TROUBLE flared before England’s Euros curtain raiser against Serbia – leaving an English fan with blood pouring from a head wound.
Sources at the scene said a group of yobs appeared to have started chaos in a restaurant near the venue city of Gelsenkirchen five hours before kick-off.
Around 3.30pm, some 200 German riot police swiftly restored order as bottles and glasses filled the air during the brawl.
A cop said: “The English turned up and we saw everything being thrown – chairs, tables, glasses – you name it.
“Serbs hit back and chased the group down the street and one was caught.
“He’s a lad from Birmingham who ended up with a nasty wound to the back of his head.
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Police at the scene said they believed the English had started the trouble – but English fans blamed the Serbs.
Cops later confirmed that six Serbs had been arrested but there were no English arrests.
Trouble centred on the Aleppo Restaurant in Arminstrasse, where the scene was littered with smashed glass, bottles and debris minutes after the clash.
A source said: “All that’s confirmed at the moment is that English fans were definitely involved.”
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Video showing debris, bottles, chairs and projectiles flying in melee appeared to have been filed by a shocked English fan shouting: “It’s the Serbians!”
It was unclear whether more fans had been hurt in the violent exchange and whether any had been arrested but the clash racked up tensions prior to kick-off.
Hundreds of riot police later moved to a neighbouring bar amid suggestions that fans involved in the battle had taken refuge there.
A mother and son enjoying their regular Sunday routine of coffee and cake at the Café Pabot opposite the Hirt Steakhouse said they were sat on the first floor when “all of a sudden bits of food and bottles started being thrown.”
Café worker Petra Thiel said another person who was in the café at the time told her she had heard the attackers shouting something in Serbian.
“In total, there were about 50 people involved”, she added.
“I didn’t see any maskes.”
England fan Matthew Simpson had been socialising with the Serbian group moments before the trouble erupted.
He said he was told the attackers had been Albanians.
The fans involved appeared to have disappeared into the crowds in the city as cops in helmets and riot gear took control.
It is reported that 40,000 fans will travel from England for the first game alone, with 300,000 expected to travel to Germany throughout the entire tournament.
The brawl comes just hours after cops closed in on a crazed axeman brandishing a Molotov cocktail near a busy Euros fan zone.
Shocking footage showed the suspect with a golden pickaxe as cops drew their guns and deployed pepper spray moments before his arrest on the streets of Hamburg.
A second video taken by a horrified passerby showed the moment police cornered the assailant before firing warning shots into the air.
Cops shot the axeman and sealed off the Reeperbahn strip, not far from where thousands of Dutch supporters were gathering to watch their match against Poland.
Some 40,000 fans were peacefully marching along the street filled with bars at around 12.30pm before the attacker’s terrifying rampage.
Pictures showed a sea of football supporters dressed in orange just feet away as the chaos unfolded.
Police say the man came out of a bar with the weapon before footage showed him wielding it at officers, Dutch outlet RND reports.
Witnesses claim they heard four loud bangs as several riot police officers moved in to apprehend the suspect.
Dramatic video showed cops warning him to drop his weapon but when he refuses, cops deploy pepper spray before shooting him in the leg.
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Hamburg Police said the axeman was carrying an “incendiary device” as pictures from the scene showed a Molotov cocktail smashed on the floor.
Police fear he intended to set it off in the middle of the crowd of supporters, according to German news outlet Bild.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
