I was happy seeing a lot of them getting a good slap by the genuine paying customers once they breached security and made it onto the concourse. Imagine paying thousands for a ticket only to have 'people that were desperate not to miss the game' worming their way in.
Why is posting something like that fair game but if you made similar broad brush statements about any other group people would have a fit. I really don't get the double standards.
Because it shows that before the game they were supporting the players.
But then immediately following the game Rashford, Sterling, Sancho and Saka's Instagram and twitter were filled with monkey emoji, bananas and the n-word.
Do you really think the fans sending racial abuse to those players are black?
Not quite an accurate interpretation of the truth though is it. Before the game there were 30 odd million people tuning in supporting the players. After the game a few scumbags took their anger out on our black players. Of course it's not acceptable, it's absolutely disgusting but I'm sick of reading about how England fans are all violent scumbags. It's a very small minority who have unfortunately ruined it for the majority who are just genuinely gutted without feeling the need to attack anyone.
I agree with you.
The problem comes that usually the racism in this country is swept under a rug time and time again until the next major event. The problem is never dealt with and then people can't understand why footballers still feel the need to take the knee.
I'm not quite sure that's the truth anymore, racism is (quite rightly) being taken a lot more serious these days. Of course the major issue is tracking them down given they are very rarely man enough to do it unless it's behind a keyboard on a fake account. I do genuinely believe we will see a huge shift in the next few years with lots of efforts being done to curb it. How successful it will be is naturally, unknown at the moment. Unfortunately like all forms of immoral/unlawful actions, it's always going to occur, we just all need to help minimise this as much as possible.
He is an estate agent, I'd be in favour of locking him in a room full of sexually aggressive silverback gorillas and that was before he showed the world his bigotry
@The_Organiser I'm not surprised to hear Maidstone had incidents or was carnage but I am surprised I haven't been spammed with smartphone videos of it. Same for Rochester and Chatham especially after the mayhem for the Colombia game down the command house.
@sunbury-addick I can't share your happiness I'm afraid. Turn that on its head and if I tell you about someone I know who has a budget of about 500 for a car but as he can't get a reliable, tidy car for that he robbed one.
I was very resentful after trying and trying to get tickets through the portal and not being successful then seeing people who I guarantee have not done the hard yards of supporting a club let alone the country being there really wound me up I'm not even talking about famous people in posh seats.
First qualifier in Hungary coming up though so maybe we will see a new crowd of travelling England fan
Silly analogy - he didn't steal a seat that was taken, he is a fervent Charlton / England fan - despite your comments I am still proud of the fellas commitment to the cause. Today, he is just gutted that we lost.
He unlawfully gained entry to an event for which he had not paid. It was a Covid Test event with restricted capacity which he and others unlawfully exceeded. Everyone that gained lawful entry would have needed a negative Covid test no longer than 48 hours prior to the game.
You and I have very different views on behaviour that deserves pride. - and I couldn't give a toss that he is a fervent Charlton/England fan.
Fair enough - the poor little bugger has been cooped up for the best part of 18 months at his age - I remain pleased for him. He saw no trouble / storming, a different plan - that succeeded.
Ah bless his little cotton socks.
You are attempting to defend the indefensible - and failing miserably.
Sorry, but I don't care - I was happy when I saw that he was in 30 mins before kick - off
Happy for him I was stood outside for 45 mins and missed the national anthem due to these selfish cunts storming ticket barriers that I unfortunately share the same country with.
He didn't storm anything, arrived at 2pm, executed his researched plan at around 19.15, posted a pic to our private group at 19.30 in a full Wembley - how you could arrive so late to miss national anthems, red arrows etc. is beyond me - it was 8pm on a Sunday ffs
He is an estate agent, I'd be in favour of locking him in a room full of sexually aggressive silverback gorillas and that was before he showed the world his bigotry
@The_Organiser I'm not surprised to hear Maidstone had incidents or was carnage but I am surprised I haven't been spammed with smartphone videos of it. Same for Rochester and Chatham especially after the mayhem for the Colombia game down the command house.
@sunbury-addick I can't share your happiness I'm afraid. Turn that on its head and if I tell you about someone I know who has a budget of about 500 for a car but as he can't get a reliable, tidy car for that he robbed one.
I was very resentful after trying and trying to get tickets through the portal and not being successful then seeing people who I guarantee have not done the hard yards of supporting a club let alone the country being there really wound me up I'm not even talking about famous people in posh seats.
First qualifier in Hungary coming up though so maybe we will see a new crowd of travelling England fan
Silly analogy - he didn't steal a seat that was taken, he is a fervent Charlton / England fan - despite your comments I am still proud of the fellas commitment to the cause. Today, he is just gutted that we lost.
He unlawfully gained entry to an event for which he had not paid. It was a Covid Test event with restricted capacity which he and others unlawfully exceeded. Everyone that gained lawful entry would have needed a negative Covid test no longer than 48 hours prior to the game.
You and I have very different views on behaviour that deserves pride. - and I couldn't give a toss that he is a fervent Charlton/England fan.
Fair enough - the poor little bugger has been cooped up for the best part of 18 months at his age - I remain pleased for him. He saw no trouble / storming, a different plan - that succeeded.
Ah bless his little cotton socks.
You are attempting to defend the indefensible - and failing miserably.
Sorry, but I don't care - I was happy when I saw that he was in 30 mins before kick - off
Happy for him I was stood outside for 45 mins and missed the national anthem due to these selfish cunts storming ticket barriers that I unfortunately share the same country with.
He didn't storm anything, arrived at 2pm, executed his researched plan at around 19.15, posted a pic to our private group at 19.30 in a full Wembley - how you could arrive so late to miss national anthems, red arrows etc. is beyond me - it was 8pm on a Sunday ffs
Your a complete spiv mate
could of got there earlier but then I ran the risk of bumping into to the twats throwing glass bottles my arrival time on my ticket was 7-7.30
He is an estate agent, I'd be in favour of locking him in a room full of sexually aggressive silverback gorillas and that was before he showed the world his bigotry
@The_Organiser I'm not surprised to hear Maidstone had incidents or was carnage but I am surprised I haven't been spammed with smartphone videos of it. Same for Rochester and Chatham especially after the mayhem for the Colombia game down the command house.
@sunbury-addick I can't share your happiness I'm afraid. Turn that on its head and if I tell you about someone I know who has a budget of about 500 for a car but as he can't get a reliable, tidy car for that he robbed one.
I was very resentful after trying and trying to get tickets through the portal and not being successful then seeing people who I guarantee have not done the hard yards of supporting a club let alone the country being there really wound me up I'm not even talking about famous people in posh seats.
First qualifier in Hungary coming up though so maybe we will see a new crowd of travelling England fan
Silly analogy - he didn't steal a seat that was taken, he is a fervent Charlton / England fan - despite your comments I am still proud of the fellas commitment to the cause. Today, he is just gutted that we lost.
"Families of England stars were left terrified and forced to run from ticketless hooligans forcing their way into Wembley.
Thugs threatened, abused and refused to move from their seats in the family section inside the stadium with several players reporting their loved ones and friends were caught up in shocking scenes.
Italy boss Roberto Mancini’s own son Andrea was also left without a seat and was forced to watch the first half while sitting on the steps before stewards were able to calm things down.
Andrea Mancini said: “There was a mess with ticketless fans and my seat had been taken, so I had to watch the first half sitting in the stadium’s steps. I found another place in the second half. Perhaps it brought good luck.”"
"The family section proved to be one of the hotspots because the guests had been entertained at the nearby Hilton Hotel, walked across with less than an hour to kick off only to find their seats had been taken.
The family of one squad member asked two fans to leave their seats and were met with “abuse, threats and shocking language” as they steadfastly refused.
Stewards were too afraid to intervene and had to do it in stages, largely moving in when the thugs went to the toilet or left their seats at half time."
Sorry mate but hope him and anyone else that broke into the Stadium are banned for life.
Well I doubt he will ever be found out, he is just not on any radar. Banned for life, a 19 yr old ? Who did not want to miss the match of his life and would have made sure not to sit in an allocated seat (about 30,00 unallocated) and not engage in any of the above antics.
What a joke - there's a good reason they were unallocated. They didn't leave 25% unallocated for people to bunk in for free. When you can't afford something the answer is never to steal it.
What chance have we got when people like you are encouraging it
I could be really lucky but I haven't seen anything but support for the players who missed their penalties on social media.
I'm glad thats a reflection of who I chose to be friends with but a really quick trawl of twitter and the racial abuse is there to be seen. What I also clocked was no shortage of people calling it out and in the case of Jamie East going a bit Colombo and tracking people down like that moron estate agent
At least the crowd making a mess in trafalgar Square were fairly racially diverse
So he committed a crime in an organised way that involved research - that makes it alright then.
This thread is absolutely staggering.
I'm looking forward to using that excuse in court. Yes I killed my girlfriend but it was meticulously planned with nobody else suffering any consequences. I spotted a gap and took my chance.
@sunbury-addick you’re the perfect fit to step in as that ‘comedian’s’ agent! I can see the tour promo now: “yes I’m a racist but I plan my material carefully “
He is an estate agent, I'd be in favour of locking him in a room full of sexually aggressive silverback gorillas and that was before he showed the world his bigotry
@The_Organiser I'm not surprised to hear Maidstone had incidents or was carnage but I am surprised I haven't been spammed with smartphone videos of it. Same for Rochester and Chatham especially after the mayhem for the Colombia game down the command house.
@sunbury-addick I can't share your happiness I'm afraid. Turn that on its head and if I tell you about someone I know who has a budget of about 500 for a car but as he can't get a reliable, tidy car for that he robbed one.
I was very resentful after trying and trying to get tickets through the portal and not being successful then seeing people who I guarantee have not done the hard yards of supporting a club let alone the country being there really wound me up I'm not even talking about famous people in posh seats.
First qualifier in Hungary coming up though so maybe we will see a new crowd of travelling England fan
Silly analogy - he didn't steal a seat that was taken, he is a fervent Charlton / England fan - despite your comments I am still proud of the fellas commitment to the cause. Today, he is just gutted that we lost.
"Families of England stars were left terrified and forced to run from ticketless hooligans forcing their way into Wembley.
Thugs threatened, abused and refused to move from their seats in the family section inside the stadium with several players reporting their loved ones and friends were caught up in shocking scenes.
Italy boss Roberto Mancini’s own son Andrea was also left without a seat and was forced to watch the first half while sitting on the steps before stewards were able to calm things down.
Andrea Mancini said: “There was a mess with ticketless fans and my seat had been taken, so I had to watch the first half sitting in the stadium’s steps. I found another place in the second half. Perhaps it brought good luck.”"
"The family section proved to be one of the hotspots because the guests had been entertained at the nearby Hilton Hotel, walked across with less than an hour to kick off only to find their seats had been taken.
The family of one squad member asked two fans to leave their seats and were met with “abuse, threats and shocking language” as they steadfastly refused.
Stewards were too afraid to intervene and had to do it in stages, largely moving in when the thugs went to the toilet or left their seats at half time."
Sorry mate but hope him and anyone else that broke into the Stadium are banned for life.
Well I doubt he will ever be found out, he is just not on any radar. Banned for life, a 19 yr old ? Who did not want to miss the match of his life and would have made sure not to sit in an allocated seat (about 30,00 unallocated) and not engage in any of the above antics.
Bin dipper behaviour. Proper muggy tbh
Sort of behaviour you would expect in .... Croydon ?
It may be a dump but at least people pay their way.
I could be really lucky but I haven't seen anything but support for the players who missed their penalties on social media.
I'm glad thats a reflection of who I chose to be friends with but a really quick trawl of twitter and the racial abuse is there to be seen. What I also clocked was no shortage of people calling it out and in the case of Jamie East going a bit Colombo and tracking people down like that moron estate agent
At least the crowd making a mess in trafalgar Square were fairly racially diverse
I really hope that when the season starts, real football fans show all the England players their support. Especially those that were brave enough to take penalties. Sadly, we probably won't get to see any of them at The Valley, but if we do I'll be applauding when they take to the pitch.
Close relative of mine bunked in, he is 19, a lovely hardworking lad, he exhausted every avenue to buy a ticket with a budget of £500 - when I got the news he was in - I was delighted for him.
Scum. Hope he gets nicked, ruined the experience for many is us last night with genuine tickets. Maybe a few months Inside will give him another view on ‘forced entry’
I could be really lucky but I haven't seen anything but support for the players who missed their penalties on social media.
I'm glad thats a reflection of who I chose to be friends with but a really quick trawl of twitter and the racial abuse is there to be seen. What I also clocked was no shortage of people calling it out and in the case of Jamie East going a bit Colombo and tracking people down like that moron estate agent
At least the crowd making a mess in trafalgar Square were fairly racially diverse
I really hope that when the season starts, real football fans show all the England players their support. Especially those that were brave enough to take penalties. Sadly, we probably won't get to see any of them at The Valley, but if we do I'll be applauding when they take to the pitch.
Depends on the club they are playing against I reckon.
I always used to give whoever was the England keeper a short applause when David James, Robinson, Seaman, Green etc assumed their position in front of the covered end goal. David James always reciprocated from memory, dont remember any of the others doing so. Rob Green might have had songs sung at him about letting his country down in hindsight but he was at QPR at the time and it was years after he made 1 mistake
Club football is tribal so I wouldn't expect a rapturous loving applause throughout the game and its easier to show appreciation for keepers
He is an estate agent, I'd be in favour of locking him in a room full of sexually aggressive silverback gorillas and that was before he showed the world his bigotry
@The_Organiser I'm not surprised to hear Maidstone had incidents or was carnage but I am surprised I haven't been spammed with smartphone videos of it. Same for Rochester and Chatham especially after the mayhem for the Colombia game down the command house.
@sunbury-addick I can't share your happiness I'm afraid. Turn that on its head and if I tell you about someone I know who has a budget of about 500 for a car but as he can't get a reliable, tidy car for that he robbed one.
I was very resentful after trying and trying to get tickets through the portal and not being successful then seeing people who I guarantee have not done the hard yards of supporting a club let alone the country being there really wound me up I'm not even talking about famous people in posh seats.
First qualifier in Hungary coming up though so maybe we will see a new crowd of travelling England fan
Silly analogy - he didn't steal a seat that was taken, he is a fervent Charlton / England fan - despite your comments I am still proud of the fellas commitment to the cause. Today, he is just gutted that we lost.
He unlawfully gained entry to an event for which he had not paid. It was a Covid Test event with restricted capacity which he and others unlawfully exceeded. Everyone that gained lawful entry would have needed a negative Covid test no longer than 48 hours prior to the game.
You and I have very different views on behaviour that deserves pride. - and I couldn't give a toss that he is a fervent Charlton/England fan.
Fair enough - the poor little bugger has been cooped up for the best part of 18 months at his age - I remain pleased for him. He saw no trouble / storming, a different plan - that succeeded.
Ah bless his little cotton socks.
You are attempting to defend the indefensible - and failing miserably.
Sorry, but I don't care - I was happy when I saw that he was in 30 mins before kick - off
Happy for him I was stood outside for 45 mins and missed the national anthem due to these selfish cunts storming ticket barriers that I unfortunately share the same country with.
He didn't storm anything, arrived at 2pm, executed his researched plan at around 19.15, posted a pic to our private group at 19.30 in a full Wembley - how you could arrive so late to miss national anthems, red arrows etc. is beyond me - it was 8pm on a Sunday ffs
In the USA it's illegal to drink in public...... out in the open while walking around streets and really only allowed in pubs restaurants and bars....That might be something to consider....and yes I know the USA has ridiculous gun laws
Not on the Las Vegas strip!
Or on golf courses, tailgates etc
Nope, you don’t get those - golf courses are private property, tailgating also takes place in private areas. I’m only aware of two places where you can drink in a public area - LV and the French Quarter in New Orleans. There may be others, and sometimes the Police don’t enforce it. We have a local music festival here where the police ignore people drinking from cans, but if they need to arrest you for something else, you’ll be charged with public drinking as well.
Someone else mentioned overserving. Bars here are really careful about that as they, as a business, and the bartender asan individual, can be held legally responsible if a drunk is involved in an accident. I see people getting refused service all the time.
Stop the drinking in public areas would be a start. If people have to drink in pubs you can get two mitigating factors - price, and making pubs responsible for their customers conduct.
Why is posting something like that fair game but if you made similar broad brush statements about any other group people would have a fit. I really don't get the double standards.
Because it shows that before the game they were supporting the players.
But then immediately following the game Rashford, Sterling, Sancho and Saka's Instagram and twitter were filled with monkey emoji, bananas and the n-word.
Do you really think the fans sending racial abuse to those players are black?
Not quite an accurate interpretation of the truth though is it. Before the game there were 30 odd million people tuning in supporting the players. After the game a few scumbags took their anger out on our black players. Of course it's not acceptable, it's absolutely disgusting but I'm sick of reading about how England fans are all violent scumbags. It's a very small minority who have unfortunately ruined it for the majority who are just genuinely gutted without feeling the need to attack anyone.
Do you recognise that there is a deeply embedded problem with racism in British society?
Your post reads as if you don't. Have I got you wrong?
He is an estate agent, I'd be in favour of locking him in a room full of sexually aggressive silverback gorillas and that was before he showed the world his bigotry
@The_Organiser I'm not surprised to hear Maidstone had incidents or was carnage but I am surprised I haven't been spammed with smartphone videos of it. Same for Rochester and Chatham especially after the mayhem for the Colombia game down the command house.
@sunbury-addick I can't share your happiness I'm afraid. Turn that on its head and if I tell you about someone I know who has a budget of about 500 for a car but as he can't get a reliable, tidy car for that he robbed one.
I was very resentful after trying and trying to get tickets through the portal and not being successful then seeing people who I guarantee have not done the hard yards of supporting a club let alone the country being there really wound me up I'm not even talking about famous people in posh seats.
First qualifier in Hungary coming up though so maybe we will see a new crowd of travelling England fan
Can guarantee you that none of the morons chucking pint glasses in Leicester square or trying to bust through gates and get in for free, have any intention of following England away.
I do however believe that the Euro's will have ignited the passion for the national team and we'll surely see an increase in memberships. First 2 away games in September aren't for the faint hearted though, Hungary and Poland away.
"I was at the euro final yesterday It took me nearly an hour to get in due to having issues with getting my ticket activated . Once I had found my seat I was informed from that there were 5 young lads lads in the seats next to who were bragging amounts themselfs that they had no tickets where a guy with his 2 kids who were supposed to be sat next to met had to watch the game by standing up on the steps .I paid nearly 300 quid for My ticket as been following england fro over 20 years. Explained my situation to the stewards who replied not my problem . I was late getting back to my seat after half time as was pushed into the barrier and kneed in my back by a thug as I got in his way again no support from the stewards had to get back to my seat on my own"
"Felt embarrassed to be English yesterday. Came out of Wembley Park station just before 6pm and looked down upon a scene I'd never seen before, a packed Wembley Way, with people coming back and forth. Getting off the platform was bad enough, that was poorly managed, people getting stuck there as there was no one way system.
Wembley Way, full of people wanting to soak up the atmosphere if they didn't have a ticket, which under normal circumstances I'd have no issue with, but then it quickly became apparent, there was a feeling in the air, the smashed glass all over the floor was disgraceful, clearly people had just been smashing for the 'fun' of it.
Previous games, as a group, we'd stopped for a can from one of the shops, to take in the atmosphere, we quickly knocked that on the head with view to having one inside and getting through the checkpoints, which as everyone has previously said was a disaster. In hindsight, as many have said, Wembley way should only have been for ticket holders only, much like previous overseas tournaments, a ring of steel policed correctly - if only.
Outside the ground, we saw people climbing over the walls at the west end of the ground, some were getting through, others pushed back by stewards, only to try their luck again. Just as I approached my gate, a youth, charged at the turn style that a woman was just about to enter, he literally squeezed in behind her and rushed through, as I said to the steward who was there, did you not see him there, he shrugged. I then got through, where I'm told to empty my pockets just as someone else rushes through, we both look at the runner, security then asks me if I have anything in my other pockets - farcical.
I didn't witness the storming of the gate, but I was near it, and saw a few fly past, knocking people over and beer in the air, one knuckle-dragger ran into the toilets followed by security and was dragged out. I witnessed a few distressed children with equally distressed parents, I was just glad that my daughter has expressed no interest in going, I felt on edge there last night and the last thing I'd want to be doing was looking after her in a powder-keg like Wembley.
I always thought that we had the capabiitys to host a large tournament, what with the stadiums across the country and infrastructure between them all (when it works), but it's clear we don't have the know-how to police it, or the people to appreciate it and as much as I enjoy a tournament, I think I prefer a couple of days in a random European city where 3 points contributes to us getting to a tournament."
Why is posting something like that fair game but if you made similar broad brush statements about any other group people would have a fit. I really don't get the double standards.
Because it shows that before the game they were supporting the players.
But then immediately following the game Rashford, Sterling, Sancho and Saka's Instagram and twitter were filled with monkey emoji, bananas and the n-word.
Do you really think the fans sending racial abuse to those players are black?
Not quite an accurate interpretation of the truth though is it. Before the game there were 30 odd million people tuning in supporting the players. After the game a few scumbags took their anger out on our black players. Of course it's not acceptable, it's absolutely disgusting but I'm sick of reading about how England fans are all violent scumbags. It's a very small minority who have unfortunately ruined it for the majority who are just genuinely gutted without feeling the need to attack anyone.
I agree with you.
The problem comes that usually the racism in this country is swept under a rug time and time again until the next major event. The problem is never dealt with and then people can't understand why footballers still feel the need to take the knee.
I'm not quite sure that's the truth anymore, racism is (quite rightly) being taken a lot more serious these days. Of course the major issue is tracking them down given they are very rarely man enough to do it unless it's behind a keyboard on a fake account. I do genuinely believe we will see a huge shift in the next few years with lots of efforts being done to curb it. How successful it will be is naturally, unknown at the moment. Unfortunately like all forms of immoral/unlawful actions, it's always going to occur, we just all need to help minimise this as much as possible.
Whilst it would be better to track them all down, the reality is you only have to track a few down and make a public spectacle of them. Some seem to have made it reasonably easy to find them. Information about one has even been given by a poster on here.
Close relative of mine bunked in, he is 19, a lovely hardworking lad, he exhausted every avenue to buy a ticket with a budget of £500 - when I got the news he was in - I was delighted for him.
This is the problem. What hope do kids have when they are raised by cretins?
Any of the idiots who get caught breaking in to the ground or smashing up things outside,will get a slap on the wrists,and then give it large to all their mates.Answer,a nice portion of porridge,see how quick they do it again.
Comments
Self entitled bellends.
could of got there earlier but then I ran the risk of bumping into to the twats throwing glass bottles my arrival time on my ticket was 7-7.30
What chance have we got when people like you are encouraging it
I'm glad thats a reflection of who I chose to be friends with but a really quick trawl of twitter and the racial abuse is there to be seen. What I also clocked was no shortage of people calling it out and in the case of Jamie East going a bit Colombo and tracking people down like that moron estate agent
At least the crowd making a mess in trafalgar Square were fairly racially diverse
I always used to give whoever was the England keeper a short applause when David James, Robinson, Seaman, Green etc assumed their position in front of the covered end goal. David James always reciprocated from memory, dont remember any of the others doing so. Rob Green might have had songs sung at him about letting his country down in hindsight but he was at QPR at the time and it was years after he made 1 mistake
Club football is tribal so I wouldn't expect a rapturous loving applause throughout the game and its easier to show appreciation for keepers
🤔
There are people on this thread who paid a hell of a lot of money for a ticket & you're on here bragging about your relative breaking in for free??
Nice lad or not, that is shitty behaviour & your choice to brag about it is, to put it nicely, ill advised
Your post reads as if you don't. Have I got you wrong?
There is no helping some people.
I do however believe that the Euro's will have ignited the passion for the national team and we'll surely see an increase in memberships. First 2 away games in September aren't for the faint hearted though, Hungary and Poland away.
"I was at the euro final yesterday
It took me nearly an hour to get in due to having issues with getting my ticket activated .
Once I had found my seat I was informed from that there were 5 young lads lads in the seats next to who were bragging amounts themselfs that they had no tickets where a guy with his 2 kids who were supposed to be sat next to met had to watch the game by standing up on the steps .I paid nearly 300 quid for My ticket as been following england fro over 20 years.
Explained my situation to the stewards who replied not my problem .
I was late getting back to my seat after half time as was pushed into the barrier and kneed in my back by a thug as I got in his way again no support from the stewards had to get back to my seat on my own"
"Felt embarrassed to be English yesterday. Came out of Wembley Park station just before 6pm and looked down upon a scene I'd never seen before, a packed Wembley Way, with people coming back and forth. Getting off the platform was bad enough, that was poorly managed, people getting stuck there as there was no one way system.
Wembley Way, full of people wanting to soak up the atmosphere if they didn't have a ticket, which under normal circumstances I'd have no issue with, but then it quickly became apparent, there was a feeling in the air, the smashed glass all over the floor was disgraceful, clearly people had just been smashing for the 'fun' of it.
Previous games, as a group, we'd stopped for a can from one of the shops, to take in the atmosphere, we quickly knocked that on the head with view to having one inside and getting through the checkpoints, which as everyone has previously said was a disaster. In hindsight, as many have said, Wembley way should only have been for ticket holders only, much like previous overseas tournaments, a ring of steel policed correctly - if only.
Outside the ground, we saw people climbing over the walls at the west end of the ground, some were getting through, others pushed back by stewards, only to try their luck again. Just as I approached my gate, a youth, charged at the turn style that a woman was just about to enter, he literally squeezed in behind her and rushed through, as I said to the steward who was there, did you not see him there, he shrugged. I then got through, where I'm told to empty my pockets just as someone else rushes through, we both look at the runner, security then asks me if I have anything in my other pockets - farcical.
I didn't witness the storming of the gate, but I was near it, and saw a few fly past, knocking people over and beer in the air, one knuckle-dragger ran into the toilets followed by security and was dragged out. I witnessed a few distressed children with equally distressed parents, I was just glad that my daughter has expressed no interest in going, I felt on edge there last night and the last thing I'd want to be doing was looking after her in a powder-keg like Wembley.
I always thought that we had the capabiitys to host a large tournament, what with the stadiums across the country and infrastructure between them all (when it works), but it's clear we don't have the know-how to police it, or the people to appreciate it and as much as I enjoy a tournament, I think I prefer a couple of days in a random European city where 3 points contributes to us getting to a tournament."
The people they should be looking up to applaud them for it...