Lille is calm but a storm is brewing
THE Germans were moving out in fine spirits, with one well-to-do supporter taking time to fix red, black and gold covers to the wing mirrors of her Porsche Panamera Turbo as it was parked illegally outside a five-star hotel. The Ukrainians were trudging off, too. Their next stop is Lyon, to face Northern Ireland. One had his arm in a cast, the result of nothing more sinister than a drunken tumble. Outside the Lille Flandres train station were three vans of CRS, the riot control officers of the France national police, and mounted police were on the streets. There was evidence of scuffles from the night before and a hint of unease about what horrors might be about to roll into the region in the next few days. More than 600 miles separate Lille and Marseille but people in this city in northeastern France have seen the footage of English and Russian supporters fighting on the Mediterranean coast. They are aware, too, that Russia play Slovakia in Lille at 2pm tomorrow and Roy Hodgson’s England meet Wales in Lens, just over 20 miles down the road, 24 hours later. Lens is a small town of 36,000 and fans from England and Wales were advised ahead of the tournament to book accommodation in Lille. The Stade Bollaert-Delelis in Lens holds 40,000 and both teams were allocated 9,000 tickets and yet more than 70,000 are expected to travel from England and Wales. After the extreme violence in Marseille, where one English fan was left in a critical condition, and with the presence of Russian fans, the potential for trouble has triggered alarm. A series of meetings were held yesterday involving the gendarmerie — the municipal police force — officials from Lille’s City Hall and the Prefecture du Nord, responsible for overall security strategy. UEFA have given no consideration to moving either of the games. France’s interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve called on venue cities to ban alcohol from being sold or transported into the stadium vicinities. Parts of Lens were already under an alcohol ban on match-day, although drinks will be available inside the stadium and the Fan Zone. Lille’s Stade Pierre-Mauroy is outside the city and those traders in the centre do not want to miss the business boom of thousands of visitors. The Coq Hardi restaurant in the Grand-Place sold 750 litres of beer at ¤12 a litre. Even coffee-and-cake shops such as Honey and Pie reported takings up by more than 20 per cent on the day Germany beat Ukraine 2-0. Around 70,000 visited the city’s Fan Zone on Saturday, 20,000 on Sunday.
Rival fans mingled happily in the open spaces for most of the day. There were minor skirmishes in the early evening when chairs and bottles were thrown and a window was smashed. An Albanian was arrested for an attack on an England supporter. Two people were slightly injured but refused attention from emergency services on the scene. Six were arrested at the Germany game. All of this was easily controlled by 3,400 emergency personnel on patrol. Even so, Lille newspaper La
Voix du Nord led the front page with: ‘Euro: the party but…’ Inside, a report on the outbreaks of fighting was illustrated with the menacing photo of a Germany fan with his shirt off, shades on and a black scarf tied around his face. Police confirmed 25 known German hooligans had been forbidden entry into France near the Belgian border. Reports of more than 100 more already in the country swirled on social media. Municipal policep officers went door-to-door yesterday,ye taking opinion from bar owners, who still had no clear direction on whether they would beb allowed to serve alcohol on match-days. No-one wants to close but there is apprehension about what may be in store. ‘We‘W have a lot of English visitors anda they have a good image here,’h said one bar worker at Coq Hardi. ‘We have seen Manchester United and Everton here without big trouble. ‘There has been fighting but not a complete sacking like in Marseille. We are more worried about the Russians but we will stay open if we can. We can close quickly if necessary.’ Next door, at Houblonniere, a bar worker said: ‘We closed early because a chair was thrown through the window. ‘The owner was worried but I would have stayed open. We are a bit worried but not that much. This is not Marseille.’ There has been an English presence in Lille all weekend. Within easy reach of London by train many are based here. Some have tickets to Russia-Slovakia and are determined to go, although probably not wearing their England shirts, they admitted. Press conferences are planned in Lens and Lille today, when security forces will confirm whether or not they will introduce an alcohol ban. Yesterday, all was peaceful in the Grand Place, officially called Place Charles de Gaulle, because here is where the former president of France was born in 1890. It is the central meeting point, with a column standing tall in the centre, surrounded by a fountain and topped by a statue known to the locals as the Goddess. She stands in memory of the successful resistance of the city to an Austrian siege in the 18th century. In her right hand she holds a fuse to fire a cannon. All was quiet in Lille but the fuse is lit.