It's a good job Croatia don't make cars that could be vandalised if we lose, says football police chief
A senior police chief has spoken of his relief that Croatia doesn’t make cars that could be targeted by football hooligans if the country knocks England out of the World Cup.
Deputy Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the national lead on policing football, said German cars, including Volkswagens and Mercedes, were trashed by England fans after the team lost its Euro 96 semi-final on a penalty shoot out to Germany.
Mr Roberts told the Telegraph that he was more concerned with the behaviour of fans back in the UK than the 10,000 expected to flood into Moscow for today’s semi-final with Croatia.
Supporters caused trouble in the wake of the win against Sweden, jumping on an ambulance in London and taking it out of action. There were numerous incidents up and down the country and even fighting among supporters in Spain.
Mr Roberts is concerned that should England lose, hooliganism could spiral.
We are relieved that Croats are not mass exporters of inanimate objects for fans to vent their spleen on
Deputy Chief Constable Mark Roberts
“We have seen previous examples of certain brands of car manufacturers being vandalised after the manufacturers’ country knocked us out of tournaments. We are relieved that Croats are not mass exporters of inanimate objects for fans to vent their spleen on.”
Mr Roberts praised England fans who had travelled to the tournament, saying they had "done the country proud".
But he was critical of disorder in the UK. As well as trashing an ambulance, fans vandalised a taxi and also targeted an Ikea store after the win over Sweden in the quarter final.
He said: "We expect people to celebrate and have a drink but I just can't join up the logic of: England win games, so someone vandalises ambulances. It's just stupid.
"What we've seen here is great behaviour - there have been one or two isolated incidents, they've been dealt with here.
"We've taken banning orders out on people back in the UK.
"We don't want any stories about bad behaviour. So far, the fans have done the country proud.
"It's a pleasure to be in the tournament with the team doing so well, progressing, but also the fans being such great ambassadors."
