Thursday, June 9, 2016

England in Marseille sparks memories of soccer's dark days (Reuters)

A worker installs safety barriers at a fan zone before the start of the UEFA 2016 European Championship in Marseille, France, June 1, 2016. REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier

By Mitch Phillips MARSEILLE, France (Reuters) - The first wave of an expected 70,000 England fans descended on Marseille on Thursday and wasted no time establishing a foothold in Vieux Port to start three days of drinking and singing ahead of Saturday's Euro 2016 match against Russia. Noisy and boisterous, bare-chested and full of lager and bravado, they draped the flags around the Queen Victoria "British pub" and roared out their songs of defiance in the time-honored manner of "England Away", just as they had in the same port-side bars 18 years ago. Of course, the vast majority of England fans had nothing to do with the trouble, though many still enjoyed the thrill of being part of an "invading army", bussed in huge convoys, flags waving to the ever-present backing track chant of "Ingerland".


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