Sol thewall Bamba Posted 15 September 2017 Share Posted 15 September 2017 Only 4 arrests from what I can see, we probably had more than that at all our away trips in Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surrifox Posted 15 September 2017 Share Posted 15 September 2017 Utterly horrific- some of the Arsenal fans had only had about half an hours kip before they were woken up by the arrival of some atmosphere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon the Hat Posted 15 September 2017 Share Posted 15 September 2017 15 hours ago, KingGTF said: I'm not surprised tbh, Cologne is as big a dump as you'll see, you would want to get out. It's basically Coventry but with an intact cathedral. Fair play for the number though, that's pretty impressive to get 20000 travelling abroad I don't mind the marktplatz and the river bank walk / run. Been a few times for work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Itsthejoeker Posted 15 September 2017 Share Posted 15 September 2017 Remember the last time thousands of English fans turned up to a cup game without a ticket and tried to force their way into the ground... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purpleronnie Posted 15 September 2017 Share Posted 15 September 2017 13 hours ago, Voll Blau said: "Who are ya?" Absolutely beyond parody. I didn't watch the game but as soon as I heard Arsenal had equalised I immediately imagined a load of arsenal fans singing that, unfortunately I imagined correctly, embarrassing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kushiro Posted 15 September 2017 Share Posted 15 September 2017 Guy who runs a Cologne Fanzine wrote this in the Guardian: Dear England, Thanks for having us yesterday. It was an absolute dream for us to see Cologne play in London. Let’s be clear from the outset: the fact that some idiotic fans tried to force their way into the stadium was a terrible idea that pretty much all Cologne fans strongly condemn. But please, the behaviour of 50-odd Cologne fans should not cloud the picture of the other 20,000, who had a peaceful party. I will try to tell you why things happened the way they happened on Thursday. Twenty-five years. It has been 25 years since Cologne played in an international competition. Since then, we have been relegated five times, nearly went bankrupt, made a sponsorship deal with a non-existent company from Cyprus … And then, there was 20 May and the last fixture of last season. Grown men cried like babies when our Japanese striker Yuya Osako scored the second goal against Mainz which finally secured Cologne’s spot in the Europa League. The next important date was 25 August when the draw for the group stage took place. Who did we draw? Only Arsenal away, at the Emirates, against a side that normally plays in the Champions League! A Moreover, London is not too far away from Cologne and therefore it was immediately very clear that anyone who could would make the trip to the English capital. Of course, there had been disappointment because Cologne were allocated only 2,900 tickets – the club have nearly 100,000 members and 20,000 wanted to be in attendance. The club made a fair decision to secure tickets for the people who have been members for more than 20 years – and of course for those who travelled to all the away games over the past years, even in 2.Bundesliga and places such as Aue, Sandhausen and Heidenheim. Even during those dark days, thousands of Cologne fans travelled, which shows the extreme love and passion they have for the club. So it was not actually a big surprise to see that nearly 20,000 Cologne fans gathered in Highbury for the so-called “Fan March” to the stadium. It was absolutely fantastic to see so many Cologne fans partying and drinking peacefully in a foreign city – you do have to remember that it was the biggest game of the past 25 years for us. I think that local authorities could have cooperated better with people who actually knew what was going to happen. “You do not care if you don’t have a ticket, you just go to London,” – that’s what everybody said. People were ready to spend a lot of money for tickets and apparently some touts were ready to profit. It would therefore have been a good idea to check who really had a ticket beforehand – that could have prevented some of the incidents before the game with some fans trying to get in even though they did not have a ticket. So a better consultation and information policy between the police, Arsenal, Cologne and the fans would have made the whole thing a lot smoother. It was foreseeable that more than 2,900 Cologne fans would make the trip – a bigger allocation would have been the best solution here. In total, the whole of London seemed to be surprised and that is a bit naive. There were naturally moments that were rather intense but my experience was that the Cologne ultras, the “normal” Cologne fans and the police acted commendably, in a very de-escalating manner. At one point a police officer, for example, took out her mobile to show that the official Cologne Twitter account had announced that the game would start later. That, of course, eased the pressure. Subsequently, everything that happened after these incidents was completely peaceful – and normal. Even outside of the stadium and during the time people had to wait to get in, Cologne chants were all over the place. When the gates were finally opened, Cologne fans happily went in – and crowded at least one quarter of the stadium. For us, as German fans, it was bizarre to see that stewards did not carry out a full body search as they do in Germany. They just waved us through. On the flipside, we are not used to being asked to sit down in a stadium – but then that did not last long either. A couple of minutes into the game, the steward just said: “**** it, let them sing and stand.” They even laughed when we started to sing “You only sing when you’re winning” after Arsenal equalised. In general, the way Cologne supporters expressed their intense love for the club was absolutely outstanding and some Arsenal fans said they had never experienced such an atmosphere before. For Cologne fans, it was the best night of our lives – and we’d like to thank the police, Arsenal stewards and supporters, and everyone in London for allowing us to enjoy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaelicFox Posted 15 September 2017 Share Posted 15 September 2017 How did the Germans lose the war ? Christ they are some bunch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosbehFox Posted 15 September 2017 Share Posted 15 September 2017 3 hours ago, Itsthejoeker said: Remember the last time thousands of English fans turned up to a cup game without a ticket and tried to force their way into the ground... Yep most famously Liverpool in Athens for the Champions League final but since then numerous games involving Manchester United and Liverpool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Prussian Posted 25 September 2017 Share Posted 25 September 2017 Just another example of how zhe English gutter press tried to milk the occasion in their favour: It was a peaceful celebration of football for both sexes and all age groups, yet the stupid acts of a handful are abused to paint the picture of violent, drunk German fans on a rampage. The papers should instead ask more questions regarding the lack of prior communication with the German club and its representatives and the absence of a guidance plan for all the extra 1.FC Köln fans who didn‘t have a ticket. Police were overwhelmed and so were the stewards. Both Arsenal and the Met need to improve on that side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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