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England fans fear further Euro 2016 violence in Lille

England fans clash with police personnel as England fans gather in the city of Marseille, southern France, on June 11, 2016
Image: England fans clash with police personnel as England fans gather in Marseille on Saturday

England supporters are concerned that this week's trip to the northern city of Lille could be marred by futher violence.

England face Wales in Lens at Euro 2016 on Thursday, but many supporters are staying in Lille - just 20 miles away - where 24 hours beforehand Russia take on Slovakia.

England drew 1-1 with Russia in Marseille on Saturday night, but the match was overshadowed by three days of violence in the lead up and aftermath of the game.

Football Supporters' Federation chief executive Kevin Miles said: "There's no question that Wednesday in particular is going to be an issue because there are large numbers of Welsh and English fans already booked into Lille because Lens just isn't big enough to accommodate them.

"Lille is the next nearest big city, it's certainly the next nearest host city, and is on the Eurostar line, so it's a natural place for people from England and Wales to set up their base for the game in Lens.

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Roy Hodgson and Wayne Rooney have asked England's fans at Euro 2016 to behave so UEFA don't take action against the national side. Video courtesy of FATV

UEFA has threatened to disqualify England and Russia from Euro 2016 if there is further violence.

Miles believes barring the teams from Euro 2016 would be an unfair sanction for both countries, despite condemning the "organised brutality" of some Russian supporters.

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Why England's fans have been warned about staying in Lille ahead of Russia's Euro 2016 game with Slovakia

"To make the same threat against both countries would seem to put the behaviour of both sets of fans on a par and I think that's unjust as well," he said.

"Any misdemeanours that you saw involving English supporters in Marseille paled into insignificance when you saw the organised brutality from some of the Russian hooligan groups.

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FA chief executive Martin Glenn says the FA are treating the threat of being kicked out of Euro 2016 seriously

"But in both the English and the Russian case, I wouldn't support expulsion from the tournament because once again that punishes the majority for the actions of a very small minority.

"The large majority of the Russian supporters as well as the English ones have been impeccably behaved.

"It punishes the whole country (and) it punishes the team for things out of their control. I don't think that's an appropriate measure."

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