England vs Wales reaction: Finally, a British spectacle befitting a football festival after fan violence

Both sets of fans felt at home in the surroundings of Lens, a small market town in the Pas-de-Calais department of northern France

Chris Smalling, Joe Hart and Gary Cahill celebrate England's win (Getty)

Finally, a British spectacle befitting a football festival. The two anthems were a proud expression of national pride, observed with almost impeccable mutual respect. The two groups of supporters mixed freely, discussing the respective merits of Joe Ledley and Adam Lallana on the morning trains out a near war zone in Lille.

And the peace held despite the devastation, for the indefatigable Welsh, of a late and dramatic winning goal for England who, having secured a 2-1 win, have all but assured their place in the knock-out stages of the European Championships.

Both sets of fans felt at home in the surroundings of Lens, a small market town in the Pas-de-Calais department of northern France, with its surrounding allotments and steady summer rain.

Few fans had lodged overnight in the place because of what had been described as an alcohol ban though, in keeping with the unpredictable and unfathomable organisation of Euro 2016, beer flowed freely in the hours before kick-off.

The anthem for every self-respecting supporter of England in this tournament runs: “Oh don’t take me home, Please don’t take me home, I just don’t want to go to work. I wanna stay here, drink all your beer. Please don’t take me home.” Those stuck at home certainly shared the sentiment. Offices across Britain were effectively on shut-down when the game began at 2pm – a kick-off time which the French authorities had refused to change for the peak evening TV audience.

The Welsh arrived with a spring in their step and songs to sing. “Football’s coming home,” England’s fans gave out. “England’s going home,” they countered, as defeat would have meant Roy Hodgson’s side running that risk. Their rendition of the anthem made them the first at the tournament to drown out the stadium band, singing Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau a good ten bars ahead. Daniel Sturridge’s goal assured English supremacy on the pitch but Wales comfortably won the singing contest.

England fans enjoyed a carnival atmosphere in Lens (Getty)

The English arrived amid with the embarrassment of what had occurred overnight: running battles for a minority of their number with French police, who chased both them and French youths around the streets of Lille until the early hours. The number of English arrested was small. There were none amid the chases with riot police and only nine overall: four West Ham fans and five Cardiff City fans who clashed on a train between the coast and Lille and were apprehended when the train reached the industrial town. But the English minority’s conduct was still an embarrassment.

When the tournament has concluded, UK Football Policing Unit will discuss with the football authorities how to tackle the root cause of the disorder: the predisposition of a minority younger generation to occupy places where England play, placing a flag in the ground, singing songs about winning the war, taunting zealous police local forces and then complaining when they react.

The potential for a repeat of the scenes in Lille is substantial when the England circus moves on to Saint Etienne, where they play Slovakia on Monday in their last group game. The French riot police don’t care for the way the English behave, whatever the level of criminality. In Lille on Wednesday night, it required British police ‘spotters’ to prevent the French from using water cannon by using negotiation tactics.

For a while, the England campaign feels less significant. It is Wales who perch on the tightrope between progress and elimination, needing a point against the Russians in Toulouse. To have lost to another continental side would have been bearable. To have lost in such circumstances to the old enemy, whom they have not beaten since 1984, may take some recovering from.

For English fans, Russian football has become synonymous with the violence which saw quasi-militaristic gangs attack English fans in Marseilles on Saturday. For Welsh fans, Russia is synonymous with a failure to qualify for Euro 2004. In a two-leg play-off that year, Russia won 1-0 in Cardiff after a stalemate in Moscow.

The moment they will take away from yesterday was the 35-yard free-kick despatched by Gareth Bale, their supreme player, shortly before half time. Bale told fans to carry on dreaming. “We are strong inside and the tournament is not over yet,” he said. “We will go into the next game with even more strength. We keep fighting all the way. We will keep fighting to qualify.”