The Final

TeaCider said:
I think it's very naive to not think that the aftermath of Covid played a major part in the shameful behaviour that day.

People had only been allowed back inside pubs for a month before the final, and that was with restrictions, and after a year of being forced to stay at home except for work.

England's first major final since 1966, and the fact that it was public knowledge that there were over 20,000 empty seats in the stadium for the biggest footballing event in this country in decades, it was inevitable that there would be problems.

It doesn't excuse their behaviour, but I think the impact of Covid undoubtedly helps explain it.
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It doesn't explain the same behaviour in many other cities they've played in over the decades. Always someone else's fault too.

I've seen it in London, Lisbon and up the road at Sunderland when England have played.
 
Corcaigh_the_Cat said:
It doesn't explain the same behaviour in many other cities they've played in over the decades. Always someone else's fault too.

I've seen it in London, Lisbon and up the road at Sunderland when England have played.
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You've seen England fans trying to storm the stadium en masse in many other cities?

Xenophobic d***heads weren't the main scandal from the Euros final.
 
TeaCider said:
You've seen England fans trying to storm the stadium en masse in many other cities?

Xenophobic d***heads weren't the main scandal from the Euros final.
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I've seen what was described by SOTT, and worse, families attacked. Their behaviour in London had nothing to do with coming out of COVID restrictions, it's the norm for a sizeable section of the Engerland bunch.
 
The 2021 final did make me think twice about wanting a World Cup in England during my lifetime.

We do have a section of the population who think you can justify any kind of behavior by claiming they're just being passionate. &@((@(£$ to that.

As for it's coming home, I don't mind the song. It's about failure, but hope despite failure, which is pretty much the essence of following football. I don't much care for triumphalist chanting of it; that seems to miss the point.

Finally, I do enjoy travelling in Germany, and find the people very welcoming. 2 of my mates went to the WC in 2006. Arriving late in one city, they pitched their tent in what they thought was open grassland, only to find next morning that it was someone's garden. The owner brough them breakfast outside.
 
Corcaigh_the_Cat said:
I've seen what was described by SOTT, and worse, families attacked. Their behaviour in London had nothing to do with coming out of COVID restrictions, it's the norm for a sizeable section of the Engerland bunch.
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I don't agree that what happened in that final is the norm, but there's no way of proving it either way, unless England make the final in 2028.

There are undoubtedly a bunch of absolute helmets that follow England and embarass the country, but I don't think that thousands of people would be trying to storm the stadium in normal circumstances.
Not least because there'd have been no reason to storm it without Covid, it would already be at capacity.
Not that it excuses their behaviour that it wasn't.
 
Nero said:
Has anyone seen the Netflix documentary about the European Championship Final in 2021?

What a total embarrassment by the fans at Wembley that day. I hope England does not stage a main international final for a long time.

For anyone going to Germany this time. Please don’t shout, or chant “footballs coming home”. That is now cringeworthy.
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Just watched it. Fans were absolute scumbags. Racist, violent abusive unrepentent filth.
 
Frozen Horse said:
We do have a section of the population who think you can justify any kind of behavior by claiming they're just being passionate. &@((@(£$ to that.
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I hate to bring up politics and politicians but culture comes from the top down. 1) The B word, but yeah, Brexit has emboldened people to attach violent rhetoric with patriotism, to hate foreigners and people without white skin 2) culture wars, again violent rhetoric, largely aimed at foreigners with different skin and accents

That day was the perfect storm of culture war/brexit and a bit of post-lockdown freedom
 
Nero said:
Has anyone seen the Netflix documentary about the European Championship Final in 2021?

What a total embarrassment by the fans at Wembley that day. I hope England does not stage a main international final for a long time.

For anyone going to Germany this time. Please don’t shout, or chant “footballs coming home”. That is now cringeworthy.
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You missed out “ten German bombers”, “don’t take me home” and “sweet Caroline”.
 
I wonder how those people now all feel about how they behaved that night? It’s a miracle no one died, but I guess because no one did, they will feel vindicated and self-congratulatory about the fact that they “took their chances” etc.

I imagine you’ll need a final ticket to even get on the tube in 2028.
 
It was really shocking. Thank God there wasn't a disaster that day. I wonder how many people were actually in that stadium. The police need to take a look at how such an event is policed in the future. Absolutely crazy that people were allowed anywhere close to the stadium itself.
 
As shocking as it was I do think football generally tends to hold a mirror up to society and given the context of COVID and lockdowns, that's what unfolded that day.

Even without the benefit of hindsight I'm more than a little surprised that the authorities didn't anticipate such high numbers tr advertising without tickets, but then I'm not sure many people would have predicted the extent that people went to to get into Wembley.

Ask a bit depressing really - at least the final held in England was quintessentially English in flavour; too much alcohol, too much coke, nice bit of aggro to find the day off.
 
Watched it last night, it was actually a lot worse than remembered it to be.

Those two lads trying to defend what they did ffs, I bet Netflix were over the moon when they started spouting all that sh*te.
 
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