Fans stage a mass parade before big game despite police warnings
POLICE warned Northern Ireland fans not to participate in illegal processions before last night’s World Cup playoff game after it emerged hundreds of supporters were planning a mass walk to Windsor Park.
A Northern Ireland fan page had urged those attending last night’s game against Switzerland to meet at Tate’s Avenue in south Belfast two hours before kick-off.
It said: “Meet at top of Tate’s Avenue from 5.30pm onwards. The walk to the stadium will commence at 6.30pm just to make it a bit earlier.
“If you’re bringing flares and smokebombs that’s great but you know the potential consequences if any go off inside the stadium. Spread the word.”
The Green and White Army’s Road to Moscow Facebook page also encouraged supporters to bring flares and smokebombs for the walk to Windsor Park.
Chief Inspector Stephen McCauley, however issued a warning to the fan page over the dangers of blocked roads and disrupting traffic through illegal processions.
Northern Ireland fans had begun to gather at the junction by 5.30pm chanting and waving flags, setting off flares and beating a drum as the build up to the match got under way.
But while there may have been no formal ‘procession’, the sheer number of Northern Ireland fans who gathered at the Tate’s Avenue/Lisburn Road junction simply could not be restrained, surging in an excited green and white tide towards the Windsor Park venue, leaving a carpet of litter behind them.
A few hundred yards away on the Lisburn Road, local fans exchanged friendly banter with the Swiss visitors.
They cheerfully sang a cheeky chant at a group of Switzerland supporters, who had decided they fancied a sit down in the middle of the glass-strewn Lisburn Road.
The Swiss responded in kind with shouts and gestures, holding up home-made signs with the word ‘bier’ printed on them.