You're reading: English fans show rowdy side, while Dutch and Swedes charm

Swedes and Dutch charm

British media warned England fans ahead of Euro 2012 that they would face racism, violence and numerous other threats and difficulties in Ukraine. This turned out to be untrue, but some of the English supporters decided to enhance their own reputation as uncouth lager louts more interested in humiliating others and fighting than watching  football.

On June 18, a group of Englishmen in the fan zone on Khreshchatyk Street approached a ticket scalper and stole two tickets from him. One of the group asked to have a closer look at the tickets, but then handed them quickly on to his friends.

The ticket holder tried to follow the ticket-passing chain, but the first Englishman blocked his entry into the Swedish Corner. One of the Ukrainian’s friends tried to do the same, but a young, shirtless Englishman punched him in the face sending him to the ground. About three Englishman then restrained the English puncher and removed him into the crowd of English fans in the Swedish corner. Security came but didn’t resolve the situation.

“The behavior of the English fans was terrible, so this made me very upset at them,” said Svitlana Logovinova, a 22-year-old from Zaporizhya who saw the ticket theft. “My opinion of the English has dropped significantly, but I can’t say this about all the English.”

Others were also disappointed with the behavior of England fans. Local media reported that Euro 2012 volunteers had hard times talking drunk English fans down from tree branches and off the cafe tables.
English men in Kyiv were also noticed entertaining themselves by lifting Ukrainian women’s skirts or breaking trees.

“I never thought anything bad about English fans or any other European fans,” said Denys Tsiluiko, a 20 year-old fan from Kyiv. But an incident in the fan zone during the Ukraine-France game on June 15 changed his mind. He stepped away from his friends to find the bathroom and was right away stopped by the crowd of English men. “Ukraine? Ukraine?” they shouted. “Are you from Ukraine?” When he said he was, they all laughed and one exposed himself as the others laughed. “I was shocked. I didn’t expect them to do something like that,” says Tsyluiko. “Though I don’t want to talk badly about all English fans. It’s not fair to blame them all for the stupidity of a bunch of idiots.”

Thankfully, such people proved to be in the minority: The majority of England fans were well behaved and joined in the festival of football.

The Swedish fans in Kyiv and Dutch fans in Kharkiv were in particular praised for their fun-loving approach to getting on with locals.

“They said before coming here they were warned that Ukraine is a highly dangerous country and most Ukrainians are addicts to cheap drugs. I thought these European football fans would be dull, reserved people interested only in football,” said Arina Moroz, a 20-year-old Ukrainian student who spend many hours in the fan zone and made friends with the Swedish guests.

Thousands of Sweden fans covered Kyiv for three weeks in their yellow and blue. The hordes of tall, blond Scandinavian men sang songs, drank Ukrainian beer and gazed at Ukrainian beauties all over the capital. The handsome blue-eyed Swedes proved a hit with some Ukrainian women by thinking up humorous ways to get to know them, for example by flirting using spontaneous games of football to see which girls would join in.

The handsome blue-eyed Swedes proved a hit with some Ukrainian women by thinking up humorous ways to get to know them, for example by flirting using spontaneous games of football to see which girls would join in.

“They were so sweet and funny,” Moroz said.

The Dutch also proved to be keen to make friends, playing instruments and even singing the Ukrainian national anthem in Kharkiv.

“I never thought that European people are rude or something, but I did think this about football fans,” said Serhiy Herts, a Ukrainian football fan. “The press described them as aggressive, unfriendly and wild, but that appeared to be not true.” Herts described how in the fan zone an unknown Dutch guy offered him and his friends drinks and they all ended up talking as if they had known each other for years.
The tournament gave Ukrainians the opportunity to get to know Western Europeans better, and some noted the difference in character.

The Dutch also proved to be keen to make friends, playing instruments and even singing the Ukrainian national anthem in Kharkiv.

“They are much more open and freer than we are. They never hesitate to express their feelings and emotions,” said Yuriy Besedovsky, a souvenir salesman. He said many of his customers were keen to chat to him.

“Many people told us their personal stories when buying something, saying that this towel with Euro 2012 symbol will go to Russia’s Kamchatka or the Netherlands,” he said.

“I think we have a lot of things to learn from them,” Herts said. He has been working as a steward at the Olympic Stadium for three weeks and said he had been impressed by European fans’ politeness and friendliness. “They know how to support their team and have special songs. But the main thing is that they are always cheerful and positive,” he said.

Kyiv Post staff writer Daryna Shevchenko can be reached at [email protected]  and Mark Rachkevych at [email protected]