England fans cornered and tear-gassed in Battle of Lille
French riot police fired tear gas and used pepper spray on england fans last night as they moved into a large crowd who had spent much of the afternoon goading russian supporters.
hundreds of fans surged from a pub where they had been chanting ‘we hate russia’ before running through Lille city centre.
Dozens of riot police wearing helmets and body armour trailed them and, when the fans were trapped in a side street, fired tear gas to disperse them.
The explosion of violence unfolded shortly after russia were beaten 2-1 by Slovakia at the city’s Métropole stadium. As the final whistle blew, england fans in nazar Bar repeatedly chanted the refrain: ‘F*** off russia – we’re england and Wales.’
The moment that sparked the confrontation came shortly before 6.30pm when a large bang was heard as a stun grenade was set off yards from the nazar Bar. More than 200 england fans began running in all directions, but police herded them back together by blocking off small side streets.
One young russian fan threw a bottle at the england fans and was quickly arrested – but his actions started a spate of bottle throwing at police lines and rival fans.
The police began firing tear gas indiscriminately as other officers attacked england supporters with pepper spray and batons. But within five minutes the incident was over and some fans decided to head for their hostels and hotels.
Following violent clashes between supporters at england’s match against russia on Saturday, both teams were warned by governing body Uefa that any repeat could see them booted out of the competition. russia was given a formal suspended disqualification.
David Stringer, a 25-year-old electrician from Burnley, said: ‘There was always going to be trouble after singing at the russian fans like we did. But the police started to be incredibly aggressively when people thought a bomb had gone off with that grenade thing.’
Another young fan, walking through the main square where england fans filled bars for much of the day, added: ‘I’m going back to my hotel for a quiet drink tonight. I don’t want to run into the russians after they have lost – they will be like bears with sore heads.’
An alcohol ban was supposed to be in place in an attempt to prevent a repeat of the violent scenes in Marseille, and many bars in Lille closed. Shops and supermarkets bore signs that said alcohol could not be bought until Friday morning but many fans were walking down the streets and drinking from plastic cups.
earlier in the day police in Lille detained five suspected members of the Ultras, an extreme gang of russian hooligans.
Around 40,000 english and Welsh supporters were estimated to be in Lille last night ahead of this afternoon’s crunch clash between england and Wales in nearby Lens. An england fan, Stewart Gray, who is understood to be from the hinckley area, has been left in a coma after being attacked by a suspected russian Ultra as he made his way to watch england’s first euro 2016 game against russia in Marseille on Saturday night.
Police have been alerted that small groups of Syrian extremists could be heading to France and Belgium with plans to stage attacks. The authorities are now trying to determine how credible the information is.