Craig Guildford, the former chief constable of West Midlands Police who oversaw the recommendation to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from last November's Europa League fixture at Aston Villa, left office with £57,800 — roughly 236,000 shekels — according to the force's draft statement of accounts for 2025/26. The sum is recorded as compensation for loss of office.
The figure came to light this week when Nick Timothy, Britain's shadow justice secretary, published the accounts on X. Timothy called the payment "a disgrace" and "a reward for failure", adding that "under pressure from Islamists and antisemites, West Midlands Police lied to justify banning Israeli fans from Villa Park".
The episode behind the payout is well documented. Ahead of the Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv match on 6 November 2025, the force recommended to Birmingham's safety advisory group that away supporters be barred from Villa Park on safety grounds — a decision that triggered an international outcry and months of scrutiny.
An inspection by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, led by chief inspector Sir Andy Cooke, later found that the force had made misleading statements about Maccabi fans and given inaccurate information to a parliamentary committee. It had also relied in part on material generated by artificial intelligence — including a reference to a fixture that never took place — and had failed to consult Birmingham's Jewish community adequately.
Guildford initially told MPs that artificial intelligence had not been used in compiling the force's report, before admitting the claim was incorrect and apologising. He retired on 16 January 2026, at the age of 52, after Downing Street and the home secretary said they had lost confidence in his leadership.
The West Midlands police and crime commissioner's office has defended the payment. It said Guildford was legally entitled to three months' pay in lieu of notice plus outstanding leave, that he received "no more than the bare minimum he was contractually entitled to", and that his immediate retirement was more cost-effective than having him serve out a notice period on his £220,000 annual salary.
For Israeli football, the disclosure reopens a wound eight months after the match itself. The Villa Park ban became emblematic of the hostility Israeli clubs have faced abroad since October 2023.
News that the officer who presided over the discredited decision left with a six-figure shekel-equivalent payment — and no further sanction — has landed in Israel, as the sharp reaction in British politics shows, as an unresolved accountability question rather than a closed file.
