It's now been ten days since England's opening match of Euro 2024 against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen and a lot has happened since. Despite the general consensus being that England played pretty poorly in their opener, they have somehow managed to get worse in the two matches since.
Despite that, they still qualified as group winners and England fans now have a return trip to Gelsenkirchen to look forward to for the Three Lions' Round of 16 clash with Slovakia.
Before their match against Serbia, the fixture was labelled ‘high risk' by police due to fears surrounding Serbia fans and England fans. It meant that low percentage alcohol was served inside the stadium before and during the match and all fans were limited to two drinks each.
For their return trip to Gelsenkirchen on Sunday, England fans have once again been hit with the same ban on full-strength beer, despite the vast majority of fans behaving impeccably throughout the tournament in Germany.
England fans to be served low percentage beer in Gelsenkirchen – Fears around more travel chaos
It's not just England's good behaviour at Euro 2024 that makes this decision a strange one from UEFA officials, but also the fact that it contributed to the travel disruptions that occurred before England's clash with Serbia.
England fan groups claimed that the decision to serve low percentage beer inside the stadium led to the majority of England fans drinking away from the stadium beforehand. This then resulted in a bottleneck at local train stations as fans rushed to make kick-off.
There will be no full-strength beer for England's #euro2024 round of 16 tie. England fans have been singled out again for special measures, with local organisers planning to serve only low-alcohol beer for Sunday's game in Gelsenkirchen. (@TimesSport)
— England Xtra (@EnglandXtra_) June 26, 2024
One of England's largest supporter groups, the Free Lions, posted the following message on social media earlier today, confirming that they will be talking to various authorities to avoid a repeat of these problems on Sunday.
“We know there are a lot of questions about Gelsenkirchen on Sunday. We’ll be speaking with the FA, the UK Football Policing Unit as well as host city organisers and will update you all as soon as possible.”
They added that transport was one of the key areas they will discuss with organisers.