English Riot at Screening of England's First Match

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Violence as England game screened

Violent confrontations that left 16 people injured have marred a screening of England's winning opening World Cup game in London.

Several arrests were also made at a showing in Liverpool after what was described as a "mini riot" broke out.

As a result police cut the showing, on BBC big screens in Clayton Square, Liverpool and Canary Wharf.

Manchester council is reviewing its arrangements after five people were arrested at its BBC screen.

Six people were taken to hospital in London, but police in Liverpool said the disorder resulted in no injuries.

It is an absolute disgrace. This is the start of the World Cup - is this what we've got to look forward to?
John Rowland, shop worker

Police said 2,000 people had turned out to see the match in Clayton Square. Up to 6,000 attended the outdoor screening at Canary Wharf.

Fans began hurling bottles, cans and other missiles at the screen - also a BBC Big Screen - the crowd and officers during the second half of the match in Liverpool city centre.

Stores surrounding the screen locked their doors as police attempted to restore order.

Officers said there were "small pockets of violence" as people were dispersed and further incidents were swiftly dealt with.

Supt Andy Fisher, of Merseyside Police, said: "In the most part, it was good-natured, however a minority of people decided to spoil the event for everyone else by throwing missiles.

"This kind of behaviour will not be tolerated and individuals can expect to be arrested if they are involved in violence and aggressive behaviour."

Square monitored

John Rowland, who works in a shop in the area, said a number of people had sought refuge on the premises.

"Everything just kicked off into a riot and so we had to put the shutters down on the shop," he said.

"It is an absolute disgrace. This is the start of the World Cup - is this what we've got to look forward to? People were terrified."

Police said they were continuing to monitor the area and promised to crack down on any drunken violence.

A Manchester City Council spokeswoman said the vast majority of fans had enjoyed the afternoon but there had been minor disturbances after the match.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/5067904.stm

 

[Blackleaf]

Cool.

There's nothing the British like better than getting together in huge groups - "the mob" - and fighting each other and wrecking the street furniture. It's been going on for centuries.

 

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England fans celebrate their win over Paraguay.

Fans celebrate after England's victory over Paraguay in Bristol.
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An England fan commemorates the win by decorating a statue in Romer Platz, Frankfurt, Germany. [[I can bet £10 than an English fan spraypainted "Rooney! Rooney!" on that statue]]
© PA
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Happy fans by Tower Bridge in London.
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Delighted serving members of the Tri Service Complex, Mount Pleasant in the Falkland Islands.
© PA
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It's joyous scenes in Bristol.
© PA
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Celebration time in London.
© Reuters
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Romer Platz is filled with England fans. Around 100,000 England fans are at the World Cup in Germany, by far the largest foreign contingent.
© PA
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Clowning around in the fan parks in Germany.
© Reuters
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England fans hold a giant World Cup.
© PA
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England supporters celebrate into the night in Germany.
© PA
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England fans dance the night away in Frankfurt.
© PA

And this was only after a relatively minor first game in the 2006 World Cup. What will it be like if we reach the Semi-Final or the Final?

dailymail.co.uk

 

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Blow to BBC image as Liverpool and London pull the plug on big screens

* Corporation's football initiative backfires
* Decisions taken after violence on Saturday
* Five-year-old hit on the head with a glass bottle


Steven Morris and Owen Gibson
Tuesday June 13, 2006
The Guardian

England fans watch the match against Paraguay in Canary Wharf, London. Photograph: Ian Langsdon/EPA



Plans to screen all of England's World Cup matches on big screens in London and Liverpool as part of a BBC-led initiative were abandoned yesterday in the wake of drunken violence during showings of the first game at the weekend.

Further screenings of England matches in the centre of Manchester may also be scrapped after an "unprecedented" number of people, as many as 12,000, packed into its city centre to watch the 1-0 win against Paraguay, many more than the authorities were expecting.

The move is a blow to the image of England fans, who ironically have been praised for behaving well in Germany, but also to the BBC, for whom the big screens initiative is a way of trying to reach out to the public.

Police in Liverpool were particularly scathing of the decision to show the Paraguay game in the city's Clayton Square. A spokeswoman said police had advised against the screen being set up there because it was hard to police and were taken aback when it went ahead regardless.

The violence broke out in Liverpool and London towards the end of England's opening match on Saturday as fans became frustrated at their side's performance.

In Liverpool the BBC had planned a "family-friendly, no-alcohol environment" with enough elbow room to be able to "do the Crouch" - the England striker's celebratory robotic dance.

But frustrated fans among the 3,000-strong crowd hurled beer bottles, cans and other missiles as the game drew to a close. Onlookers said glass rained down on to the heads of children and elderly people. The screen was switched off and fans clashed with police armed with batons and wielding riot shields.

One eyewitness, Stephen Walker, 22, said: "One minute we were all watching the game and then the next it seemed to kick off." He said the situation became worse when the screen was switched off. "The riot police turned up with the dogs and it all went nuts."

There were similar scenes at Canada Square in London's Docklands, where 6,000 people turned out for fun penalty shootouts and to watch the game. Fighting broke out towards the end of the match and six people were hurt, including a five-year-old boy who was hit on the head by a glass bottle. A security guard described the scenes as "pandemonium".

In Manchester the biggest concern was the size of the crowd. Police and the city council had expected no more than 8,000 but as many as 12,000 showed up, prompting concerns that people could have been crushed.

Despite the problems, yesterday morning the BBC was upbeat about its big screens initiative, pledging to continue screening England's games. It said that more than 50,000 people watched the England v Paraguay matches on big screens and "all but a very tiny fraction of these had the most wonderful day and behaved impeccably".

The screens were introduced in an effort to emphasise the BBC's ability to bring people together for big sporting and cultural events as well as to promote upcoming programmes, an important hearts and minds exercise for the corporation.

Working with local authorities and other bodies, the BBC has played a big role in installing big screens in Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Hull, Bradford, Rotherham, and Canary Wharf.

A further two mobile screens are travelling the country. One was in Guernsey and the other in Cambridge for the Paraguay match.

The screens have been used to show Wimbledon, the Proms and other big events. In Manchester, authorities turned the screen in Exchange Square into a mini "Henman hill" during Wimbledon.

By yesterday afternoon, however, meetings were taking place up and down the country between the BBC, councils, town centre managers and police to decide if the project ought to be shelved.

The Canary Wharf Group, which according to BBC insiders had lobbied hard to have the screens installed at the east London skyscraper village as a means of attracting members of the public, was the first to pull the plug.

In a statement the group said that "a small group of troublemakers spoilt this free event for the vast majority".

But it added: "In order to protect the safety of the public CWG will not tolerate this kind of behaviour at Canary Wharf and regretfully had to take this decision." It will still screen racing from Ascot, tennis from Wimbledon, and opera.

Later following a meeting between Merseyside police, Liverpool city council and the BBC, it was announced that Clayton Square would not screen any more games. A statement said: "The joint decision was made after considering advice from the police."

This morning Manchester police, city council officials and shopping centre managers will meet to discuss if England's game against Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday ought to be screened. If it goes ahead, extra officers will be drafted in and restrictions on the number of people at the screening imposed. Other police forces in areas where screens are placed will also be reviewing safety.

guardian.co.uk

 

[tamarin]

Soccer deserves better fans. But then again, Canada has had its share of cup riots in various cities where mobs run loose in city cores after key Stanley Cup games.