England Football Fans Kicked Off Against the Police in France Again

We've done it again, lads. Following reports on Thursday night of English football fans in Marseille doing their point-and-shout pantomime act in the faces of French police officers, there have been more skirmishes reported in the French port city on Friday the 10th of June. Here we go, Euro 2016!!

Police deployed tear gas for the second night in a row, to try and scatter a group of reportedly drunk fans who weren't up for being cleared off the streets. "We understand from the reports that it's a very small minority of England fans that have been involved," Dave Tomlinson of the Football Supporters' Federation in Marseille told the BBC. "We also understand that unfortunately there has been quite a lot of provocation from the French and also the Russian elements that are in the area."

Whatever "Russian elements" might mean, the BBC 5 radio team working in the area on Friday night left when the group of fans seemed to be "quite menacing". Later in the evening, reports came in that the chanting and singing fans chucked bottles at the police as they were teargassed and asked to move it along.

Some fans chanted "fuck off Europe, we're all voting out," according to the Guardian, while others reportedly sang "sit down if you hate the French," which sounds like a delightful ditty.

For those of us who remember the chaos and rioting of the 1998 World Cup opening match against Tunisia, this wasn't on the same scale. Not even close. But still makes it look as though the minute we touch down in a warmer country and knock back a couple of pints, we turn into the most ghoulish, stereotypical version of ourselves.

Some mobile phone footage from Thursday night's brawl in Marseille

It's almost naff, this sort of display. Like a retro version of what you'd imagine elderly Europeans think all British people are like, stuck in a 1980s hooliganism time warp where only the words in the chants have been updated to account for ISIS and Brexit. Last night's little conflict wasn't even as bad as Thursday's, where two Brits were arrested, and mostly seems to stem from the culture shock English fans experienced when the French police reacted with more force to their drunken shouting. Heavy-handed as the tear gas may have been, law enforcement in France are understandably on edge given the year they've had.

Just another eight hours until kick-off against Russia tonight. Who's excited, then?

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