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England are sleepwalking into another hooligan crisis at the Russia World Cup

It felt like being on the set of Jurassic Park in Dortmund on Wednesday night. Instead of gazing at dinosaurs brought back from extinction, we all got to stare at groups of England supporters being prehistoric. Germany fans looked on with mild curiosity, as if they were regarding a different species. Many of the rest of us turned away in shame.

There were some apologists for the idiots, of course. There always are. There were some who said it was just banter. There were some who said it was fake news, which is now the standard riposte of those who are incapable of thinking for themselves.