The trouble with Marseilles amid warnings for Newcastle United fans
Newcastle United fans are descending on the Mediterranean city amid warnings from police ahead of their club's Champions League fixture against Olympique Marseille.
Newcastle United fans have started arriving in Marseilles.
It’s a beautiful, vibrant Mediterranean city, but travelling supporters have been “strongly advised” by French police not to visit the Vieux Port during their stays.
From the marina, you can see the stunning Notre-Dame de la Garde, the basilica which towers above the city.
But Newcastle fans, if they heed police warnings, will not see the view.
Visiting supporters have also been told not to wear colours, or congregate in large groups, this evening – or all day tomorrow.
I have some experience of Marseilles.
Back in 1998, I got a ticket to see England play Tunisia in what was their first World Cup group fixture for eight years at the Stade Velodrome, the home of Olympique Marseille.
I was a newly-qualified news reporter with the Evening Chronicle at the time, but I travelled as a fan. However, I would have a story to tell once I had left the city.
A friend and myself, staying outside the city in Aix-en-Provence, headed for the Vieux Port the day before the game.
Everything was fine – until it was not.
England fans were happily drinking in the sun through the day, but it was clear some locals and Tunisian supporters were paying close attention to them.
And, later in the afternoon, they were provoked. Glasses and beer cans were tossed towards the England supporters, and the place erupted. Everything boiled over on a sweltering day in the city.
We decided to head back to the train station at that point, but it was too late. The police – who had been on standby – quickly got involved. It was chaotic.
One exit off the Vieux Port was blocked by CRS, the French riot police, but we escaped the tear gas via down a side road. Unfortunately for us, the CRS were not just after the hooligans causing mayhem behind us. We both got whacked with batons as we tried to get away from it all down a narrow street.
At least 32 people were injured during seven hours of violence that day, according to the BBC.
So that was my story. We got away before things got worse, but it was still a bruising experience.
I did not see any serious trouble on the day of the game, which was decided 2-0 in England’s favour by goals from Alan Shearer and Paul Scholes, but the sound of police sirens across the city was never-ending.
One thing I remember is that because I had heard so many sirens during my brief stay in Marseille, that distinctive sound was still ringing in my head that night in my sleeper train cabin.
I dictated a story, a first-hand account of the trouble, to the Chronicle’s copytakers on what had been described back home as a “riot” when I changed trains at Lille the following morning.
Also, I remember gingerly walking back into the Chronicle newsroom later that week with a black eye – and getting a round of applause from my colleagues.
It was one way to make an impression as a trainee reporter.
Six years later I returned as a football writer when Newcastle played Marseille in a UEFA Cup semi-final.
Thankfully, I did not see any flashpoints in the city, or around the stadium, though Marseille’s ultras managed to start a fire through their use of flares in the end closest to travelling fans.
Chelsea-bound Didier Drogba was the difference over the two legs, his two goals at the Stade Velodrome giving Marseille a 2-0 aggregate win following a goalless draw at St James’ Park.
That tough defeat felt like the beginning of the end for then-manager Sir Bobby Robson, and so, sadly, it would prove a few months later.
This season, though, it feels like the just the start of something in Europe for a team, buoyed by Saturday’s win over Manchester City, which is sixth in the Champions League table, and level on points with champions Paris Saint-Germain.
Hopefully, United fans will get to see another positive result – and safely enjoy their visit to the city.
Saw a photo on Facebook today of a woman in B&W stripes waving a flag down the old port. Exactly what the police said not to do 😬