Peter and Simon
© RT
English father and son football-supporting duo Peter and Simon have traveled to Russia for the 2018 World Cup but won't see a single minute of an England game, because their "awful" fans are "too intimidating."

The two, who did not give their surname, have made the journey from York in northern England for the tournament and regularly attend major footballing events, such as the previous World Cup in Brazil in 2014.

But they have made a promise not to watch England at Russia 2018. Speaking to RT, the pair, who are dyed-in-the-wool York City supporters, said that they had grown tired of the intimidating behavior of England fans abroad.

"We wouldn't want to do that, it's just awful isn't it," said son Simon, flanked by father Peter, who is deaf and was proudly wearing the colours of his beloved York. "Because of the aggressive fans who watch them and want to intimidate everyone.

"Most fans just sing and have a laugh and and have fun, but our just sing and try and intimidate and tell everyone that this is our patch," he added.

Another football event that the pair attended was the 2016 European Championships in France, where there were clashes between Russian and England fans before, during, and after the group game between the two teams in Marseille.

Simon says from what he witnessed, there was significant intimidation and violence from the side of Three Lions fans, and that is what led to ugly clashes between supporters.

"I was there in Marseille, they [England fans] deserved what happened to them, they had trashed the port before any Russians turned up," said Simon.

Instead of watching England, the two instead attended four games in Moscow, including the shock win for Mexico over reigning champions Germany, as well as the Brazil versus Costa Rica match at St. Petersburg Stadium.

In the lead-up to the Russia 2018 tournament, Western media had written a series of unprovoked articles attempting to dissuade fans from the UK from traveling to Russia for fears of hooliganism, based on the events in Marseille.


After England's Group G opener versus Tunisia in Volgograd on Monday night however, there appeared to be a change in tune as the only threat England fans were met with that night were swarms of tiny flying bugs - as is typical for this time of year.

There were, however, a group of England fans caught on camera giving Nazi salutes and singing a song glorifying Hitler in a bar in Volgograd, which was invaded by German forces in World War II.

According to reports in UK media, British police are already working with the Football Association to investigate the video.