Euro 2016: Events in Marseille still lingering in gas-filled Lille air

Up the street they marched, chanting in solidarity: “We’re England and Wales, we’re England and Wales, F**k off Russia! We’re England and Wales.” They will fight them on the beaches, sure. But failing coastal points, they were just as happy to engage outside Yakamoz’ Turkish restaurant and on the door step of Mr Burger.

On Place des Reignaux, a side street in downtown Lille, perhaps a hundred young English and Welsh supporters halted their march and faced down a wall of riot-geared French police. A few dozen Russian fans stood behind the police line, pointing and shouting furiously. A bottle flew from the Russian side and immediately three police bolted to wrestle a young Russian supporter to the ground. Excited by this, the British crowd rushed forward. Cafe workers stood on their doorsteps to watch. Television crews were materialising out of thin air, adding to the general hype.

Surged forward

Dozens of people – including former England striker Stan Collymore, who now works as a journalist – had their phones out. The police, outnumbered, backed a little and then surged forward with batons into the crowd. A loud bang and within seconds the air turned acrid and stinging, ending all manner of Russian and English mutiny and causing everyone sitting in the terrace cafes or just going home from work to cover their eyes with T-shirts or jackets. People rushed into the metro and Lille Flandres terminal to escape the gas. It was only tea time.

The whole scene lasted about 10 minutes and was halfway between daft and dangerous. On some level, the boozed up bovver boys must believe they are defending the pride of their flag as they try to revive a scrap that began last Friday in Marseille’s old port. Most of the fans caught up in this were young men. Someday, they will realise how pathetic they looked.

For most of the day, Lille had been a pleasure. By 2pm, the closest thing to anyone saw to a confrontation was in the cafe off Grand Place where two local grandmama’s got a bit huffy as each tried to pay for morning coffee. Nothing of note was thrown through the skies except a can of Pepsi from one Slovak fan to another: if he’d pulled the tab there and then, well yes: it would have all gone off in Lille.

The humour was high and the cops were everywhere. On the main square, two young Slovak men made a bee line to where four armed French guards were standing together outside a jeweller’s shop. The two Slovaks had just arrived in the city, having flown from Bratislava to Paris early on Wednesday morning.

“We drive for six hours from our home to get to the airport,” said Ján Kitavy. He had been travelling with Mikvlá Hvdák for 10 hours and had a flight booked home to Bratislava immediately after the game. They had seen the clips of the Russian and English fans engaging in bursts of street fighting in Marseille but didn’t expect to encounter anything similar here.

“We are not afraid of the Russians,” he laughed. “It is not so terrible. We meet some Russian fans and we have photos with them. We are all together so it is not so bad.”

Advance reports of Wednesday’s match in Lille and Wales-England in nearby Lens promised the city would be in “lockdown”. Thousands of police were reportedly drafted into the city and the sale of alcohol banned from off-licenses and supermarkets. But the cafe terrace tables were commandeered by enthusiastic beer drinkers and plenty of fans were holding tins of beer on their way to the stadium.

Still, the tangy aftermath of the Marseilles bad feeling made it all the way to the northern edge of France. With Russia standing on the verge of expulsion from these championships striker Artem Dzyuba castigated the English media for their portrayal of the events before Wednesday’s game. He was echoing the feelings of many genuine Russian football fans.

Around lunchtime, the Belozor family strolled around the square, posing together for photographs in front of the splendour of the old city stock exchange. They flew from Moscow to Marseilles to attend the England match.

Provocation

Vladimir Belozar was emotional when he described his experience of events that night, which was of English fans throwing coins into the area where he was seated with his family. He said he was terrified his young daughter was going to be struck and is convinced that the provocation contributed to the fighting later on.

And in Lille on Tuesday, he said he had seen England and Wales fans stamping on a Russian flag while the French police watched on and allowed it to happen. His daughter Olesya was carrying with her a doll she had bought

“It is very dangerous . . . after match, in Marseilles, people from Russia and England leave together” she said. “It’s very dangerous because some people are drinking and someone can say something bad. It’s very dangerous and they should . . . keep them apart.”

Belatedly, Uefa and the French police authorities are taking her advice. Even as Marek Hamsik broke Russian hearts in Lille, the English fans began to gather at the cafes and bars in the Grand Place. The Russians crossed their paths. It only takes a few. The inevitable clash – of youthful posturing, of half-baked thuggery, of international dickhead-ism – flared and died away.

The bars were allowed to remain open until midnight. Plenty of time for last orders and the rest.