Unless you heard or read updates on the day you might not know what some England ‘fans’ have been up to in Germany.
Some have been arrested for Nazi Salutes.
You would have to scroll to the bottom of the BBC or Sky Sports websites to find coverage.
Compare that to the media’s reaction when Bulgarian supporters made the same gesture during God Save The Queen.
Some outlets have even praised those in Munich, almost like we should be proud that only a few got arrested.
In 2022 I advise anyone to do their own research.
After the Champions League Final, British tabloids will tell you how everything was the French Police’s fault.
Pick up a paper in France and they will defend their forces and tell you the UK has a hooligan issue.
Neither source would be reliable because they both have their own agenda.
One has a brand called the Premiership which they don’t want to impact by admitting has followers who have behaviour problems.
Over in Paris, they don’t gain anything by admitting they can’t host a big event.
Go and look for information about the Germany game and you will find lots of sick chants about the World War, fights breaking out and property being smashed up.
Supporting my stance that in this country we have a serious issue where grown adults think in the confines of a football match day, they can act how they want.
Fan Channels, TV coverage, etc, have had the nerve this week to criticize the Hungarian FA for finding a loophole in their stadium ban.
They invited children (accompanied by an adult) which led to more jeering of players taking the knee.
Zero talk about it being the minority. No waiting to hear explanations of how fans feel or what their motives were, organisers not blamed.
Who are England to judge? When in the same week our fans are making sick and vile taunts, the same week we are hosting a fixture where we have our own stadium ban?
That’s due to a home tournament which was blighted by online racism and people trying to break into Wembley.
Remember when ticketless individuals bombarded the national stadium?
That was the police and stewards’ fault for being too soft apparently.
Any other nation, we would accuse them of having issues that need fixing.
Let’s repeat that.
In the same week fans abroad are getting arrested for Nazi Salutes, we have a home match where fans are banned.
All of that is just swept under the carpet.
You ever noticed the Premiership have never imposed their own stadium bans or point deductions?
It would hurt their image to admit the sport has a problem.
Networks and sponsors are less likely to invest in a product with empty stands or teams losing points based on trouble.
We will only find a solution when we admit we have a problem in England.
Dan
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Compared to the horror days circa 1975 – 1992 English football fans nowadays are veritable angels.
Fairfan. At last a point you have said I can agree with.
I took and witnessed some hammerings from 89 onwards.
These days it’s like a walk in the park. But, I am still a bit iffy going Swansea and Cardiff. West Ham ain’t far off either. Just Don’t tell em 😉
Keep up the good work.🤣
Nonsense!!!
The “problem” with all fans who fight and make trouble at grounds or anywhere is essentailly down to a lack of IQ.
Intelligent people do not fight and make trouble. Nor equally do MOST people who are not especially intelligent.
But it is certain that those who DO make trouble in fights and mayhem are ALL of low intelligence.
AN INTELLIGENT PERSON WOULD NOT DREAM OF FIGHTING OR CAUSING MAYHEM. That is obvious!
Just a brief review of Alfie and Robs video on this thread.
Positive points are their enthusiasm and youthful age. Plus a degree of knowledge of their subject.
Negative points are the lack of basic arithmetic skills in not knowing the difference between £120k pw and£180k pw is actually approx £3 mill, NOT £300 thousand and NOT £1.2 mill over four years. RATHER AN EMBARRASSING MISTAKE!
Also ten minutes of too slow waffle that could have been said more succinctly in 6-7 mins, without losing anything of relevance .
But they are keen and will improve. I trust And hope!
Dan, after your article condemning Liverpool fans, which, it seems, was too one sided against them, I believe that you are doing the same thing here.
The French police, government and uefa have all apologised to them for the use of teargas and I would suggest that any fan would panic and try to get away.
Now on to this article – I haven’t watched the video, but read what was being said regarding the German game.
I believe five fans were arrested, from a total of how many?
I’ve read 20,000 but that might be wrong.
Now I’m not silly enough to think that we don’t have a problem, just as every single country in the world has hooligan problems.
Southgate has eluded to this on many occasions, asking for the fans to behave.
But until our justice system starts to hand out meaningful sentences, nothing will change in my opinion.
But an even bigger problem for me, is the way that the associations react to this.
Punitive fines, saying a country has to play behind closed doors and then allowing 30,000 “children” in to continue the racially abusive chants, is mind boggling.
If they were to start docking points, refuse countries / clubs to play home games for an indefinate period (as they did with english clubs) normal, law abiding fans would soon root out the trouble makers and identify them to the authorities.
I’m so proud that our club has a minimal record of such behaviour.
Profoundly and plainly true Ken! The sheer hypocrisy and lackof courage to change bad behaviour, of many football authorities, never ceases to astound and depress me. One small but important example I HAVELONG BEEN SAYING IS THE PALTRY SLAP ON THE WRIST FOR DIVING.
A MANDATORY SIX MATCH PREM BAN, PLUS A MASSIVE PERSONAL, NOT CLUB, FINE WOULD STOP THIS IN WEEKS IF ONLY THERE WAS THE INTENTION AND COURAGE TO ACT.
I’D DOUBLE ANY BAN FOR A SECOND OFFENCE AND DOUBLE AGAIN IF NECESSARY.
PROPER DETERRENTS WORK , PALTRY ONES DO NOT!!!
It’s just being reported that five men have been arrested and charged with the murder of a Cambridge United supporter, who died five years after he was attacked.
This is the kind of brutality that has no place in football and I await the trial and the outcome… remembering that everyone is innocent until proven guilty.
And let me guess your going to argue it’s only 5 out of how many ?
Well, unless you can PROVE there were more, your question has no validity Dan.
My attitude I guess is one is one too many
My attitude as well Dan, but utopia was only available once and man /women messed that up as well… if you believe that story of course!!!
Further to my point regarding the CL final Dan, it now seems that CCTV footage has been deleted by the French police!!!
I know that your article is about the English fans, but when a countries police force becomes the suspect, who is there to “police” them?
And the police chief has admitted that he fabricated the number of ticketless fans based on an estimate of…just guesswork. A bit like much of the contents of Dan’s articles really.
Not that I’m condoning the England and Italy final (it was an utter disgrace and a shambles) but if you look deeper into it we were just post Covid.
What we witnessed was, and how depressing to say, our current culture of dog eat dog. I always said I feared for humanity when you see people panic buying and fighting over toilet rolls. This was non-acceptable then but unfortunately some people see this as the new norm amd have carried on today. So the days of community and love thy neighbour are long gone.😭
I always wonder when people say that there is a different culture at the Emirates as everyone is behind the process, but the reality is that when something is taken away from you and you wait an age to get it back you behave differently. I know I did, and I’m not behind Artetaball, but just being back in my seat, with my friends and watch the team I love reminded me of my very first game. So each game I attended was a privilege as I recognised how easy it can be taken away.
How I felt watching and post game is a different subject all together.
So is Hooliganism on the rise… Maybe? but this isn’t about football and tribalism anymore. It is more a social attitude and football is an easy scape goat.
As I said, go to your local tescos during the pandemic and see people turn into absolute animals is more of a worry and carry on is more of the worry.
My first experience of going to a stadium to watch English football was in the 79-80 season, a second division game between QPR vs Sunderland. It was a real eye opener. I stood with the Sunderland away fans amongst a crowd of around 8.000. Without the away fans the attendance would have probably been half. Depressing, as both teams were chasing promotion.. The Sunderland fans were something else, mostly in their vile taunts against the only black player on the field, poor Tony Hazel, and their provocation of the QPR fans mostly with a funny but inappropriate reading of the London team’s initials. After an absolutely boring match where my only entertainment had been the behaviour of the Sunderland fans we were kept in the stadium until the home fans had all been cleared out, after which the away fans were “escorted” to the station by what would have been hundreds of policemen and their barely restrained snap happy Alsatians who also managed to get a few bites in, wink wink, on what were fairly long leashes Those were the wild west days of course and I was seriously despondent in believing that English football could not survive. We all know the rest. The last time I visited the UK and attended football games was during the 2001-2 season. Everything appeared so civil in comparison. Football however will always have it’s idiot elements so hopefully the recent hooliganism is possibly down to the actions of a small minority and the over reaction of the media pack.
Perhaps you’ve never heard of the Peloponnesian War or the Napoleonic Wars or World War One … World War Two perhaps? the Vietnam War? … the list of fighting and mayhem started by “intelligent people” probably with high IQs (though anyone with a passing knowledge of the history of that concept knows how stupid it is) is endless back to the Ancient Greeks .. and before ..
RW1, you know what I meant. Regarding the big picture it’s happening right now with Russia’s war and in the USA with Trump’s people refusing to believe or accept anything but the official patty line. Talking about the small world of football and the tribalism of a few fanatics whose world would collapse without their need to affiliate themselves with their teams colours is another story. At least I can’t see the EPL going the same way as Seria A with crowds dwindling since the 90s partly die to to shootings and knifings on the terraces by paras and other quasi fascist groups.
UEFA changed the Champions league final from a Wednesday to a Saturday so kids could go and watch it, so they went, and got tear gassed by the police.
They also have a rubbish, boring football problem.