Fans made to feel welcome in ‘hero city’
Only 2,000 brave trip to former Stalingrad – but they are bowled over by Russian charm offensive
in Volgograd
The 2,000 England fans here who had ignored the dire warnings were certain of one thing. Win, lose or draw they had enjoyed perhaps the friendliest of tournament matches they could recall; the horrors of Marseille two years ago when Russian ultras ambushed an England mob a fading memory.
The threat of violence and the attempted assassination of the Russian spy Sergei Skripal on British soil that had ratcheted up tensions between London and Moscow had deterred many supporters from making the journey to Volgograd, a city closer to Tehran than Moscow.
But the reality is – and always was – that Vladimir Putin is on a charm offensive during this World Cup and England’s supporters have been won over.
“It’s been brilliant,” said Adam Haimes, 29, a geologist and Plymouth Argyle supporter drinking in the fan zone, set up on the west bank of the Volga River. “I have had absolutely zero problems. All sorts of Russians have come up to us and are being friendly and just wanting to have drinks with us. I didn’t expect it but they are so lovely.”
Les Gasson, 60, who had flown to Moscow and then hired a car with his wife, Tracy, and two friends for the two-day drive to Volgograd, was saddened so many fellow supporters had been put off. “It’s a poor turn-out,” he said. “We had friends who were put off. Normally they come with us to tournaments but this time they went on holiday to America.”
Gasson, like many of the other England fans here, had taken the chance to tour the “hero city” that is better known by its former name, Stalingrad, and which was the venue for the bloodiest battle of the Second World War.
British police had warned supporters not to provoke local sensibilities by displaying St George’s flags at “sensitive” sites. Gasson, a semi-retired chauffeur, asked permission from a security guard before unfurling an ensign with a Three Lions emblem sewn on, at the foot of the extraordinary Motherland Calls monument. The statue, at 279ft, is the highest in Europe and towers over the new Volgograd stadium below.
It was a sign of the warming of relations that Gasson had felt emboldened enough to pull out his flag and that the locals had given him approval to do so.
Meanwhile, Tunisian fans, who outnumbered those from England by two to one, also marvelled at the near sacred site, wearing fezes and their country’s shirts.
Yesterday, fans were present at a wreath-laying at the foot of the statue, attended by a Football Association representative. Garford Beck, a civil servant from London, said as he watched this minor symbol of detente: “That often is the beauty of football and sport, it brings people together. I hope we have a peaceful World Cup, but it’s a feel-good factor that will only last for a month.”
Pete Nicholas, 57, a logistics manager from Manchester, had been bowled over by the greeting at Volgograd airport, where volunteers shouted “welcome” as England fans emerged from the airport. Nicholas said: “They were cheering us. We have never had something like that at any tournament we’ve been to. We have honestly felt special.”
His guesthouse host had picked him and his friends up and driven them to local restaurants and bars.
By match day, there had been just one incident involving England fans. Reports suggested that two West Ham supporters had been in a drunken row with each other on the 20-hour train journey from Moscow. According to Reuters, authorities charged both men with hooliganism and being drunk in public. One report suggested that one had tried to grab an on-board policeman’s pistol and the second smashed a glass, injuring his wrist.
British police had been on a number of recce visits to Volgograd and to the other host cities in England’s group and had been impressed by the warm cooperation.
Russia has adopted a softer policing profile for the World Cup, in contrast to the heavy-handed approach taken at domestic Russian and European matches. A British police source said that the Russians had wanted to understand better how to react to drunken, boisterous England fans. All sides have passed this first test in Russia 2018. Next stop will be Nizhny Novgorod for the game against Panama.