A battle involving England and Germany fans occured after the Germans taunted the English chanting: “We are going to Berlin without England — England have to go home.”
Now the Germans have surely learnt that that is NOT the kind of thing to say to a group of English football supporters.
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The Sunday Times June 25, 2006
English fans in Stuttgart stand-off
John Elliott and Bob Graham, Stuttgart
UP to 200 England fans were arrested last night in the second night of drunken and boorish behaviour in Stuttgart in the run-up to today’s crucial World Cup match.
German riot police mounted a carefully orchestrated operation to pick out troublemakers one by one from a group who had stood for many hours taunting German supporters.
Earlier in the evening the rival fans clashed, with bottles and plastic chairs thrown, as German fans left the Schlossplatz area in the city centre after watching the Germany v Sweden game on giant screens.
Volleys of bottles were thrown between the two groups who were separated by riot and mounted police. Officers blamed both sides, saying the Germans had been taunting the English chanting: “We are going to Berlin without England — England have to go home.”
The German fans dispersed [[chickened out]] after police warned those who stayed that they faced arrest, but defiant England fans continued drinking and occasionally threw pitchers of beer at the police.
After issuing two warnings, officers from the 300-strong squad then sealed off the area to prevent the fans from leaving and began to pick off troublemakers one by one, aided by British police spotters. “We knew exactly who we wanted first,” said Stefan Keilbach, a German police spokesman.
“It has become a theatre and if we don’t put a stop to it now it will go on right through the night all over the city,” he said.
Those arrested were splayed against police cars, cuffed and searched before being thrust into police vans.
They will join the 122 England fans detained in Stuttgart on Friday night in “preventative custody”. They will be kept in cells until after England’s second round match against Ecuador today. Some may face charges after police study video of the disturbances.
Two England fans are already facing assault charges after a Tunisian supporter draped in his national flag was hit by a chair thrown from a bar in the city.
thetimesonline.co.uk
Now the Germans have surely learnt that that is NOT the kind of thing to say to a group of English football supporters.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Sunday Times June 25, 2006
English fans in Stuttgart stand-off
John Elliott and Bob Graham, Stuttgart
UP to 200 England fans were arrested last night in the second night of drunken and boorish behaviour in Stuttgart in the run-up to today’s crucial World Cup match.
German riot police mounted a carefully orchestrated operation to pick out troublemakers one by one from a group who had stood for many hours taunting German supporters.
Earlier in the evening the rival fans clashed, with bottles and plastic chairs thrown, as German fans left the Schlossplatz area in the city centre after watching the Germany v Sweden game on giant screens.
Volleys of bottles were thrown between the two groups who were separated by riot and mounted police. Officers blamed both sides, saying the Germans had been taunting the English chanting: “We are going to Berlin without England — England have to go home.”
The German fans dispersed [[chickened out]] after police warned those who stayed that they faced arrest, but defiant England fans continued drinking and occasionally threw pitchers of beer at the police.
After issuing two warnings, officers from the 300-strong squad then sealed off the area to prevent the fans from leaving and began to pick off troublemakers one by one, aided by British police spotters. “We knew exactly who we wanted first,” said Stefan Keilbach, a German police spokesman.
“It has become a theatre and if we don’t put a stop to it now it will go on right through the night all over the city,” he said.
Those arrested were splayed against police cars, cuffed and searched before being thrust into police vans.
They will join the 122 England fans detained in Stuttgart on Friday night in “preventative custody”. They will be kept in cells until after England’s second round match against Ecuador today. Some may face charges after police study video of the disturbances.
Two England fans are already facing assault charges after a Tunisian supporter draped in his national flag was hit by a chair thrown from a bar in the city.
thetimesonline.co.uk
