After 39 fans lost their lives at Heysel in 1985, a perception began to take hold that English football supporters were hooligans. This blanket stereotype should have expired before the turn of the millennium. Instead, 40 years on from that tragic day in Brussels, it has become transgenerational.
Travelling Newcastle supporters are the latest to endure the trauma. The club will issue an official complaint to Uefa over the treatment of its fans following the team’s Champions League defeat in Marseille, when they were allegedly attacked by batons and pepper-sprayed by the French authorities in a bid to subdue the seemingly cooperative away contingent who were trying to get back to their hotels. The Independent has reached out to Uefa for comment.
