West Midlands Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford has retired with immediate effect, following a campaign by the government and the Zionist lobby who were angered at his decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv hooligans from Birmingham.
A statement from Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster said: “The Chief Constable, Craig Guildford, has today retired from West Midlands Police with immediate effect. In doing so, he has acted with honour and in the best interests of West Midlands Police and our region. I welcome his decision.
“I am pleased this outcome has been reached with regard to due process and the law. That has prevented what might otherwise have been a complex procedure that would have caused significant distraction, impact, and cost to West Midlands Police and the wider West Midlands. It was important this matter was resolved in a balanced, calm, fair, measured, and respectful manner.
“The Chief Constable’s retirement follows the decision of the Birmingham City Council Safety Advisory Group, based on the recommendation of West Midlands Police, to ban away fans from attending the Europa League football match between Aston Villa and Maccabi Tel Aviv on 6 November 2025.
“West Midlands Police have been subjected to understandable, intense, and significant oversight and scrutiny as a consequence of the events that led to the recommendation made to the Safety Advisory Group.
“This has included the letter from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, published as recently as Wednesday 14 January, which set out significant preliminary concerns and shortcomings in relation to preparation and planning by West Midlands Police.
“It is important that I acknowledge the many positive achievements and contributions that Craig Guildford has made to policing within the West Midlands during the course of his three-year tenure as Chief Constable. As Police and Crime Commissioner, and on behalf of the people of the West Midlands, I thank him for his service.
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“I have today appointed Deputy Chief Constable Scott Green as the Acting Chief Constable. We have already met to discuss the actions that the force must take to rebuild trust and confidence amongst all the people and communities of the West Midlands, including addressing the significant matters identified in the letter from HMIC.
“The Acting Chief Constable and I are committed to working together to prevent and tackle crime, bring offenders to justice, promote the rights and welfare of victims, and ensure the safety and security of the people and communities of the West Midlands.”
‘Dark and shameful chapter’
Reacting to the decision, Ayoub Khan MP issued the following statement:
“Today marks a dark and shameful chapter for Birmingham and the wider West Midlands.
“We have witnessed one of the greatest injustices of our time: a Chief Constable sacrificed not for failure, but for doing his duty; a public servant ousted for protecting the people of Birmingham and refusing to play politics; a police commander removed for judging the Maccabi Tel Aviv ultras not on their faith or nationality, but on the storied history of violence, racism and thuggery that showed the content of their character.
“Watching the Home Secretary and her government mobilise in the way they did to defend the honour of Maccabi Tel Aviv has been horrifying.
“They distorted a decision made on the grounds of public safety and made it about faith, while allowing Birmingham’s Muslim community to be painted as a mob of Islamist, antisemitic extremists.
“They directly undermined their own police force to sanitise the behaviour of individuals that threatened to wreak havoc upon our second city.
“And they showed us all that the security of British citizens matters less than the reputation of foreign, racist thugs.
“Today, an honourable man of integrity has been ruthlessly scapegoated, publicly maligned and discarded in favour of appeasing hooligans and the very violence his actions prevented. This was not accountability – it was a witch hunt.
“Birmingham deserved better. Our police deserved better. And the truth will outlive this moment.”
Shabana Mahmood and the Zionists
Since Wednesday Guildford has been resisting growing pressure to resign, after Shabana Mahmood said that she had lost confidence in him, a view echoed by Downing Street, senior cabinet ministers, the West Midlands Mayor, and Birmingham City Council leaders.
The controversy centred on an interim report by His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Sir Andy Cooke, which criticised the force’s decision-making in recommending that Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters be barred from attending a November 2025 Europa League match against Aston Villa at Villa Park.
West Midlands Police said the ban was based on intelligence indicating potential public safety risks, citing concerns that visiting fans could be targeted by local groups and referencing intelligence from previous Maccabi matches where violent or offensive incidents had occurred. Authorities said the ban aimed to prevent potential disorder or harm to supporters and the wider public.
Guildford apologised after initially telling Parliament that AI had not been used in the intelligence assessment. He later clarified that the errors stemmed from Microsoft Copilot, having mistakenly believed the information came from a standard internet search.
Supporters highlighted Guildford’s broader record since taking office in December 2022. The force was placed into special measures in 2023 over failures in investigations and risk management but exited within a year, with inspectors describing it as the fastest-improving police force in England and Wales. Police data show reductions in recorded crime, improved detection rates, and faster response times during this period.
But critics, including the pro-Israel Campaign Against Antisemitism, argued the incident represented a failure of impartial and evidence-based policing and called for Guildford’s resignation.
