Euro 2016: Wales join England warning as Chris Coleman tells fans without tickets not to travel to Lens

The Football Association of Wales is urging Welsh fans travelling to Thursday’s game with England in Lens not to stay in the town itself, as they try to head off any repeat of violence that scorched Marseille last weekend.

Authorities on all sides – Welsh, English and French – are desperate for Thursday’s ‘derby’ match to proceed peacefully. The presence of Russian fans in nearby Lille is an added worry, and officials are working hard to upgrade security provisions. There will be meetings on Tuesday between British police, local police, FAW and Football Association officials and the Uefa head of security to review their plans for the game.

The FAW would like to see a more visible and preventative police presence in Lens than there was for England’s first game in Marseille, as well as more police inside the stadium itself, believing that the French authorities knew in advance about the Russian fans coming to Marseille.

The FAW’s direct advice to Welsh supporters on Monday was that they should not travel to Lens if they do not have a ticket. Those Welsh fans with tickets were advised that if they do go to the game that they should stay in Arras, 15 kilometres south of Lens, or even Amiens, 70km south-east.

Wales manager Chris Coleman reminded fans at his press conference in Dinard on Monday afternoon that they would not enjoy themselves as much in Lens, which has a population of 35,000, as they would in Bordeaux or Toulouse, their other two game venues. There is a concern that the Lens fan-zone is far smaller than Bordeaux’s 60,000 capacity fan-zone, which is why the FAW do not want any ticketless fans to travel there.

“Lens is not a big city,” Chris Coleman said. “With all due respect to Lens, there is not that much to do. It is difficult to say to the Welsh public don’t come to sample the atmosphere, as they have been waiting. It is a Euros, and they deserve to enjoy this experience as much as anybody else.”

An official FAW statement released late on Monday afternoon was more explicit. “The FAW is advising fans not to travel to Lille and Lens for Thursday's match without a ticket,” tweeted the official account.

Those Wales fans with tickets have been advised to stay away from Lens, where many England fans will be based. They are being steered even further away from nearby Lille, easily accessible on the Eurostar from London and also, crucially, where Russia play Slovakia on Wednesday afternoon.

“If you haven’t got a ticket for the game, don’t go to Lens, it will not be a good experience in the same way as Bordeaux,” said FAW security officer Wayne Nash. “Enjoy it where you are, perhaps in the south.”

“We're not saying not to go to Lille, but we know that it could be dominated by England supporters. Then there is the Russia v Slovakia game the night before and we have got to be aware of the events of the weekend. On the way to Lens we have suggested to stay at Amiens or Arras which are to the south of Lens. If you do intend to go, we suggest them as the best places to go before making the final journey onto the game. ”

While some Welsh fans will avoid this match, staying in the south-west for Monday’s Russia game in Toulouse, there is a fear in some quarters that easy access to Lens from Britain will mean a different type of fan will come over for it. Coleman urged the Welsh supporters to behave as well as they did in Bordeaux last Saturday, when they got on famously well with Slovakian supporters and the only trouble was a confiscated football.

“We want all the fans from all the different countries to come and back their team 100 per cent,” Coleman said. “But any aggression starts on the pitch, and should remain on the pitch. Off the pitch there should not be any. There is a mindless minority, but that does not paint the real picture. The fans are representing us, they did that in a perfect way in Bordeaux, and we want more of that.”

While the FAW are confident in the behaviour of their own supporters, they will be pushing for an increased police presence at the game in their meetings with the Lens prefect, the state delegate in charge of security for the region. The FAW said that the French authorities “knew of a powerful group” of Russian hooligans who were would heading to Marseille last week. “If you do not have a strong presence and groups to deal with them policing becomes reactive.”

Because French security provisions are more likely to have stewards rather than police inside the ground, the FAW will request for more visible policing, including police inside the Stade Bollaert-Delelis on Thursday afternoon.

“If you do not have a strong presence then [policing] becomes reactive,” Nash said. “The British style of policing is different, that is not being critical. We like to see patrolling and low-level intervention to prevent such escalation. We have asked for extra patrols. This is a British game with British culture and people will not take upset if they see officers in and around the stadium as we are used to. Those things will be decided over the next days.”

Nash explained that with police inside the stadiums to assist the stewards, it would be easier to keep order between the supporters. “Police make more impact than a steward,” he said. “A steward is often someone with 16 to 20 hours of training, they are stewarding on the basis of consent and when you see a public disorder incident like in Marseille they need the backing of the police. The steward can contain for a certain time but it depends what they are facing.”

The FAW are not expecting any repeat of scenes from Marseille last week, but Nash described the Russian fans at the heart of that violence as “a powerful, mindless group of thugs,” and called for them to be held accountable.