Travelling Wolves forced to miss much of Europa League clash as security criticised

A number of Wolves fans in Braga were forced to miss much of the side's Europa League game as they had flags and bags confiscated and waited in long queues outside.

Wolves' game in Portugal kicked off at 5.55pm local time, but many fans missed a large part of the group stage fixture due to being made to wait outside in torrential rain.

Meanwhile supporters had all sorts of items confiscated, including dozens of bags, flags and umbrellas which were dumped in bins by the home security.

Some fans reported a wait of 90 minutes to make it into the Braga Municipal Stadium, with police keeping fans in groups on a muddy field next to the ground.

There were claims of police aggression on social media, with some saying police had attacked fans with batons.

But despite police and security only letting small groups of fans into the stadium at a time, videos showed a chaotic situation at the turnstiles with large groups of fans pushed up against the barriers.

More on this story:

• Wolves fan arrested over Porto violence with Belgian hooligans
• 'The worst match I've been to': Wolves fans on chaos and crushing

Some supporters were said to have arrived at 5pm local time, almost an hour ahead of kick off, yet still missed the majority of the match.

"It was absolute chaos outside the ground." Said Rob Cartwright, a Wolves fan from Worcestershire.

"There was no system to get us from the square [in Braga city centre] to the ground. We waited 50 minutes at the taxi rank and only one taxi arrived. There were 200 or so waiting in a queue.

"No buses went to the ground. We eventually walked to the bus station and got a taxi there. So we were late joining the queue outside the ground but still expected to make kick off, until the family next to us said they had already been waiting 45 minutes. This was around 5.30pm.

"They confiscated anything they wanted. Food, drink bottles, umbrellas, women's make up. Even a guy on a day trip had his flight bag with his clothes taken away.

"The worst thing was we were kept on a waterlogged muddy field outside the ground for well over an hour.

"We only saw their two last goals [which Braga scored. I'm happy with result though."

Wolves stewards who travelled with the away fans leafed through the bins to retrieve the confiscated flags and hung them up outside the ground in a bid to help fans get back their pride and joy.

Those who missed the first half were not able to see their side score three times following Andre Horta's opener for the hosts.

It came after Wolves supporters were "ambushed" by "organised groups" of hooligans in Porto in a second night of violence in the city.

The travelling supporters were involved in several clashes after being targeted by hooligans believed to be supporters of Belgian club Standard Liege.

Fans in Portugal told the Express & Star how running battles broke out across the city as British fans were specifically sought out by Belgian supporters, with one man seen lying on the floor surrounded by blood.