As Gareth Southgate’s men take on Slovakia in tonight’s Euro 2024 round of 16 game, England fans will try to avoid the country’s ‘maddest and baddest’ hooligans, who promise riots.
A victory in Gelsenkirchen will set up a quarter-final against Switzerland, and Southgate says his side have no fear of the knockout stage.
However, off the pitch, there could be plenty to fear. Some Slovakian football fans have a flare for the dramatic and a penchant for right-wing ideologies. In 2021, a football match was abandoned after just 15 minutes after hooligans stormed the pitch and threw flares at each other.
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The Slovak Super Liga derby between fierce rivals Spartak Trnava and Slovan Bratislava was brought to a halt shortly after kick-off as animosity in the stands spilled over onto the pitch.
In videos posted on social media, fans in adjacent stands can clearly be seen throwing bright red flares at each other.
A group of hooligans clad in black then climb down onto the pitch and approach their opposite numbers behind the goal, leaving helpless matchday stewards totally outnumbered.
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Some of these hooligans are likely to follow their country in international tournaments, too.
Back in Euro 2016 in France, Bratislavan brutes laid down a gauntlet as they promised England fans would face trouble in their Group B game.
In reality, the two sides played out a drab 0-0 and fans actually mingled peacefully. But the threats were there as Slovakian thugs pledged to “finish” England fans after Brits clashed violently with Russian hooligans earlier in the tournament.
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The worst of Slovakia’s right-wing yobs were reportedly ready to scrap, as the country does not issue football banning orders.
The Sun reported one Slovakian football hooligan vowed “our maddest and baddest will be there. England better watch out”.
Some Slovakian thugs are known to carry knives, wear knuckle dusters and even brandish firearms – garnering a reputation as some of the worst hooligans in Europe.