SER19
Full Member
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2008
- Messages
- 12,769
Football fans of every nation have a cohort of scum. From violent and racist Italian groups to homophobic Russians, so there's no suggestion that its a fully unique problem.
But in a tournament that went so well for England, the image of their fans - unfairly to the decent - is once again very unsavoury.
This notion is so often met with 'anti England' accusations, but how many European city centres have we seen ruined by the same sort of rage fuelled thuggery. Yesterday it was Londons turn and the amount of footage really suggests were not talking about a small minority. There seems to be some sort of collective rage or nationalism that takes hold. Trafalgar square and Leicester Square in bits, cars being broken into, buses being climbed on, several videos of cocaine use being celebrated, bottles being thrown for absolutely no reason - the attempted storming of the stadium- combined with the anthem booing, knee booing, laser pointing, German girl celebrating, online racist abuse of own players... It goes on.
Like anything, and like many i know, if you support England with joy and your experiences are likely to be with decent civilised fans, this might feel like a personal and unfair attack but it's not aimed at you. What can England do to try shed its reputation, almost globally of having a detestable fan base?
But in a tournament that went so well for England, the image of their fans - unfairly to the decent - is once again very unsavoury.
This notion is so often met with 'anti England' accusations, but how many European city centres have we seen ruined by the same sort of rage fuelled thuggery. Yesterday it was Londons turn and the amount of footage really suggests were not talking about a small minority. There seems to be some sort of collective rage or nationalism that takes hold. Trafalgar square and Leicester Square in bits, cars being broken into, buses being climbed on, several videos of cocaine use being celebrated, bottles being thrown for absolutely no reason - the attempted storming of the stadium- combined with the anthem booing, knee booing, laser pointing, German girl celebrating, online racist abuse of own players... It goes on.
Like anything, and like many i know, if you support England with joy and your experiences are likely to be with decent civilised fans, this might feel like a personal and unfair attack but it's not aimed at you. What can England do to try shed its reputation, almost globally of having a detestable fan base?