World Cup chiefs praise England fans' good behaviour
GreatBriton @ Fri Jun 16, 2006 10:07 am
World Cup chiefs praise England fans' good behaviour
By CHRISTIAN GYSIN, Daily Mail
16th June 2006
Exemplary behaviour: England fans have been praised by World Cup organisers
England's players may have been struggling on the pitch - but after a week of the World Cup tournament there has been nothing but praise for their army of fans.
While the spectre of hooliganism still hovers in the background, the positive behaviour of the thousands who have travelled to Germany has come as a pleasant surprise to their hosts.
"We don't want to tempt fate, but so far so good," said a German police spokesman.
Some 70,000 fans visited Frankfurt last Saturday for England's first game followed by a further 60,000 moving onto Nuremburg for the match against Trinidad and Tobago. There have been just a handful of arrests, and those for minor matters. There have been far more problems with rowdy behaviour in Britain before and after the games.
The only trouble German police have had to deal with were clashes between their own countrymen and Polish fans at the game between the two countries earlier this week.
Nuremburg Mayor Dr Ulrich Maly yesterday (fri) dubbed the England fans 'fantastic, the best we've ever seen.'
He added: "The behaviour was far better than when Nuremburg plays against Bayern Munich - we have much more trouble and with many fewer people. There was no worry with the English - we want to see them come back.
"Not only were they behaving properly but they were very funny and helping people from all other nations enjoy themselves as well."
At Nuremburg's Central Tourist Board, close to an Irish Bar where thousands of England fans massed, a spokesman said: "Today many English people have come in to ask about coming back here in the future and they will be welcomed as friends because that’s how they now leave us."
Police believe that one of the main reasons for the dramatic improvement is the success of football banning orders which have stopped more than 3,000 hardcore hooligans from travelling to Germany.
Manchester's assistant chief constable Stephen Thomas, in charge of British police officers working in Germany, explained: "Keeping such people away is a help - they then cannot export their bad behaviour."
Currently 3,721 fans are banned from travelling and there is a 99per cent 'compliance' rate - with just 40 of them having failed to surrender their passports. They are still being actively sought by British and German police.
Kevin Miles, spokesman for the England Football Supporters Federation, said: "In Nuremburg they welcomed us with open arms and fans responded by creating a carnival atmosphere. Football was a winner, but so also was the country’s reputation."
A spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers, monitoring events in Germany, said last night: "The behaviour of the English fans has been pretty exemplary and given the huge numbers we have see in the venue cities the arrest figures have been pleasingly low.
"We congratulate the work of the German police. Excellent co-operation between English and German colleagues has resulted in a highly successful policing operation."
dailymail.co.uk
$1:
Not only were they behaving properly but they were very funny and helping people from all other nations enjoy themselves as well."
We must be the only ones there with a sense of humour. We have to teach the other fans how to have fun.
jazzman @ Fri Jun 16, 2006 10:15 am
Well, that's good.
Tman1 @ Fri Jun 16, 2006 1:20 pm
There has to be some sort of problem for somebody to keep posting about his country's behaviour at a world event. Time to fill in that huge chip off your shoulder.
xerxes @ Fri Jun 16, 2006 4:01 pm
Just wait until Englad loses to some lowly team (Ecuador anyone?). Then, just like the Sex Pistols sone, there will be anarchy in the UK.
GreatBriton @ Sun Jun 18, 2006 1:44 pm
Paul McCarthy
England fans just can't win
In Frankfurt, 12 Englishmen are arrested in what German police describe as an "absolutely friendly" atmosphere following the game against Paraguay.
In Dortmund, THREE HUNDRED Germans and Poles are locked up after a night of running battles, flying bottles and mindless violence.
Yet which incident still leads the news here in Germany?
Yep, you guessed it - the news about the 12 arrested England fans!
mirror.co.uk
jazzman @ Sun Jun 18, 2006 2:52 pm
looks like the Germans really got it in for the English haven't they ?.
OPP @ Sun Jun 18, 2006 5:45 pm
GreatBriton GreatBriton:
Paul McCarthy
England fans just can't win
In Frankfurt, 12 Englishmen are arrested in what German police describe as an "absolutely friendly" atmosphere following the game against Paraguay.
In Dortmund, THREE HUNDRED Germans and Poles are locked up after a night of running battles, flying bottles and mindless violence.
Yet which incident still leads the news here in Germany?
Yep, you guessed it - the news about the 12 arrested England fans!
mirror.co.uk
England fans just can't win
In Frankfurt, 12 Englishmen are arrested in what German police describe as an "absolutely friendly" atmosphere following the game against Paraguay.
In Dortmund, THREE HUNDRED Germans and Poles are locked up after a night of running battles, flying bottles and mindless violence.
Yet which incident still leads the news here in Germany?
Yep, you guessed it - the news about the 12 arrested England fans!
mirror.co.uk
The legacy of english hooligans is not easely washed away. It's a reputation well earned. The actions of english fans finaly caught up with them and bit them in the ars... too bad...
OPP @ Wed Jun 21, 2006 12:59 pm
How's this for good behaviour!
neil_king @ Sun Jul 02, 2006 1:30 pm
Many English fans were involved in fights and were arrested, it's blind idiocy to talk about "good behavior" when these factors come into play.