LAUGHABLE TO CALL THIS PASSION
MANY of those who are quick to point out the failings of England fans abroad fell over themselves to exempt Cologne fans from any blame for the events that unfolded around the Emirates on Thursday night ahead of the German side’s Europa League tie with Arsenal.
The German supporters may have fought with stewards inside the ground but it was just passion, people said. They may have charged at police but at least they were proper fans, people said.
They may have tried to rush one of the entrances at the stadium and fight their way in without tickets but it was a big game for them and they weren’t eating prawn sandwiches, so it was hard not to love them for it, people said.
I get some of it. I loathe the corporatisation of football in this country too and admire what the Bundesliga model stands for and its greater respect for supporters.
But if England fans had behaved in a foreign land the way Cologne fans behaved around the Emirates, we would have condemned them and rightfully so.
As for Cologne, their initial attempt to blame English police and Arsenal for the problems was pathetic. It was redeemed by a forthright apology. ‘Cologne would like to unmistakably make it clear that there is no excuse or justification for the fact that a group of so-called disturbers threatened, insulted and even attacked stewards and police officers without cause,’ they said.
It is always only a few who spoil it for the many but if we are to continue to speak out when England fans behave like thugs abroad, it is laughable to turn away when the same happens here.