No England fans were arrested after Friday's match with Algeria, despite the 25,000-strong following being left furious at their team's showing.

UK police in the country praised their reaction to the 0-0 draw in Cape Town, describing them as "extremely well behaved", even when drinking.

Many fans booed England from the pitch, prompting an angry response from star Wayne Rooney - who later apologised.

And one fan managed to breach security to get into the players' dressing room.

He was escorted out after exchanging "a few verbals" and the Football Association has since complained about the breach.

But the atmosphere outside the stadium, which had seen England fans singing and dancing with rival fans in the build-up to the game, remained cordial afterwards.

Ch Supt Dave Lewis said it was "refreshing" to see some England supporters congratulating the Algerians, many of whom were celebrating the surprise draw.

"Considering the number of supporters that were there I think they have been extremely well behaved," he said.

"The fact that nothing happened, nobody was arrested, and given the amount of ale that was drunk, it was extremely pleasing."

David Beckham, who is among the team's backroom staff, played down the dressing room incident involving the fan.

"There was no scuffle, there was no aggression at all," he said.

Prince William, who had visited the dressing room with Prince Harry shortly after the game, joked that the Royal brothers were at fault for "leaving the door open".

Supporters in South Africa have been warned they will face swift justice in South Africa if they misbehave.

Large numbers of police were in Cape Town on Friday, many at the Waterfront as well as the stadium.

After the match, many fans headed straight back to their hotels in disappointment but others continued partying, while South African officers kept watch.

Supporters, including a large number of expatriates, have paid thousands of pounds for flights, accommodation and tickets.

Ch Supt Lewis said many of the supporters were "well-heeled" and "not your normal England followers".

He said: "It's a different set of supporters than we would normally see."

A contingent of 12 UK police officers are in South Africa, liaising with local authorities and patrolling on and around England match days in case of trouble.

Ch Supt Lewis led a team of six on the ground in Cape Town, including men in uniform and plainclothes "spotters" looking out for potential troublemakers.

The carnival atmosphere had given way to a sombre mood on Saturday, where England flags which had hung from railings and balconies at the Waterfront had been taken down.

Rolls-Royce worker Mark Webster, 51, from Derby, summed up the feelings of many: "It was a disappointing performance. We ran out of ideas."

However, business consultant Mike Corry, 59, from Durham, said he would still be cheering the team on in the next game.

"The passion from fans will still be there but the fans need to be rewarded by the players now," he said.

Orlanth wrote:
Thirdly, police in the UK are getting very good at spotting hooligans now

WarOne wrote:

Orlanth wrote:
Thirdly, police in the UK are getting very good at spotting hooligans now

They know all the hooligans attend WH40k events at the local game stores, right?

Kilkrazy wrote:Most of the hooligans can't afford to get to South Africa.

Orlanth wrote:

WarOne wrote:

Orlanth wrote:
Thirdly, police in the UK are getting very good at spotting hooligans now

They know all the hooligans attend WH40k events at the local game stores, right?

I dont know how flippant you are being WarOne, so I will just explain as though you just asked why.


Most holligans belong to what are known as 'firms', gangs affiliated with a paerticular football team. Sometimes firms cause violence, normally they dont not for want to trying but because of visibly heavy policing and constant monitoring. I know a journalist who investigated firms and from his testimony its fair to say most firms are riddled with police informers, perhaps even security services. Watching hooligans might seem a big waste of resources, but it is not. You need a large number of police anyway just for crowd control at matches, so they are in the right places to give special attention to known hooligans.

Other than firms you get individual hooligans, thety of course cannot be spotted, the first time. But after they kick over a few bars they get a local criminal record and onto interpols list, this gets sent back to the UK police. As passports are scanned guess what happens. The hooligans are met at the boarding gate and are told they cannot travel. Some might find a way around but most travel by air unles its a Euro host.

The omnly other thing you need to watch fro a grudge matches. None of the group lineup are controversial, France vs Algeria would be touchy but not England. In all honesty despite England fans bad press there are few grudge matches Germany France and Argentina top the bill. You could add Ireland and Australia but that is not usually the fault of England fans. England fans are not necessarily the most violent, any look at Italian football will tell you that, but they are the most yobbish the most ill mannered cheap loud (until vuvuzelas came along) and badly dressed. Thus they are considered bigger louts than the rest, which isnt actually fair. But as any cultured englishman will tell you, any step on the chavs is a step up for humanity.

youbedead wrote:

remember knowing is half the battle, the other half is lasers

WarOne wrote:

So the short version is that hooligans are a form of organized crime similar to the America version known as the "mafia" (or a variant which could be counted as an ethnic gang but in this context happens to be a sports related criminal organization however loosely it defines itself in context) that simply like to cause violence rather than try to fix games, racketeer, blackmail, extort, or gain profit from the recreational activity itself?

WarOne wrote:

Orlanth wrote:

WarOne wrote:

Orlanth wrote:
Thirdly, police in the UK are getting very good at spotting hooligans now

They know all the hooligans attend WH40k events at the local game stores, right?

I dont know how flippant you are being WarOne, so I will just explain as though you just asked why.


Most holligans belong to what are known as 'firms', gangs affiliated with a paerticular football team. Sometimes firms cause violence, normally they dont not for want to trying but because of visibly heavy policing and constant monitoring. I know a journalist who investigated firms and from his testimony its fair to say most firms are riddled with police informers, perhaps even security services. Watching hooligans might seem a big waste of resources, but it is not. You need a large number of police anyway just for crowd control at matches, so they are in the right places to give special attention to known hooligans.

Other than firms you get individual hooligans, thety of course cannot be spotted, the first time. But after they kick over a few bars they get a local criminal record and onto interpols list, this gets sent back to the UK police. As passports are scanned guess what happens. The hooligans are met at the boarding gate and are told they cannot travel. Some might find a way around but most travel by air unles its a Euro host.

The omnly other thing you need to watch fro a grudge matches. None of the group lineup are controversial, France vs Algeria would be touchy but not England. In all honesty despite England fans bad press there are few grudge matches Germany France and Argentina top the bill. You could add Ireland and Australia but that is not usually the fault of England fans. England fans are not necessarily the most violent, any look at Italian football will tell you that, but they are the most yobbish the most ill mannered cheap loud (until vuvuzelas came along) and badly dressed. Thus they are considered bigger louts than the rest, which isnt actually fair. But as any cultured englishman will tell you, any step on the chavs is a step up for humanity.

So the short version is that hooligans are a form of organized crime similar to the America version known as the "mafia" (or a variant which could be counted as an ethnic gang but in this context happens to be a sports related criminal organization however loosely it defines itself in context) that simply like to cause violence rather than try to fix games, racketeer, blackmail, extort, or gain profit from the recreational activity itself?