Comments on: Euro 2008 In Pictures: Kick-off

By: Ed

Ed — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 05:51:38 +0000

Thanks for the pics. Euro 2008 was one of the best tournament I’ve watched in years. Looking forward to the next one in 2012.

By: Peter

Peter — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 09:58:14 +0000

I have family in Klagenfurrt,one of the venues and it was an economic nightmare.Too few day trip fans and too many police milling about doing nothing.Luckily their hotel was fully booked by the police.They would have loved England to have been there.

By: Laura

Laura — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 21:50:47 +0000

‘Maybe UEFA should have a “Hooligan Zone” in much the same vein as the simulated corporate-sponsored ‘fun’ of the “Fan Zones.” They could situate it a few miles from the centre of town and hand out waffle bats to drunk and aggressive supporters to go at each other until their rage melts into exhaustion and then mutual appreciation.’

Sorry, could leave without saying what a good idea!!!

By: Euro 2008 In Pictures

Euro 2008 In Pictures — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:10:22 +0000

[...] Euro 2008 In Pictures By Tom Dunmore Pitch Invasion isn’t at Euro 2008, but via the magic of Flickr, we can feel like we are. This photo journal will be updated every day during the tournament. Swiss fans at Euro 2008. Turkish fans. Czech fans. Swiss fan … Pitch Invasion – http://pitchinvasion.net [...]

By: ursus arctos

ursus arctos — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:52:35 +0000

Well, the Dutch are in Bern:
http://tv.repubblica.it/home_page.php?playmode=player&cont_id=21060

I now understand that you are thinking primarily about atmosphere within the stadia. I never had very high hopes in that regard given the price of tickets, the relatively small size of the grounds and the fact that neither Austria nor Switzerland is a “football mad” country (though each has enough corporate types to put prawn sandwiches on the endangered list).

By: Richard Whittall

Richard Whittall — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:27:55 +0000

Maybe UEFA should have a “Hooligan Zone” in much the same vein as the simulated corporate-sponsored ‘fun’ of the “Fan Zones.” They could situate it a few miles from the centre of town and hand out waffle bats to drunk and aggressive supporters to go at each other until their rage melts into exhaustion and then mutual appreciation.

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:21:05 +0000

Richard, I think what we saw yesterday was German hooligans failing to adapt to today’s modern era of rapid information flow. 80s-style riots that require several hours of drunken build-up in the town center are easily defeated by police with basic text messaging skills.

___lonestar1: h8 it when this happens
___lonestar1: cant find em
RANGERBOB: CITY CENTER
RANGERBOB: EVERY1 HIT CITY CENTER
th1nblu3lin3: aw yeah
RANGERBOB: BRING DOGS
___lonestar1: aw HELL yeah

In the meantime the hooligans are just hitting the pissing in the fountain/passing out on the cobblestones stage. Actual sustained rage is 2-3 hours away.

By: Richard Whittall

Richard Whittall — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:33:33 +0000

There was fan violence at the UEFA Cup final and that had all the lead-up and atmosphere of a Conference semi-final play-off. I saw the Croatian contingent but where’s everyone else?

By: ursus arctos

ursus arctos — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:28:10 +0000

Geez, Richard, c. 150 arrests in Klagenfurt and more than 30 in Hamburg (which is several hundred km from the closest venue) and you think it is “subdued”?

The Croatians took over Vienna yesterday as well.

By: Richard Whittall

Richard Whittall — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:17:47 +0000

These pictures only reinforce my impression that this tournament is oddly subdued. That could all change today…