My only away trip with England was to the Euro Championship Finals of 1980 in Italy. I Flew on Sudan Airways (it was the cheapest) to Rome. On the plane I met some Spammers and joined up with them. We caught a train to Genoa and stayed there for the two games that were played in Turin. Rumours abounded of England fans being attacked in Turin and elsewhere but in Genoa we had a great time pissing it up on the waterfront, no problems at all. We even had a game of footie with the local lads on the beach, naturally we got stuffed, our out of condition boozed up bodies no match for the tanned fit latins. There were about thirty of us in Genoa, from various clubs but mostly London clubs.
The first game was against Belgium, we caught the train to Turin and made our way to the ground with a heavy police escort. We learnt from other fans that English fans had been attacked everywhere by the Iti's especially at the municipal campsite where they had suffered a constant bombardment of bricks etc. Consequently there were a lot of really pissed off people that made it to the stadium that day. The stadium was half empty but there were probably a good six thousand following England plus a number of Italians and a few Belgiums. The match itself was nothing special and ended I think in a 1-1 draw. A mob of Italians in the same end as us taunted us with chants of 'fa fancula' or 'f**k off' from the start and sometime into the match a group of England, scousers I think, decided they had had enough and charged them. All hell broke loose, as the Carabinieri ( police) immediately started firing volleys of teargas into the crowd, not a pleasant experience I can assure you. This reaction was way over the top but I think the police were as scared of us as their fans. Order was restored and the game finished. To this day I intensely dislike Kevin Keegan for his remarks about this incident, if I recall he called us 'scum' without understanding anything of the provocation we had had to endure from the locals, I've never forgiven him for this. Anyway Kevin, just what were you doing in that layby off of the M25 at 2am in the morning?.
We made our way back to Turin for the second game against Italy. Upon reaching the central rail station we joined thousands of other England fans who had arranged to meet there by word of mouth. Everyone knew there would be trouble and safety in numbers seemed appropriate. At first the police refused to allow us out of the station but as we became increasingly annoyed it must have become obvious to them that they would have to escort us to the Stadio Communale about two miles away. Off we went, maybe two thousand young very pissed off England fans. All went well until we reached the stadium when we were confronted by a mob of Italys finest all tooled up with lumps of wood, iron bars etc. I think they were a little surprised when instead of turning and running we charged them, not that we got anywhere near them, they couldn't be seen for dust. The stadium was packed already and the police shepherded us into a lower tier under the main stand, we didn't stay for long however as we were assailed by a bombardment of lumps of concrete from above. Three or four thousand England fans now milled around the concourse as the kick off approached being denied access to the terracing above. Someone negotiated with the police and informed them that if they didn't let us in we would force our way into the match. They relented and cleared a space on the terracing. There ensued a volley of projectiles going both ways until relative calm prevailed. I've got to say for an open stadium the atmosphere was as good as I've ever experienced, from start to finish a wall of noise rang around the stadium. It was matched by a really good match in which England missed a host of good chances and Italy scored once to win the game, it was ever thus. Another police escort after the game back to the station with jubilant Italians driving up and down the road celebrating in cars taunting us. At least one of them was sent flying off the back of one of these by an irate Englishman. Outside the station another reception committee, with one Iti waving a gun at us. Same result though, a charge followed by a swift retreat.
We travelled to Naples for the final game against Spain and stayed in Sorrento where yet again England fans were set upon by the local youth and yet again when the bulk of support arrived they got a bit of a pasting. Naples itself was a real sh*thole and the game against Spain was won by England fairly easily 3-1 I think, it didn't matter though because Belgium drew with Italy to reach the final in Rome.
I travelled to Rome and spent a few days along with some other England fans getting inebriated and enjoying the city, truly a nice place. Along with many other England fans we went to the final and joining up with the Dutch supported the Belgiums, unfortunately they lost to the Germans in a game decided more by some terrible refereeing than any skill by the Krauts.
When I got back to London all everyone wanted to know was about how badly behaved the English fans had been, it was a hard job explaining the extreme provocation dished out by both the Italian police and cowardly fans. Needless to say the British press had condemned us from the moment the first teargas canister had been fired.
