UEFA EURO 2016 (St Etienne)

Monday 20th June 2016
UEFA Euro 2016 Group B
Stade Geoffroy Guichard
Slovakia 0-0 England
Attendance: 39,051

This was the game I had the biggest dilemma with. When this little jaunt around southern France was planned, and tickets obtained, we had no idea who we would be watching. After the draw had been made it then became clear it would be Slovakia v England. However I also had tickets for Russia v Wales back in Toulouse. I factored in that it was 550km back to Toulouse, coupled with the fact that tomorrow we will be heading to Marseille, a further 330km from Lyon, even further from Toulouse, and came to the logical conclusion and stuck with plan A.

After an afternoon chilling with a few beers, it was a 45 minute train journey from our base in Lyon to St Etienne. Upon arrival at Châteaucreux Station there were loads of England fans in the surrounding bars and cafes, so we decided to head off the beaten track to try and avoid the mobs. We stumbled on this backstreet bar, which turned out to be a St Etienne Ultras bar. Once established that two of us were not England supporters they were absolutely fine.

We had a very good chat about St Etienne, who were a major force in European football in the 1970's. They came within a Hampden Park (square) post of winning the European Cup in 1976, eventually losing 1-0 to Bayern Munich. As I one of the chaps I was with is a red, the subject of a famous night in 1977 came up. He was there etc etc. Michel Platini is one of St Etienne's many famous former players, as is current darling of the French team Dimitri Payet. They also gave an insight into their rivalry with Olimpique Lyonnais and told us there is currently an away fan ban in place due to trouble at past encounters.

The Stade Geoffroy Guichard was opened in 1931 and is named after the founder of the Casino retail group, who purchased the site on which the ground was built. It is another ground that has a British feel to it, with four separate stands, though for this tournament the corners have been filled in to increase the capacity to over 40,000.

It was a good 35 minute walk to the ground where en-route we were treated to the finest songs the England fans had to offer. I'll leave it at that. Upon arrival at the ground, despite arriving over an hour before kick off, it took the longest of all the grounds I had visited to gain entry. There were hundreds of fans trying to enter through one gate and the crowd was swelling as the minutes passed. At one stage it was becoming very uncomfortable as crushing started to happen. I got separated from the others but, after a cursory pat down, I manged to gain entry well before kick off.

England had the better chances and dominated the possession, and maybe they were thinking 'Nothing can stop us' but Slovakia keeper Matus Kozacik was in fine form and their solid defence was marshaled superbly by Martin Skrtel. 

Slovakia knew a draw (and four points) would be enough to see them through and they never had any attacking intent whatsoever, apart from the odd counter. It was 'So tough' for England who didn't appear to have any idea how to break down the Slovak defence.

Indeed a mix up between Chris Smalling and Joe Hart could have gifted the Slovaks a goal. However the draw means that both teams go through, however Wales' 3-0 victory against Russia meant that it was Wales who topped group B. No doubt the Welsh were dancing in the streets of 'Tiger Bay' after that result!

UEFA EURO 2016 (Lens)

Thursday 16th June 2016
UEFA Euro 2016 Group B
Stade Bollaert-Delelis
England 2-1 Wales
Attendance: 34,033

After flying into Brussels the previous day, and having a few beers in the city (well it would have been rude not too) the day began on an early train from Brussels Midi, via Lille, to the town of Lens. The train was packed with Welsh and English supporters making their way to the game. I was sat by some England fans from Yorkshire and it was very funny listening to some of the antics they got up to the previous night in Brussels (as this is a family friendly blog I will not repeat the stuff that was said).

There were huge queues the get on the train at Lille and there were bag searches on the station platform before being let out of the station at Lens. The weather had taken a turn for the worse upon arrival in the town and there was torrential rain lashing the town for a couple of hours. Luckily (ahem) I was able to take sanctuary in a bar adjacent to the fanzone, sink a few beers before walking to up ground.

The vibe was good natured and I spent most of the time chatting football in the bar. There was a table full of Southampton fans next to me, so I took the opportunity to pick their brains about Ronald Koeman. It would appear they rated him very highly and Everton have picked a winner. Hopefully that is true.

Lens is a former coal mining town and the ground is named after Felix Bollaert, who was a former director of the Lens Mining Company, and Andre Delelis, a former mayor of the town. The stadium is home to Ligue 2 side Racing Club Lens was originally built in 1933 by unemployed miners. The ground has previously hosted tournament football in 1984 (Euro) and 1998 (World Cup).

It has been well documented that this is one of the smallest grounds being used at the tournament, with a capacity of 35,000. It has also been mentioned many times in the run up to the tournament that the entire population of Lens would not fill the ground. Having said that Lens' average attendance for 2015/16 was 26,393 not bad for second tier team.

The ground was an easy 15 minute walk from the town centre and has the feel of an British stadium with it's four tiered stands right up against the pitch. It helps create a good atmosphere, not that that was needed given the all-British clash that was taking place today.

The atmosphere was all that was good for the majority of the first half in what was a dreadful opening 45 minutes. However three minutes before the break Joe Hart's mistake allowed Gareth Bale's (who else) free kick from 30 yards to creep in and give Wales the lead. Cue absolute scenes in the Welsh end, boos from the England end.

Roy Hodgson was left with no real choice but to throw on Jamie Vardy and Daniel Sturridge and it was these who turned the game. Vardy levelled things on 56 minutes and the relentess attacking from England, as the Wales defence dropped deeper and deeper, paid off in stoppage time when Sturridge grabbed the winner.

There can be no complaint with the result but the fact that it was deep into stoppage, after defending heroically, desperately at times, it was a real kick in the teeth for Wales.

Post match it was a train into Paris where I made my way to the Frog and Princess for some proper post match analysis!