Disgraced West Midlands Police chief retires after Israeli fan ban row

Chief Constable Guildford made the announcement at a press conference at 4.00pm on Friday.

According to The Guardian, the West Midlands Police chief is entitled to his full pension. He earns over £220,000 a year in his current role.

Mr Guildford is said to have felt that the intense scrutiny he and the force were under was unlikely to go away.

According to reports, some fellow Chief Constables believed that he should go and that by staying he was damaging the reputation of policing nationally and its standing with the public.

In response to Chief Constable Guildford's retirement, Shabana Mahmood said: "The findings of the Chief Inspector were damning. They set out a catalogue of failings that have harmed trust in West Midlands Police.

"By stepping down, Craig Guildford has done the right thing today. I would like to acknowledge his years of service. And I pay tribute to the work of the officers in West Midlands Police, who keep their community safe every day.

"Today marks a crucial first step to rebuilding trust and confidence in the force amongst all the communities they serve."

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: "Craig Guildford disgraced himself and his force.

"Allowing Islamists to force the banning of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and then fabricating evidence to pretend the ban was because of the Maccabi fans own behaviour was disgraceful.

"Craig Guildford should have been fired by the Labour Police and Crime Commissioner - but he was too weak to act. Craig Guildford’s move to retire is simply not good enough.

"He should now face gross misconduct proceedings through an IOPC investigation - which can continue even after retirement or resignation. I will now be writing to the IOPC to call for this."

Mr Philp had previously called on Ms Mahmood to sack the West Midlands Police chief on Wednesday.

The Home Secretary instead accused her Tory counterpart of being "unfamiliar with the law" and insisted she did not have the power to remove the Chief Constable after the Conservatives changed the law in 2011.

Ms Mahmood had piled the pressure on Mr Guildford after telling MPs she no longer had confidence in him.

West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, Simon Foster, holds the power to sack Mr Guildford. Mr Foster accepted his decision to retire, which was made on Friday.

Reform Chair, Zia Yusuf, said that the Chief Constable "should not be allowed to retire" and instead should be "held accountable for his actions."

"He should have been dismissed following his abhorrent decision to ban fans from attending the Maccabi Tel Aviv match against Aston Villa last year," he stated.

"What emerged from Mr Guildford’s appearance before the select committee was extraordinary. He misled the public and capitulated to violent extremism. His position had already become untenable.

"We must not allow Islamists, thugs, or terrorists to believe they can dictate what happens on our streets."

Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism said: "Under Craig Guildford’s leadership, West Midlands Police lied and obfuscated, victim-blaming Jews instead of taking on the Islamists.

"His retirement, after the pitiful failure of West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster to sack him, should result in the resignation of Mr Foster as well.

"In any case, Mr Guildford’s must not be the last departure from among the force's leadership, and obviously he cannot be replaced by another senior figure implicated in the same scandal."

Mr Falter added that the Chief Constable's conduct had been "disgraceful", and that attention must now turn "to the Islamists who browbeat the police into carrying out their wishes to ban Jews".

Mr Guildford first became a police constable in 1994 and has served as the head of West Midlands Police since 2022.

Despite his experience, the force had admitted that "mistakes were made" over the the ban.

The fallout began when the force announced a ban on Maccabi fans travelling to their Europa League match against Aston Villa in October.

West Midlands Police relied on Dutch intelligence after a game involving the Israeli club and Ajax had descended into chaos a year prior - intelligence that has since been dismissed as false or misleading.

The force had claimed as many as 600 Maccabi supporters deliberately attacked Muslim neighbourhoods while they were in Amsterdam. Dutch officers have since said that "provocations came from both sides."

They also alleged that fans pushed members of the public into canals and that 200 supporters had connections to the Israeli military.

Dutch police had no reference for this claim, and the five people convicted in Amsterdam in 2024 were all for violence against Israelis.

Mr Guildford later admitted that a flawed AI-sourced information had also been considered during the decision to ban fans of the Israeli club.

The Chief Constable wrote a letter to MPs offering his apologies after an AI tool generated a fictitious match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and West Ham.

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