit if Laurent Blanc's men complete a second straight domestic treble.

Premier League

Winners: Leicester City
Champions League: Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester City

Europa League: Southampton, Manchester City

Top scorer: Harry Kane (Tottenham) 25 goals

Relegated: Newcastle United, Norwich City, Aston Villa

Promoted: Burnley, Middlesbrough

West Ham need Manchester United to beat Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final to reach the Europa League. First, United must meet AFC Bournemouth in a fixture that was postponed in dramatic circumstances on Sunday.

Hull City and Sheffield Wednesday hold first-leg advantages over Derby County and Brighton and Hove Albion respectively in the Championship play-offs.

Serie A

Winners: Juventus
Champions League: Napoli, Roma

Europa League: Inter, Fiorentina

Top scorer: Gonzalo Higuain (Napoli) 36 goals

Relegated: Carpi, Frosinone, Hellas Verona

Promoted: Cagliari, Crotone

Milan can sneak into the Europa League by beating Juventus in the Coppa Italia final, Sassuolo will benefit if Juve are triumphant.

Pescara, Trapani, Bari, Cesena, Spezia and one of Virtus Entella or Novara will contest Serie B's play-offs for the final spot in Serie A.

 

[Schweinsteiger]

Manchester mayor wants fake bomb inquiry

Jill Lawless And Danica Kirka - AP on May 17, 2016, 12:01 am

The mayor of greater Manchester is demanding an inquiry into a security "fiasco" that saw Manchester United's stadium evacuated after a fake bomb was left behind from a security training exercise.

The discovery of the realistic-looking dummy bomb on Sunday prompted the evacuation of the 75,000-seat Old Trafford stadium minutes before Manchester United's last game of the season was due to start.

Army bomb disposal experts blew up the fake device, described by police as "incredibly lifelike".

"Fiasco is the right word," Mayor Tony Lloyd said. "It was shambolic."

John O'Hare, Assistant Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, said the device was very realistic and it was the right decision to evacuate the stadium.

Police said the device discovered in a toilet just before kick off was left by a private company after a drill using search dogs last week.

British media identified the firm involved as Security Search Management and Solutions, which conducted an exercise last week with Manchester United's search-dog teams.

Lloyd praised the police response but said the incident had put people in danger.

He said Manchester United needed to come up with some answers including why it wasn't noticed the dummy bomb was missing in the first place, and why it was then only found by security shortly before kick off when tens of thousands of people had already arrived.

Lloyd said the current focus is on security but there were further questions on who will pay for the large police and Army deployment over the scare.

Sunday's evacuation came amid tightened security at Premier League stadiums following last year's Paris attacks that targeted the Stade de France stadium as well as cafes, bars and a concert hall.

Britain last week upgraded the threat of an attack on the mainland from Northern Irish militants from moderate to substantial, meaning an attack is a strong possibility.

The Provisional Irish Republican Army has observed a cease-fire since July 1997 and renounced violence in 2005, but several rival factions opposed to Northern Ireland's peace process have mounted gun and bomb attacks on police and security officials in recent years.

The threat level to the UK from international terrorism stands at severe, the second highest point on a five-point scale, meaning an attack is "highly likely".

 

[Schweinsteiger]

[video=youtube;EuVPN3b7Yxg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuVPN3b7Yxg[/video]


Manchester bomb scare a 'fiasco': police

By Michael Holden - AAP on May 16, 2016, 8:08 pm

[video=youtube;C0LALD1fOUI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0LALD1fOUI[/video]

Manchester's police commissioner has demanded an inquiry into the "fiasco" of a fake bomb left behind from a training exercise at Old Trafford that forced the abandonment of a Premier League soccer match.

The device led to the evacuation of Manchester United's stadium shortly before the scheduled kickoff on Sunday of their final league game of the season against Bournemouth.

"This fiasco caused massive inconvenience to supporters who had come from far and wide to watch the match," Police and Crime Commissioner for Greater Manchester Tony Lloyd said.

It also "wasted the time of huge numbers of police officers and the army's bomb squad, and unnecessarily put people in danger", he said in a statement on Monday.

Police said the realistic-looking device, which was destroyed in a controlled explosion, had been accidentally left in a toilet by a private firm that was conducting a training exercise.

Two of the Old Trafford stands were evacuated about 20 minutes before kickoff.

The whole 75,000-seater stadium was cleared and the match was called off soon afterwards, the first time in 24 years that a Premier League match had been abandoned on security grounds.

"Whilst this in no way demeans the professionalism of the police and stewards responsible for getting the fans out, or the supporters' calmness and co-operation during the evacuation, it is unacceptable that it happened in the first place," said Lloyd.

Lloyd, who oversees Manchester police but has no operational role, is also the city's interim mayor.

United executive vice chairman Ed Woodward said the club would investigate the incident fully.

The game has been rearranged for Tuesday.

United are almost certain to miss out on qualification for next season's Champions League after local rivals Manchester City drew at Swansea City on Sunday, putting City three points ahead in fourth place and with a vastly superior goal difference.

United are also due to play Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final on Saturday.

 

[DeBruyne]

 

[Schweinsteiger]

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[Jurgen]

Bruce lauds Diame 'magic' as Hull seal Premier League return

By Russell Greaves
May 28, 2016 21:32:45

A terrific goal in the final quarter of the game has pushed the Tigers back into the big time, and the manager has praised his players for an excellent performance

Steve Bruce hailed Mohamed Diame for producing "a bit of magic" at Wembley to secure Hull City an immediate return to the Premier League.

The Tigers were dominant against Sheffield Wednesday, but had to wait until the 72nd minute for Diame's curler to wrap up a 1-0 victory.

It had been a frustrating afternoon for Bruce up until then, with Owls goalkeeper Keiren Westwood in inspired form to keep his side in it.

"[We had] that little bit of quality to decide a big game. Diame has produced a bit of magic and it's won us the match," City boss Bruce told Sky Sports.

"We seemed to have so many good chances. Thankfully Diame has come up with a wonder strike and I'm delighted for him.

"I thought we had the better chances. My big players performed excellently."
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Hull were for a long time involved in the race for automatic promotion, but fell away and midfielder Jake Livermore was delighted to finish the job in style.

He told the BBC: "It's been a long, long season. We had a dip in form at the wrong time and thankfully we bounced back.

"It's a special day for everyone.

"We want to go to all the big clubs. We're just happy to be in the top flight and give something back to these fans."

Hull dropped out of the top flight last season, but, along with Championship winners Burnley, have sealed a return at the first time of asking.

Wednesday, meanwhile, will spend a 17th consecutive campaign outside the Premier League.