Euro 2016

[Ells]

Why would the Russians ban hooligans? The Deputy Chair of the Russian Parliament and a member of the board of the Russsian FA endorsed the attacks, the Sports Minister applauded the hooligans in the ground after the attacks, the head of their "Supporters' Union" (also employed by the aforementioned Deputy Chair of the Russsian parliament), a known Neo-Nazi hooligan, is part of their official delegation to the tournament.  

Which makes you wonder what the hell those 30 did..
Maybe they were rubbish hooligans. Didn't cause enough trouble.

[Don Rogers Sock]

Why would the Russians ban hooligans? The Deputy Chair of the Russian Parliament and a member of the board of the Russsian FA endorsed the attacks, the Sports Minister applauded the hooligans in the ground after the attacks, the head of their "Supporters' Union" (also employed by the aforementioned Deputy Chair of the Russsian parliament), a known Neo-Nazi hooligan, is part of their official delegation to the tournament.  

That's Ells point i think

[Bob's Orange]

We won't. Turkey, Poland or Ukraine in the knockouts against Russia would however be both feasible and terrifying.

If its Turkey v Russia, there could very well be deaths.

[horlock07]

Why would the Russians ban hooligans? The Deputy Chair of the Russian Parliament and a member of the board of the Russsian FA endorsed the attacks, the Sports Minister applauded the hooligans in the ground after the attacks, the head of their "Supporters' Union" (also employed by the aforementioned Deputy Chair of the Russsian parliament), a known Neo-Nazi hooligan, is part of their official delegation to the tournament.  

We don't know what the UK sports minister may have said in private, John Whittingdale likes a bit of whipping and such like (allegedly!) so he may have also applauded secretly!

[Bob's Orange]

It just seems odd to have the fans traipsing across an enormous country for the sake of it (and it is huge, when my old man moved from Witney down to near Carcassonne people used to ask if they went to Paris much until he pointed out that Witney is actually nearer Paris than Carcassonne!)

I think its the other way round, we play in Lens but have been suggested the fans stay in Lille as it has greater infrastructure, where handily Russia are playing, what could go wrong.

The UEFA thing is a bit of a red herring as it only relates to trouble in the grounds and that's unlikely as we will not be meeting Russia again in a match situation?

I guess the French FA want the rivals to have a tricky as possible task. Didn't we do something similar in Euro 96? (although you can't compare the size of coutries really!)

[pauld]

That's Ells point i think

I know, I was just laying it on a bit thick Seems there's a lot of people who are genuinely surprised by all this, including the media, but it's been a known issue for 20-odd years. It's why awarding the Russians the 2018 WC was in many ways more jaw-dropping than the Qatar decision

[Bob's Orange]

I know, I was just laying it on a bit thick Seems there's a lot of people who are genuinely surprised by all this, including the media, but it's been a known issue for 20-odd years. It's why awarding the Russians the 2018 WC was in many ways more jaw-dropping than the Qatar decision

The fact that Russians were trawling the streets with gum shields and MMA style gloves is pretty staggering. They weren't afraid to kick men when they were down either, scary times.

[horlock07]

The fact that Russians were trawling the streets with gum shields and MMA style gloves is pretty staggering. They weren't afraid to kick men when they were down either, scary times.

Our 'nawty boys' have been entirely happy to kick men when they were down, seen it enough times...

[Don Rogers Sock]

Our 'nawty boys' have been entirely happy to kick men when they were down, seen it enough times...

That argument is pissing me off abit. If it was our 'nawty' boys who were being kicked i could understand your point but it wasn't. England fans over the years have been a disgrace but 9 times out of 10 you can guarantee it is rival hooligans they fight.

[Bob's Orange]

That argument is pissing me off abit. If it was our 'nawty' boys who were being kicked i could understand your point but it wasn't. England fans over the years have been a disgrace but 9 times out of 10 you can guarantee it is rival hooligans they fight.

It did look like random people were being picked on which left them in no situation but to fight back . Almost like anyone with an England flag which they would steal and take as a trophy and then give him a leathering.

[horlock07]

That argument is pissing me off abit. If it was our 'nawty' boys who were being kicked i could understand your point but it wasn't. England fans over the years have been a disgrace but 9 times out of 10 you can guarantee it is rival hooligans they fight.

The original poster didn't specify who was being kicked or are we now claiming that every British fan who was injured in Marseille was not looking for a fight, some were, some weren't. The point I am making is that I have seen plenty of examples of British fans kicking people laid on the ground in the 80's, 90's and 00's and having been caught up in a stampede by Chelsea fans when I was 4 and various times with various clubs subsequently if 'fans' are looking for trouble they didn't give a shit who was hurt in the minute, although the police horses were more dangerous.

This idea of our hooligans having some sort of unwritten code to only injure other hooligans is just getting peculiar although it is now being grasped by the media who have changed their emphasis.

[horlock07]

It did look like random people were being picked on which left them in no situation but to fight back . Almost like anyone with an England flag which they would steal and take as a trophy and then give him a leathering.

Without being there its nigh impossible to know whether those being attacked were bystanders or not though its it? I think there was some memento gathering going on by the Russians (its been suggested that flags etc are coming up for sale on the Russian eqivilent of Gum Tree) and thus flags etc made fans a target.

It had been all over the media for months that something was going to kick off between the Russians and our lot and also if you know Marseille its a bit of a hole and the Port area was where it was always going to happen, not sure how so many casual fans ended up there but it happens and events escalated!

[Wobbly Bob]

Have a ticket for the Russia v Slovakia game, so off to Lille tomorrow for the day.

Not looking forward to it.
Should have a couple of hours to have a wander in the city centre before the match, avoid the main square and the
main drag where the majority of bars are.
Hopefully find somewhere quiet for a couple of beers, get to the stadium, watch the game, then get the fuck out of there after the match and back to the station.

That's the plan anyway.

[Flashheart]

Whether or not fans of any nation attacked innocents in the past is irrelevant, it does not justify innocents being attacked now. Regardless of which nation is being attacked and which is doing the attacking. Anybody that starts with "Well they deserve it because in the 70s...." is full of shite.

[Don Rogers Sock]

Without being there its nigh impossible to know whether those being attacked were bystanders or not though its it? I think there was some memento gathering going on by the Russians (its been suggested that flags etc are coming up for sale on the Russian eqivilent of Gum Tree) and thus flags etc made fans a target.

It had been all over the media for months that something was going to kick off between the Russians and our lot and also if you know Marseille its a bit of a hole and the Port area was where it was always going to happen, not sure how so many casual fans ended up there but it happens and events escalated!

It is though that is the point i am saying. You can get the snippets and come to the conclusion you have or you can watch the videos where English fans are just stood drinking and being ambushed by groups of locals and Russian gangs.

In your previous post you go back to the 80s and that's half the problem as everyone keeps going back to. There may have been scuffles but how comes Poland/Ukraine we didn't have this issue fuck me even in Germany 2000 our fans were praised for once,how about the last 2 world cups? We have French prosecutors stating that the trouble has been instigated by everyone but England fans on this occasion yet our own fans and media are intent on harping on about what happened over 30 fucking years ago.