Football
Euro 2024: eight fans face criminal charges after Gelsenkirchen trouble – as it happened
Eight fans facing criminal charges after trouble
Daniel Boffey
One England fan and seven Serbs are facing criminal charges and tournament bans after the brawl involving 150 people ahead of Sunday’s Euros game.
The violence in central Gelsenkirchen, in west Germany erupted after England fans had sought to enter a bar full of Serbia supporters, German police said at a press conference on Monday.
One English fan was treated at hospital but discharged himself in order to attend the game.
A total of 150 people are believed by police to have been involved in the violence which saw chairs, bottles and tables upended, and leaving several fans and at least one police officer with heavy head wounds.
Peter Both, the police chief in Gelsenkirchen said: “The Serbian fan group was already in the restaurant and obviously ate there and then a larger group of English fans then tried to get into this restaurant as well. And that’s exactly what sparked the dispute.
“What we can hardly say now, of course, in retrospect, is did the Serbs refuse entry to the English or did the English provoke the Serbs. Of course, this can hardly be brightened up afterwards. The fact is that when they tried to enter the pub, there was an immediate physical altercation.”
Both said criminal proceedings would be pursued against the eight men taken into custody and they would recommend orders banning them from the rest of the tournament.
He said: “We subsequently made several detentions. We carried out a total of around 50 identity checks. We took eight fans into custody before the game, who were then unable to watch the game.”
Both said that the behaviour of the England fans had otherwise been “great”. “If we had predicted in the opening press conference that there would be one detention [of an England fan], then we would all have gladly taken it”, he said.
He added: “Why did the police only take seven or eight people into custody when there were 150 people running around? The first issue is that you can only take someone into custody if you can make an individual accusation. So the ones where we can say either via video recordings or via personal evidence from deployed police officers, I can prove that you threw this chair, you threw this glass, you hit that one, have seen that, I can prove it, only those are then taken into custody accordingly.
“We have everyone’s personal details and are now in contact with the organiser, with the organiser, with Uefa, because we would already make a recommendation to Uefa. They can see if these people still have tickets for other games and we would recommend that these tickets are then blocked for the next games.”
Key events
That’s me done. Thank you to everyone who wrote in (mostly to weight in on Jude Bellignham). And thoughts with anyone who had trouble last night watching England.
Romania v Ukraine is about to kick off with Daniel Harris calling things on the live blog.
You’ve got to love Wout Wegherst.
Like all super-subs, he has become a cult hero and has added another unforgettable contribution off the bench for his country.
Ben Fisher is in Hamburg reporting on the Ducth and wondering if the super-sub can edge his way onto Ronald Koeman’s starting XI.
I’ve got a feeling the Bellingham discourse is going to oscillate throughout this competition. In fact, it’ll likely bounce between adoration and contempt for a decade and a half!
Adding another line of narrative, here’s Paul Heath:
Parts of one game , especially the goal, he looked good against the minnows. Tolerance was shown on TV commentary to his needless aggression against the opposition player, but he has shown signs of stroppiness before. So ,by way of agreeing with other correspondents, I think we should keep the Peter Beardsley Trophy for Midfield Genius in the cupboard for a few more games.
Authorities downplaye their role in Gelsenkirchen nightmare
It was to be expected. As a report from AP shows, those in charge of running a smooth operation for football fans don’t take any responsibility for the shambles:
Speaking at a news conference the morning after the game, Gelsenkirchen officials said they were satisfied with how transport to and from the match went, and defended it when challenged.
“At such a big event, of course it isn’t possible to get everyone to where they want to go in the shortest time,” city official Ludger Wolterhoff said. “I think we must reflect on whether we could still accelerate something, but I will say very clearly that … we took a look every 15 minutes at the situation with people leaving and reacted.”
Wolterhoff said “the railway connections worked and the extra bus connections we laid on worked.”
“But I don’t think you will be able to significantly further accelerate such a departure situation structurally,” he said.
The Deutsche Bahn train network, a tournament sponsor, said it was in contact with authorities to analyze the transport flow and were told by police there were significant backlogs but no serious issues, while the behavior of supporters was praised.
UEFA came under pressure after complaints by fans about logistical issues at recent Champions League finals, such as in Paris in 2022 and Istanbul in 2023.
Overseas visitors to Euro 2024 are reliant on public transport to get to stadiums and many have fond memories of a well-functioning train network when Germany hosted the World Cup in 2006. Eighteen years later, there have been regular delays and cancellations.
There was particular scrutiny on the England-Serbia match because it was tagged “high risk” by police because of the reputations of both sets of supporters. Fans were restricted to low alcohol beer at the stadium.
“It is remarkable that, despite facing the consequences of such inadequate provision and negligent crowd management, the thousands of England fans present remained overwhelmingly calm, restrained and compliant, thus helping to avoid more serious consequences,” the FSA said.
Free Lions statement on Gelsenkirchen trouble
The Free Lions Embassy have issued a statement following the difficult experience of England supporters in Germany:
We would like to place on record our thanks to fans who have reached out to share their experiences yesterday. We are dismayed at what fans have had to go through at yesterday’s game in Gelsenkirchen.
To see fans stranded in Gelsenkirchen Hauptbahnhof three hours after the game has finished due to transport problems at a major tournament is quite simply ridiculous.
The statement went on to criticise UEFA, citing the ‘late opening og the fan zone and the delayed start to the shuttle bus service’, as well as ‘not enough capacity, poor queue managment and communication and sever delays to services’.
Romania v Ukraine MBM
Our live blog of Romania v Ukraine has just launched.
Head over to follow the action with Daniel Harris:
Some non-Euro news now.
Alan Hansen is doing well! That’s the good news provided by Graeme Souness who said his old mate ‘sounded fabulous’ over the phone.
We’ve got our first bit of backlash to the Bellingham hype.
To be honest, I’m surprised it took this long.
David Ward has taken it on himself to douse cold water on the flames of expectation and hope:
Oh England! You’re doing it again! He’s a good player. Might be great. But the hype….which derives from hyperbole is just too much. He had an excellent 45 minutes but let’s pump the brakes a little eh? I was at Wembley in 1975 for England 2 Germany 0, the Alan Hudson game. How did that work out?
Not too well, David. But can you blame us (and, for the record, I’m not English, but I’m fully on the Jude bandwagon)?
Football, after all, is about losing yourself to whimsy despite your better judgement.
Here’s a quick recap of yesterday’s match reports:
Do you listen to the Football Weekly podcast? You should, it’s quite good.
If you did you’d not only get the most educated opinions from some of the best minds in football journalism (and some terrible takes from others) but you’d also be in great company.
That’s right, Georgia’s skipper Guram Kashia is a long-time listener.
Find this and more in this cracking interview with a player whose listening habits are the least interesting thing about him.
Still don’t know your Botkas from your Bellinghams? Are you confusing Perisic and Kahveci?
Fret not. Because we’ve got the lowdown on every player. Impress your mates. Bore your partner to tears. Struggle to get Gernot Trauner’s name out your head for the next three weeks:
It’s a unique experience watching a national team play (and lose) when surrounded by that nation’s supporters.
I highly recommend it.
Morgan Ofari clearly thinks the same way as he went to The Corner Terrace restaurant on Ealing Common and tucked into pljeskavica and gibanica as Serbians watched their side succumb to England.
It’s a cracking piece. Do take a read:
Nick Ames
Want more Nick Ames? You’re in luck:
Finally a baking hot day at Euro 2024 and a suitably sunny scene in Munich, the yellow shirts of Ukraine and Romania fans making a vibrant picture in the city centre. Andriy Shevchenko, nowadays the Ukraine FA president, has just held court to an adoring crowd of Ukrainians in Wittelsbacherplatz. He was opening a temporary exhibition in which a section of stand from Sonyachny stadium in Kharkiv, the Netherlands’ training base at Euro 2012 but destroyed by Russian shelling a decade later, has been displayed for public viewing. Shevchenko, a strong orator and convincing statesman, addressed fans and media rousingly for around 25 minutes before heading to Allianz Arena – where I’m going now, too.
Sheva interview:
Romania piece (for balance):
Reader Ali Tabari was in Gelsenkirchen last night. Glad to know it wasn’t all bad:
What was amazing about last night was that everyone in the Ruhr region has been unfailingly friendly and polite since we got here, yet (from chatting to them beforehand) they all knew and expected it would be a nightmare last night. Even the Germans have no faith in their mythical efficiency. The stadium volunteers were conspicuous by their absence after the game, and there was a very dangerous crush developing at the north end of the ground. There was a huge police presence, none of whom appeared to know how to help. Getting my 11 year-old home at 2am local time was no fun at all- I wouldn’t like to be one of his teachers when he gets back to school tomorrow…
Sonyachny Stadium in Kharkiv is one of 500 Ukrainian sports facilities to have been damaged by Russian attacks.
Before the Group E game against Romania later today, a section of a stand will be displayed at Wittelsbacherplatz in Munich.
Nick Ames explains all:
I wonder if Jindrich Stanek genuinely thought he’d be playing for his country in the Euros while on duty for seventh-tier Hyde United.
Football can be a strange game and the journey goalkeepers have to take is even stranger.
Will Unwin lifts the lid on a remarkable odyssey from non-league English football to one of the grandest stages in the world:
It’s always great to hear from a coach or player in their own words. Yes I know that some press officer or the like would have cast their eyes over the copy, but this is good stuff from Belgium’s manager.
Can he finally – finally – get group of individual superstars to pull in the same direction? Is Belgium forever destined to be less than the sum of its parts? We’ll get a better sense later today. For now, let’s hear from Domenico Tedesco:
Apologies to anyone who is finding the Bellingham hype a little cringe, but I can’t get enough.
I was getting a shave on Friday and the bloke next me was gushing how, “he speaks like a 40-year old!” (Bellingham, not our barber).
It’s true, he’s so mature, so self-confident, so at easy in his own skin.
Exhibit #479:
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You don’t need me to tell that Ukraine’s opening fixture carries a degree of – how do I put this – social significance.
But, how clued up are you on their coach Serhiy Rebrov or his favoured 4-5-1/4-3-3 formation?
Don’t fret. We’ve got you covered:
Luke Taylor, who covers events in Latin America from Colombia, was in Gelsenkirchen where he witnessed the ‘chaos’ first hand:
“[I] have travelled to Germany with my brother and my Dad for our first ever international tournament together.
We had a fantastic day yesterday but the disorganisation at the end of the night was really disappointing.
I was glad to see Liew’s piece on the chaos getting home after the match last night. The match finished at 11 but we did not make it back to Gelsenkirchen from the stadium until after 1am. There simply were not enough buses, trams or trains put on. It’s only normally a 15-20 minute drive…
It’s astounding really. The stadium is outside the city but how do the logistics work when Schalke play here? It makes you wonder if the mess was due to incompetence or just indifference from Uefa towards fans who have travelled hundreds of miles and spent thousands to follow their teams, and who are really what make these tournaments so special.
Eight fans facing criminal charges after trouble
Daniel Boffey
One England fan and seven Serbs are facing criminal charges and tournament bans after the brawl involving 150 people ahead of Sunday’s Euros game.
The violence in central Gelsenkirchen, in west Germany erupted after England fans had sought to enter a bar full of Serbia supporters, German police said at a press conference on Monday.
One English fan was treated at hospital but discharged himself in order to attend the game.
A total of 150 people are believed by police to have been involved in the violence which saw chairs, bottles and tables upended, and leaving several fans and at least one police officer with heavy head wounds.
Peter Both, the police chief in Gelsenkirchen said: “The Serbian fan group was already in the restaurant and obviously ate there and then a larger group of English fans then tried to get into this restaurant as well. And that’s exactly what sparked the dispute.
“What we can hardly say now, of course, in retrospect, is did the Serbs refuse entry to the English or did the English provoke the Serbs. Of course, this can hardly be brightened up afterwards. The fact is that when they tried to enter the pub, there was an immediate physical altercation.”
Both said criminal proceedings would be pursued against the eight men taken into custody and they would recommend orders banning them from the rest of the tournament.
He said: “We subsequently made several detentions. We carried out a total of around 50 identity checks. We took eight fans into custody before the game, who were then unable to watch the game.”
Both said that the behaviour of the England fans had otherwise been “great”. “If we had predicted in the opening press conference that there would be one detention [of an England fan], then we would all have gladly taken it”, he said.
He added: “Why did the police only take seven or eight people into custody when there were 150 people running around? The first issue is that you can only take someone into custody if you can make an individual accusation. So the ones where we can say either via video recordings or via personal evidence from deployed police officers, I can prove that you threw this chair, you threw this glass, you hit that one, have seen that, I can prove it, only those are then taken into custody accordingly.
“We have everyone’s personal details and are now in contact with the organiser, with the organiser, with Uefa, because we would already make a recommendation to Uefa. They can see if these people still have tickets for other games and we would recommend that these tickets are then blocked for the next games.”
For me, the most interesting sports stories are the ones that collide with the real world. And it doesn’t get more real than the rise of right-wing politics on the continent.
The French football team – historically one of the country’s institutions that fully recognises, embraces and celebrates France’s multiculturalism – has seemingly taken on a unified stand to raise alarm over the political turmoil brewing in their country.
After captain Kylian Mbappé called on France’s youth to vote against rising ‘extremes’ in the election, Marcus Thuram added that, “We all need to fight daily so that this doesn’t happen and that the National Rally does not succeed.”
Keep an eye on this one.
I’ve missed a sitter.
Thanks to Ray Granger who has helped spare (some of) my blushes by pointing out a mistake in my preamble.
Today’s fixtures are not in fact the end of the first round of the group stages. We’ve yet to see Turkey, Georgia, Portugal and Czechia.
Thanks Ray.
Gareth Southgate was equally chuffed with his young star’s show.
Jacob Steinberg reports on the Gaffer’s presser post-match, saying Bellingham “writes his own script”:
Jacob scored Bellingham’s performance with an 8/10. Incidentally, Declan Rice, John Stones and Marc Guéhi also received that score. A good sign for England’s spine. Not great scores though for some attacking players:
David Hytner was also in Gelsenkirchen. You can catch up with his match report here:
On the pitch at least, it went (sort of) well for England. Their 1-0 win over Serbia gets their tournament up and running and, according to Barney Ronay, they have one man to thank.
Have we ever seen an English player like Jude Bellingham? Wayne Rooney’s intrioduction to the Three Lions was certainly more explosive. Maybe even Michael Owen’s leap into stardom was more dramatic. But I’m with Barney on this one. I’ve not seen a more complete footballer at this age before.
So, while the hype train is steaming ahead at full tilt, let’s add some more discourse to the narrative:
UEFA and treating fans like criminals: It’s a tale as old as time.
Sadly, no matter who is in charge, no matter which nation is playing, no matter where the match is taking place, fans can now predict that they’ll be treated with disdain.
Jonatha Liew was at the Arena AufSchalke (after some delay) and witnessed this poor treatment for himself last night.
Have you got a story that you’d like to share?
Daniel Boffey
It was quiet after the match between England and Serbia in Gelsenkirchen and the German police will be pleased that they kept the violence isolated to one outbreak. The policing was generally impressive. No nonsense and very responsive to any issues and they kept the two fans wide apart but they did so with as little drama as possible. Lowish profile until it was needed. Good omens for the tournament.
Preamble
Daniel Gallan
Good morning and welcome to our our live Euro blog. It’s Day 4 which means that after today, we’ll be have a sharper view on which teams mean business and which teams are here to make up the numbers.
At 2pm BST, we’ve got Romania v Ukraine. With respect to the Romanians, I think most of us will be looking at the Ukranians, wondering how their country’s ordeal might galvanise them and their loyal supporters.
Then at 5pm it’s Belgium v Slovakia. Are we still referring to Domenico Tedesco’s team as a golden generation? Can Kevin De Bruyne propel his team to, well, not glory, but respectability at least?
And closing out today’s programme we have Austria v France at 8pm. The French are the pre-tournament favourites with Kylian Mbappe odds on to win the Golden Boot. But the young captain has grabbed attentions for non-football reasons, calling on his fellow French youths to vote against rising “extremes” in the upcoming national election.
Should be another cracking day of footy.
If you’d like to get involved why not drop me a mail.
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