As a law-abiding Brit, I'm thoroughly ashamed of my nationality. The chances of being welcomed back by the kind and gentle people of the Algarve in order to visit their lovely country must have diminished greatly as a result of the mindless thuggery of those so-called English fans who were intent on violence. The GNR would have performed a fine service to Portugal AND the UK if it had summarily shot troublemakers on sight.

I totally agree in what has been said, in that it is totally unaceptable for behaviour like that of English fans in Albufeira on Monday night. However, it is wrong to say that you are ashamed to be a Brit, I don't believe that the Scots, Welsh or Irish have done anything wrong which would bring shame on the British Isles.
My girlfriend and I are going to the Algarve in July and expect a warm welcome which we always get, this being because we are Scottish and do not feel obliged to cause trouble whilst abroad.
Please do not class Scotland along with England when speaking about Britain, after what has happened in Portugal (unsurprisingly) we want to distance ourselves as much as possible from our neighbours.

It is unfortunate that all English fans will suffer from the actions of a small minority.

I think that is the point. It is the minority who go to these things just to cause trouble, I had hoped that this time we could get away without the usual troublemakers causing such problems to the country that has opened its doors to them and its many tourists. I hope the Portugese can see that it is not what we Brits are all about.
My husband and my daughter both love football and regularly go to watch Man U play. But they are not thugs or troublemakers, just fans enjoying the sport.
The police in England tried to stop most of the hard core thugs from going, but unless you lock them all up somewhere, that is going to be very difficult.
I really hate it when the whole of the UK gets lumped into a category which has nothing to do with the majority of the English, Scotts, Irish or Welsh who just like to go and enjoy themselves in any county on holiday.
And I am not ashamed of my country just the stupid louts who cause all the trouble.

Well said Lesley! I entirely agree with all youve said!
Of course..like The Limey..I too get angry with these mindless thugs who give our nation and sport a bad name (we had a lot of trouble just up the road from here Sunday night in Boston..louts turning over /burning cars etc)..but they are a tiny tiny minority and as you say ..the majority of our citizens in these isles.... .young and not so young know how to conduct themselves whether here or abroad

….what happened last night in Albrufeira would not have happened in Lisbon… …..Portugal has no experience of dealing with tens of thousands of English…….boisterous footy supporters / hooligan lager-louts…...(or whatever they are)…..The difference being……the Lisbon Police – in the run-up to this event – have been learning from other countries their police and their psychologist………whilst the Algarve gnr are…..dare I say it……the louts………
“shoot [them] on site”…?????….the limey….. you should be ashamed….

Albufeira on Monday night Derr, what about CARVOEIRO on SUNDAY night??? Or were you all in bed

P.S. Just read through 'guests' remarks again
Because youre 'Scots' you receive a warm welcome in Algarve because you dont feel obliged to cause trouble whilst abroad
Well neither do I (or mine)feel obliged to cause trouble abroad ..and Im not even Scots Like Lesley Im not ashamed of my country'England' only the few who cause trouble. Is Scotland devoid of hooligans then..dont think so some how Youve made me angry and that doesnt happen very often
Oh ..and by the way.. Ive never had anything less than a warm welcome from all my friends in Algarve!

"During a soccer game in Tripoli, Libya [in February 1997],
a team sponsored by a son of President Qadhafi suffered a questionable call and started a brawl.

When spectators jeered, Qadhafi and his bodyguards opened fire on them.

With guns!

Some fans returned fire,

resulting in a death toll claimed by some to be as high as 50 —
which included the referee, who sat out the rest of the game.

Afterward, Qadhafi declared a period of mourning and ordered that all national TV broadcasts be transmitted in black and white.

A nice touch, if you overlook the fact that no one in Libya owns a color TV."


It could have been worse..................

Cowboy

Before the sweaties try to claim the moral high ground it should be remembered that every auld firm (Rangers v Celtic) match results in an average of one murder and half a dozen serious assaults. Being half-English and half-Scottish and growing up near Glasgow with an English accent I know all about the bigotry fueled violence endemic in sections of Scottish society. In any case the chances of Scottish football fans causing violence abroad is considerably reduced by the fact that their football team lacks the ability to qualify for any tournaments!

That being said it is so shaming to have the inevitable boozed-up morons capturing the headlines with their tiresome, mindless behaviour. I hope that the rest of the world understands that they are not representative of the rest of England.

What happened in Carvoeiro on Sunday night??

Mindless, boozed up morons - yes they are indicative of all that is wrong with England and thats just the lot in the Houses of Parliament & Law Courts. Isn't that why so many of us want to leave the country?

Keeping hooligans away from the euro matches is not even hard for british authorities - they just have to confiscate their passports.
The problem is that there are always two factors that turns peace loving footie fans into mindless beasts - alcohol and the herd effect. Out of the 800 that stormed Albufeira the other night only about a dozen were actually prepared for real violence. The rest just went along for the fun of it.

After the lost game the camera swung through the crowd showing british reactions and paused on a supporter - team shirt, bald head, keg and....a black eye. This guy had probably already been in fights before the first game kicked off...

Most Brits drink too much beer, period.

Sure, there were german and dutch supporters arrested in Porto yesterday, but compared to the brits they were nowhere near as numerous, nowhere near as violent and nowhere near as pissed.

Alcohol induced football riots are easily solved with the right amount of counter-violence - No matter who is causing the disturbance, I vote to take the leash off the portuguese policia choque and let them crack some skulls.

Scotland might not qualify for many tournaments but the ones we do qualify for are trouble free. Note the U.E.F.A. best fans award. You can never ever say that about the small but sick number of English supporters - trouble is a foregone conclusion. So please don't suck us in to this by saying we have hooligan problems in Scotland. We do - but at this point we are not talking about our hooligans going abroad and shaming us. Someone was simply making the point that it was not British hooligans it was English hooligans. You would I am quite sure ( note Ellies remarks) be quick to jump if it was Scottish hooligans who were tarnishing these Isles.

Can someone please answer the question as to what happened in CVO on Sunday. I'm coming tomorrow - is every bar full of drunken and violent yobs every night??? Why the hell did I have to choose this month...

Rampage wrote:Before the sweaties try to claim the moral high ground it should be remembered that every auld firm (Rangers v Celtic) match results in an average of one murder and half a dozen serious assaults. Being half-English and half-Scottish and growing up near Glasgow with an English accent I know all about the bigotry fueled violence endemic in sections of Scottish society. In any case the chances of Scottish football fans causing violence abroad is considerably reduced by the fact that their football team lacks the ability to qualify for any tournaments!

.

Hear hear!!! I can remember Scottish supporters rampaging down in London, even ripping up railway lines!!