To be honest, if I found the sight of opposition fans getting drunk, loud and singing that 'antagonistic' that I felt the need to get a hammer or blade and attack them...then I'd seriously feel I had a problem. And seems most press are now reporting that the guy is critical...can only assume he is the guy on video getting kicked in the head numerous times by Russians
I think that is Wales' first ever win in the finals of a tournament (they drew all their games in Sweden in 1958 before losing to Brazil - narrowly). So history is made, well done the Welsh! No it isn't they won a group play off against Hungary in 58. Pretty average result then, they regulalry win, every 58 years.
Agree, but we're talking criminal gangs in one of the most dangerous cities in Europe for whom "disrespect" is worse than raping their sister.
Not at all, just demented. The mother bit was auto correct. I'll be sober until some point during the England game, which is now making me very nervous for a variety of reasons. Above all I don't want to see any trouble in the stadium.
Looking at the TV pictures, England fans are on 3 sides of the ground, with the Russians at one end. Hopefully the segregation has been put into place correctly. I'm very nervous now. Wales winning feels to have put more pressure on us to win. I like the team though (on other thread).
No boys Stan isn't.... But I am. Sorry...I support both England and Wales at football... But tonight is a Wakes night..I so want England so we both go through... But please ...we were magnificent tonight... Well done boyos... But now....Come on England
Football hooliganism was patented by the English and was our biggest export success story in the 70s and 80s. Small wonder then that other countries morons should try to emulate their 'role models' and give them a good kicking. Victims of organised violence? Yeah, the English club firms invented that too. The trouble is that other nationals have as much skill in laying ambushes and springing surprises on their foes as the English thugs do. I feel sorry for the vast majority who are tarred by these Neanderthals and who have given us all a bad name, particularly the innocent ones who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. However I have my doubts about the "poor innocent" who was stabbed in an apparent "unprovoked attack". May be so and he is simply displaying courage in forsaking the right to seek justice for the assault done to him. Either that or he has all the usual reasons for not wanting to be assisted in any way whether by the French Police or medical services. Perhaps he forgot to take his EHIC with him or cannot remember who he is because he took a blow to the head?. Let's hope he recovers in time to drink a skinful and sing lustily to support 'our boys' in their next epic failure against Wales.
I've never encountered any hooliganism on England away trips, but that's only because I've never followed England abroad. It's something I would have loved to have done, but I know better than to associate myself with the mindless numbskulls that form a significant part of the England following. I had the misfortune to find myself sitting amongst some of England's finest at the Scotland game in Euro 96 and would never want to be in that situation again. ****s.
The scenes at the end of the match in Marseilles were horribly reminiscent of Heysel, with people jumping over a wall to safety. There is a toxic mix of drunk English fans, French 'hooligans', French-Arab gangs, Eastern European (Russian and Polish so far) nationalist Ultras, and armed police with the policy of using tear gas at the first opportunity. 6 Northern Irish fans injured, I have no idea if they have any form in this area. Apparently there were French and Russian attacks on English fans yesterday, but it was the English fans throwing bottles at the police. What a mess. Just when we needed a tournament which was joyous, showing a united West to those IS philistines. Of course Putin will regard this as a show of Russian strength.
Tournaments such as this are, and have always been hooligan magnets. If England "fans" aren't involved it seems to go under the radar as this kind of behavior has long been dubbed the English disease. Violence is a common factor throughout European football, fans being shot in Italy, full scale battles in Turkey and so on. I really don't know what the solution is when you have groups of yobs determined to flex their muscles and have a confrontation with another group of yobs with the aim of enhancing their "reputation" as the hardest fans, as this is the only reason they travel to the games, as it certainly isn't for the football. But as always it's the genuine innocent fans that come off worse.
Seen/listened/read about yesterday's violence and it seems groups of Russian and French locals organised attacks on small groups of English fans drinking at bars. The police watched it and did nothing (how many Russian arrests)? Sorry, they fired tear gas into the crowds making it worse by dispersing the fans to go into alleys for more attacks. At the stadium the Russians charged into a neutral end with families, this included women and children being hit and having to jump over a fence. Once again the police did too little too late. Fans with wearing balaclavas without being arrested? The British police out there have said that the English fans were drunk and singing but did not orchestrate the violence, only responding. I have seen a video where groups of English families are at a cafe/bar and withing seconds are attacked indiscriminately by Russians wear black t-shirts and masks. I know our fans are no angles and yes we threw bottles at the police but the huge majority of the trouble was not our fault. The Russians are about 20 years behind the rest of the World and many of these innocent England fans are paying for a reputation from another era.
The English fans that contributed to the problem were not the vast number of football lovers that attended the match yesterday, but those that three days ago were verbally abusing local Muslims, having been drinking all day. This "disrespect" apparently sparked off the 3 day war with local gangs. So those true England fans that were sitting and drinking with their wives and children yesterday, had bottles thrown at them by the locals and rang British radio stations to protest that "English fans are entirely innocent" are not seeing the whole picture. The Russian attacks seem to be a separate aspect. Russia has some of the most violent fans in Europe and their conduct cannot be excused in any way
Such a shame that this post is discussing the violence instead of the football. In an attempt to get back to the original theme: I am glad that there is room in the knock out stage for a third place, because I think Wales will beat us.
