Special report: Telegraph Sport spoke to fans from Arsenal and Brighton and discovered the troubling treatment English fans are receiving
Five hours had passed since kick-off in Brighton’s match against Marseille earlier this month, and the clocks had struck midnight in the south of France. A warm day had turned into a sticky night, and a thrilling evening had turned into a deeply distressing occasion for many of Brighton’s travelling supporters.
The journey from the Stade Velodrome to the centre of Marseille is only four kilometres but all those hours after the game had ended in a gripping 2-2 draw, many Brighton fans were yet to make it back to their accommodation in the city.
For some, the delays were draining and dull. For a few others, they were genuinely horrifying. On board one of the buses for away supporters, a 68-year-old Brighton fan collapsed through dehydration. Her son, Kevin Ticehurst, says it was the most terrifying experience of his life.
Another Brighton fan, Michael Sherrin, who has a neurological disorder, says he was pushed — totally unprovoked — by a French police officer. He also collapsed, and footage of him lying on the concrete floor inside the stadium soon went viral on social media.
Sherrin had been standing calmly with a steward. “Just chatting,” he tells Telegraph Sport. “It was totally fine.” There was no explanation, he adds, for the sudden violence shown towards him and his brother. In a statement to the French media, a police spokesperson said no such incident was observed and claimed the match was perfectly managed.
It is not unusual for away fans to be “locked in” at the end of European games. The treatment of Brighton’s supporters in Marseille, though, was unquestionably extreme: many of them were stuck inside the stadium for more than two hours after the final whistle.
“This was not what the two clubs had planned with French police,” said Paul Barber, the Brighton chief executive, a few days later. “We did not expect that to happen; neither was it relayed to us when plans were changed.”
Brighton fans were unhappy with their treatment in Marseille Credit: Pressinphoto/Bagu Blanco
Sadly for supporters of English clubs in European competition, the treatment of Brighton’s fans in the south of France was far from a one-off. A few days earlier, hundreds of Aston Villa supporters had been left inside a stadium in Warsaw for more than two hours after buses failed to show up on time. When they finally got out, they left under police escort. “It was like a military operation,” one fan told the BBC. “Complete and utter overkill.”
Also in France, in the same week as Brighton’s trip to Marseille, Arsenal supporters in Lens had a similarly unpleasant experience. Such was the level of disorganisation, the travelling fans were told to ignore all signs towards the away end because they were wrong. They were also initially told, after a wait of more than an hour to leave the stadium, they all had to take buses to Lille, a different city, around 30 miles away.
In Italy, meanwhile, thousands of Newcastle United fans were left stranded at the San Siro in September after Milan’s metro service was suspended after the game. Earlier in the week, a 58-year-old Newcastle fan had been hospitalised after he was stabbed by a group of men wearing balaclavas.
The wider picture for travelling English fans has not been a pretty one in recent months. And that is before one considers the events of previous seasons, such as the terrifying attack on West Ham supporters by AZ Alkmaar fans in May, or the chaos faced by Liverpool’s tear-gassed fans at the Champions League final in Paris last year.
There is no single explanation for these issues. No two countries are the same, after all, and the challenges in Italy cannot be compared to those in Poland. It should also go without saying that not all English fans abroad choose to behave themselves.
It is clear, however, that travelling English fans are currently facing an unwelcome amount of hostility and difficulty. As a result, there are a growing number of underlying problems that supporter groups are increasingly desperate to address.
The first of those, and perhaps the most frustrating for English supporters, is that the stigma of hooliganism continues to impact those who journey from these shores. “That stigma still exists and unfortunately a number of police in Europe base their operation not on the proper risk assessment but rather on old assumptions and prejudices,” says Ronan Evain, the executive director of Football Supporters Europe (FSE). “It is part of the equation.”
French police sprayed tear gas at Liverpool fans prior to the UEFA Champions League final in 2022 Credit: Getty Images /Matthias Hangst
Those prejudices are largely rooted in the dark days of fan violence in the 1970s and early 1980s, in which hooliganism was dubbed the “English disease”. The Heysel disaster of 1985, in which 39 people died at the European Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus, only worsened that reputation. As did the subsequent ban of English teams from European competition.
Such perceptions can be hard to shift, even after all these years. In Alkmaar last season, for example, it was impossible to shake the feeling that the current generation of West Ham fans were paying the price for the actions and reputations of previous supporters.
Would the Alkmaar ultras, who so menacingly charged towards West Ham’s fans after the final whistle, prompting scenes of shocking violence in the stands, have been quite so keen to scrap with followers of a team that did not have historic associations with hooliganism? On the night, in the stadium, that history felt relevant.
There is a feeling among many supporter groups that English fans are still treated differently on the continent. Firstly by the more hostile opposition supporters, who can view English fans as a target due to the historic reputation of violence. And secondly by local authorities, who either feel the same as those fans or are so fearful of clashes that they are over-cautious. Over-caution leads to over-policing, which leads to miserable — and at times dangerous — experiences such as those endured by the Brighton fans in Marseille.
“English fans have always felt a little bit targeted,” says Akhil Vyas, of the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust. “It has been going on for a while. When we got to Lille [after the Lens match earlier this month], there were armed police everywhere, but there was nobody on the streets. I did not see one Lens fan, or any members of the public. It was so unnecessary.”
There is a sense that club supporters are now struggling more with these problems than those who follow the England national team. In part, this is because of the excellent work done by the Football Association in preparation of each international away game: the FA travels to each venue in advance, with security staff and supporter groups, to make sure everything is ready. Club sides, perhaps due to the differences in schedules, are generally not so diligent.
A lack of expertise is also relevant at this early stage of the season. Lens, for example, had not hosted a Champions League match in more than two decades before Arsenal’s visit. Aston Villa had spent 13 years out of European football before this campaign, while Brighton had never played in continental competition in their history. The fans of these clubs are, naturally, not as hardened or experienced as those of the more established European forces.
Expectations have shifted, too. “What is different with English fans is that they travel in really big numbers, which is not the case for every country in Europe,” says Evain. “And they expect a high level of service because they are used to it [in England]. That is perfectly legitimate and right. There is also more scrutiny — when something goes wrong, thankfully the press in the UK pays a lot more attention to it than in other countries.”
At which point, it should be made clear that English fans are not alone. Many of their difficulties are shared by travelling fans from other nations. Across the continent, supporters are seeing worrying trends.
“We know that things are getting worse in a number of countries,” says Evain. “Spain is becoming more complicated, as is Portugal. In Italy the public authorities are getting more and more banning orders for away fans. In Poland there have been a number of issues in recent years.”
Why is this happening? One argument is that the stricter approach towards football fans is the result of a perceived rise in antisocial behaviour since the return of supporters after Covid.
Evain says that, as far as the FSE is aware, there are no Europe-wide statistics to prove that antisocial behaviour did indeed increase. In England and Wales, though, it was the case: arrests and reported incidents of disorder at football matches rose to an eight-year high in the 2021/22 campaign, when capacity crowds returned.
Inevitably, politics also plays a part. “It is also due to political choices,” says Evain. “Clearly in a country like Italy, that is imposing a lot of banning orders, it is to do with the current political leadership. It is a wish to look strong. Fans are being caught up in local political issues.”
The behaviour of England fans at the Euro 2020 final was condemned Credit: Reuters/Lee Smith
One example of this would last year’s Europa Conference League quarter-final between Nice and Basel. For the match in Nice, Basel fans were banned from even entering the city. “A political stunt from a mayor who wanted to look strong,” says Evain. In a statement at the time, Basel said: “FC Basel 1893 condemns the blanket criminalisation of football fans — that is exactly what the French authorities are doing in this case.”
To be clear, these are not the dark ages for football supporters in Europe. Compared to 20 years ago, conditions have improved across the board. Over the course of the last five years, though, and especially since the return of fans after the pandemic, the direction of travel has been troubling.
Supporters across Europe invest huge amounts of money and time into following their teams, and Covid showed how important they are to the sport. The worse the situation becomes, the more they will demand change. And in the long-term, the obvious danger is that many of them might begin to wonder whether it is worth it at all.
