Big Cup chaos, childish tribalism and ‘the forces of law and order’

It’s been an extremely difficult weekend for Liverpool fans, some of whom were actually lucky enough to get in to the Stade de France on Saturday to see their team lose to Real Madrid in the final of Big Cup. Many more were left outside the stadium’s perimeter fence waving tickets for which they’d paid through the nose – noses which, along with their eyes were left streaming from the teargas sent wafting their way by members of the decidedly unfriendly local French constabulary.

Hundreds of match-goers and on-site reporters – among them authoritative voices such as Gary Lineker, Kelly Cates, Carrie Brown, Rob “Trouble” Harris, the lads from The Anfield Wrap and Big Paper’s own floating football brain in a jar, Jonathan Wilson, tweeted their own experiences, and those of the Liverpool fans left feeling let down, unsafe and downright scared. Still, there were plenty more on social media – but crucially nowhere near Paris – who knew better.

Childish tribalism meant they were happy to point their Big Finger O’Blame squarely in the direction of Liverpool fans. Almost to a man, woman and child, with only a few inevitable exceptions, they seemed serenely patient in the face of unspeakable organisational incompetence, and entirely blameless for the fiasco we all saw unfold.

We have been here before, of course, and it seems that little more than blind luck prevented another horrific tragedy unfold. And like before, those on duty have moved quickly to scapegoat innocent supporters. First falsely accusing them of turning up late, they then decided fans had turned up with tens of thousands of counterfeit tickets, without giving any evidence to support either claim.

“I’d like to thank the forces of law and order,” said the French