According to the Ronnie, the French are deploying 160 CRS staff (ie. the people who kicked off most of the trouble in France 98) control the Toon Army tonight. They will have tear gas etc. The club have removed the seats from the away end so we don't chuck them around and there is a 12 foot wire fence around the pitch and separating us from the home fans. The club has complained to UEFA about this treatment on the basis that we have never yet caused aggro in Europe but the French say they do this for all French league matches and are not singling us out just because we are English.

-- Anonymous, August 07, 2001

Answers

Absolutely preposterous..

-- Anonymous, August 07, 2001

Dougal, I can understand them. I know WE haven't caused problems, but there have been so many occasions when English supporters HAVE rioted that I can't really blame them. I have twice found myself close to some hooligan behaviour abroad and it is both frightening and sickening.

It's all the fault of those tossers that we get treated like scum, but we can't expect a country's police force to know the difference unfortunately.

-- Anonymous, August 07, 2001

Ya, cant really blame 'em.

-- Anonymous, August 07, 2001

Sorry, but I was at two of England's games in Frnace 98 and most of the trouble was invented by the media and kicked off by the CRS. I agree that it's largely because of how we behaved 20 years ago that we still get this treatment but the French CRS are thugs in uniform. I once saw two of them in the Gare de Lyon. They noticed a beggar trying to sleep and kicked the living daylights out of him. I'm not arguing with caution - it's the methods I'm questioning.

-- Anonymous, August 07, 2001

Maybe they should have a word with their colleagues in Nice - when we played Monaco a few year's back there were about 300 of us on the short train ride from Nice to Monte Carlo escorted by about 40 Gendarme - by the end of the 20 minute journey most of them were swigging our beer and joining in with 'The Blaydon races'....well, trying to join in anyway! I think they cottoned on pretty quickly that owing to the fact that there was only a couple of bars open, the only trouble there was going to be that night was getting served.

-- Anonymous, August 07, 2001

It almost kicked off in Nice pre Monaco when tenants started hurling plant pots at geordies to curb their singing. Missiles were traded before Clouseau showed up and saw that a young lady with the travelling support had received a glancing blow from some crockery and decided to send everyone home. Generally the French are not nice people.

-- Anonymous, August 07, 2001

Apart from that Laurant Robert geezer...he's alright.

-- Anonymous, August 07, 2001

I wouldn't mind the French if they could defend their own borders and stop collaborating with the enemy...

cue xenophobe remarks :-)

-- Anonymous, August 07, 2001

Bollocks Dougal. There's never been any seats in the away end. And the locals are enjoying having the Toon around.

-- Anonymous, August 07, 2001