The missus always goes with me.
The trouble around the ground was mainly caused by the security procedures that were used. There was supposed to be 3 cordons. The first was Police checking that you had a ticket. The second was a high chainlink fence with gates down it. They only opened two and you were meant to be searched on the other side, one at a time. We where there 40 minutes before the game and it was already starting to get very busy and delayed. People were getting crushed against the fence at the front so the Croats SHUT the gates making things worse. Eventually the gates were opened and they allowed people through towards the Stand. It would have been very easy for people without tickets to get through to the second cordon and now actually into the stand. It was a total farce. The enterance to the stand was a hight railing fence with two gates which everyone had to go through. One enterance for all the fans, a total bottleneck. Congestion ensued at the enterence where the Police tried to search people again. As people started to get agitated as it was nearing kick-off the Police closed both gates. The Police then tried to block the stairs leading up to the gates and formed ranks in front of the fans. A few baton chrages ensued which were totally unnecessary. One gate was reopened but again the Police were trying to do searches making things even worse. All this resulted in was more batton charges from the Police and the whole charade started again. We were lucky as we got into the game only missing the first 20 minutes.
It was bad, but it had the possibility of being much, much worse.