DanceMagnet
Member
Actually, on speaking to a couple of guys who were in the end that got invaded by the Russians, there were a mixture of fans in there including English, French and Germans. The main England
On a personal level, I am here with friends to have a holiday and watch the footy. I've followed England away over the last 3 or 4 years and not really noticed any real trouble in that time. I tend to go for the experience of going somewhere I wouldn't normally go which is usually marred by 90 minutes of football. For me, and my friends, we try to avoid the areas where there is potential for trouble and we didn't witness any trouble other than what happened at the end of the match. What was noticeable about that was the lack of any action by police and stewards. They allowed flares to be set off and did nothing to remove those concerned. They also did nothing to prevent people getting injured. The organisation around the ground was an absolute shambles. No signage, limited access into the ground, and no information or assistance. Most fans circled the ground trying to find their way in - an absolute recipe for disaster.
Having said that, a lot of the England fans do not help themselves. They get lagered up, loud and Leary. They do get targeted based on the past history of trouble. I know of a few innocents got caught up in the tear gassing incidents. I can't comment on the incidents in the old port of Marseille as I stayed out of the area to avoid any hassle. It's difficult to trust any of the media reports as they are often inaccurate. The comments subsequently made by Andy Burnham and Gary Lineker were unnecessary and a reaction based on a complete lack of knowledge of anything that did actually happen.
