From the Archive: Marseille - The Aftermath

In 2016, it was the morning after the night before, when the night before had been yet more sickening violence surrounding an England match.

It used to be said said that there were three groups of people amongst those that make up a typical football support. At one end of the spectrum sits a tiny minority whose sole intention is to fight. If they get to take in a match, then that’s all very well, but that isn’t their raison d’etre for being there. At the other end of the spectrum are the vast majority, who have no interest in causing any trouble.

They are there to watch the match and loath those who cause trouble, since it is they who attract all the negative attention, which not only reflects badly on the vast majority, but also makes their experience so much worse, whether through additional security measures, suspicious looks from locals who can’t tell from looking who’s out for a fight and who isn’t, and, of course, the inevitable newspaper headlines the next morning. And this morning, in Marseille, is most definitely the morning after the night before.