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Don't demonise England fans...they were victims of brutal, premeditated hooliganism and woeful policing

As the threat of Euro 2016 explusion hangs over England and Russia, Becky Gamester-Newton gives an eye-witness account of the violence in Marseille and explains why the finger of blame should not be pointed at Three Lions supporters.

England and Russia have been warned that they face Euro 2016 disqualification if there is any repeat of the shocking violence seen in Marseille over the weekend.

The way the story has been covered by the mainstream media in the past few days, you could be forgiven for thinking blame should be apportioned equally between both sides of supporters.

But as someone who was caught up in the madness in the port city, I can tell you that this could hardly be further from the truth.

Unfortunately, the violence that I witnessed was even worse than has been reported.

We are not talking large groups of fans of each side, with goading and boorish behaviour breaking out into a few isolated scuffles – not that that would be condoned either.

I have seen real, organised hooliganism from Russia and the local ultras of Marseille.

A few flashpoints in the previous two days – which mainly involved the local Marseille fans carrying out sporadic attacks outside the bars around the old port area - culminated on matchday, when a concerted effort by the Russian ultras saw many innocent England fans left bloodied by completely unprovoked assaults.

In one such incident, a group of Russians dressed in black marched up the street outside the Stade Velodrome an hour or so before kick-off and suddenly scattered in different directions, randomly attacking fans who had been soaking up the atmosphere.

The hooligans are not the only people at fault here, though. The French police have been near-on useless, their only tactic seemingly to go in with tear gas once the attacks have happened.

For ultras kitted out in masks and balaclavas, this actually puts them at an advantage against the England supporters, who only arrived prepared for a day in the sun and to watch a football match in the evening.

Of course, some news outlets have shown footage of England fans throwing bottles and hitting back against the yobs.

But it is difficult to criticise England fans retaliating when they have been offered no protection by the police, whose brief is surely to safeguard the welfare of supporters during the tournament.

I’m writing this on a long road journey to Dijon, a convenient stop-off point on our way to England's next group game against Wales on Thursday in Lens – a tie which many thought would carry the most significant potential for disorder between the respective sets of fans.

But now everyone heading to the game will be more concerned about the Russian hooligans once again.

Russia take on Slovakia on Wednesday in the neighbouring city of Lille, which is just a 30-minute train journey from Lens and also where many English and Welsh fans have been advised to book hotels.

I would love to say that the policing issues will be resolved.

But judging by the reaction so far - the inexplicable Uefa statement that seemingly put England and Russia fans at equal fault, and that two England fans have been jailed for two months for apparently little while violent hooligans escaped arrest - I don’t hold out much hope.

Becky Gamester-Newton is homepage editor of BT.com, and is currently in France volunteering for the Football Supporters’ Federation’s fans’ embassy service. You can read a full statement by the FSF on the Marseille violence on their website.

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