As you may have heard, England beat Sweden 2–0 in the quarterfinal of the World Cup on Saturday, and it is with a heavy heart that we must report people got a bit carried away.
Several police forces reported a spike in disorderly behaviour in the hours following the match and urged people to behave more responsibly when England play Croatia in the semifinals on Wednesday.
An officer in Lancashire tweeted that the local police force had dealt with a record high of 2,200 incidents in 24 hours, "predominantly alcohol fuelled violence [including] domestic & serious assaults".
In the last 24hrs we dealt with 2200 incidents the highest on record. Demand surged after the England match predominantly alcohol fuelled violence inclu. domestic & serious assaults.We had planned for this but such a shame this happens.Well done team @LancsPolice for your efforts https://t.co/rsmHMpmcB2
Celebrations on Borough High Street in Central London led to one of London Ambulance Service's rapid response cars being so badly damaged that it had to be taken out of service.
"Some idiots obviously can’t act responsibly," a spokesperson for Met Police Taskforce tweeted. "That’s one vital #Rapid response #LAS unit out of service at a cost to the public."
Great job England. It could be coming home! Please celebrate responsibly and look out for each other !🏴#TSG #U2:2 https://t.co/lbLwnIWt3Y
Earlier, the Met Police Taskforce tweeted, asking people to behave responsibly. On Sunday, a group of Millwall Football Club fans launched a crowdfunding page to pay for the repairs.
🚑 FUNDRAISING APPEAL 🚑 After the events which saw an emergency response vehicle vandalised, the MSC have set up a fundraising page to help with any repairs. If you’d like to put something towards helping those who help us, then donate below! https://t.co/XVTyu19j4d https://t.co/1GRf7xC46x
"If the insurance company pays for the repairs, all monies raised will be donated to the Local Ambulance Service whose vehicle has sustained this damage," read the page, which had raised over £1,000 at the time of writing.
We're delighted with the result, but this has put a big dampener on the celebrations for us: while our officer attended a call nearby, this car was damaged in Borough High Street during the celebrations after the game - it's now off the road to be repaired. https://t.co/V71kOEn4OO
The Tower Hamlets police in London appealed for information about the identity of a woman who was pictured on top of the damaged ambulance car.
London Ambulance Service would like to identify this individual, who jumped up and down on one of their response cars yesterday in central London, causing criminal damage and forcing the response vehicle off the road for repairs!! 😡 https://t.co/JkvslXkfem
Across the country, local police forces described a surge in emergency calls.
The @NorthantsFCR team manager has just reviewed our figures for the last 24 hrs. Highest calls since New Years Eve. Great team @NorthantsPolice effort to #ProtectingPeopleFromHarm https://t.co/LPWbr1aiTv
West Yorkshire police reported an influx of calls – they received 999 calls immediately after the game.
From the below graph it shows the Everest-esque peak in 9s from 1800hrs through to 0200hrs. This coincided with end of the Football where before this the 999 call demand was as usual for the day. 🏔️ https://t.co/NqDiQAmCtj
They described an "Everest-esque" peak of 999 calls from 6pm on what had otherwise been a normal day. The game finished around 5pm.
West Midlands police also reported a surge in 999 calls on Saturday evening, citing "football and alcohol" as the likely cause. Sussex police reported a similar spike with 109 calls in an hour at the peak.
Over last 24 hrs @sussex_police have taken in excess of 1200 999 calls .At the peak it was 109 an hour. Not everyone played nicely with officers assaulted & lots of arrests. In addition the #heroeswithheadsets have also been taking 101's to similar levels #havefunbutbesafe https://t.co/9VDGsid3Z9
One police officer suggested destructive England fans were letting down the team's manager, Gareth Southgate.
@England win ✅ The country celebrates ✅ Then why...... Smash up ambulances ❌ Jump on top of buses ❌ Assault police ❌ #GarethSouthgateWould say, ‘NO, STOP, celebrate in style, be respectful and enjoy the moment’ #ComeOnEnglandenjoybutpleasebehave https://t.co/x2zB84T60Z
England will play Croatia in the semifinal on Wednesday on what is forecast to be another hot day.
Come on England! Great to hear the cheers around the ward! Let's celebrate sensibly but have fun everyone. Roll on Wednesday! #Eng #ThreeLions #WorldCup #7123PY https://t.co/gKj8NHddWf
A win would take England to the World Cup final for the first time since 1966.
