At about a quarter to nine last Saturday night, the atmosphere in the Bar Beffroi on Rue Dauphin, just off the central Place Charles II in Charleroi, was hot and heavy. The long-awaited England versus Germany Euro 2000 qualifier was finally about to kick off.
Ticketless England fans had crowded into this and many other bars in the centre of town. As God Save The Queen sounded from the TV, those English fans not standing got to their feet and joined their compatriots in a rendering of their national anthem so raucous that it threatened to blow the TV set off its stand.
As this ritualistic affirmation of tribal identity ended, one had time to note that the night air was redolent with a variety of pungent odours. Looking down at one's feet, one noticed that horse manure was liberally spread all over the Charleroi pavement. Good for the roses, perhaps, but hardly for the bars.
The manure, of course, had come free of charge and was supplied by the 125-strong horse police force, on call all day Saturday. Also on call were 3,000 police personnel, 13 water cannons, 45 German shepherd dogs, two helicopters and thousands of journalists.
Earlier in the day, walking into Place Charles II, it had seemed like the stage set for a modern-day mystery play. All the dramatis personae were in place. There are nine streets running into Place Charles II. By mid-afternoon, with the central square jammed with English fans enjoying the beer and the sunshine, five of the exits from the square had been blocked by water cannon. Two other streets were blocked by nine TV outside broadcast units. Rows of riot police, with shiny blue helmets, batons and shields, stood facing the fans. The stage was set. It just had to "go up" and, indeed, it did.
In the end, by the grisly standards of English fans, the disturbances were relatively light. Two short bursts of mid-afternoon chair-throwing between German and English fans, followed by short, sharp and seemingly very effective blasts of water cannon, were about the sum total of the "riots". TV news programmes, geared for Armageddon: The Sequel, were reduced to showing the same 45 seconds of "riots" over and over again for the rest of the day. Although by the end of the weekend, nearly 1,000 English supporters had been arrested, due for a quick return home courtesy of Belgian military aircraft, it was not difficult to understand Maj Michel Rompen, the spokesman for the Charleroi gendarmerie, when he said: "There was some organised violence but I wouldn't call it a riot."
Charleroi may well have rid itself of the problem, at least until tomorrow when England are due to play Romania. For Brussels, however, the problem may run and run until England are eliminated from the tournament - or expelled for bad behaviour, as UEFA threatened last night.
Brussels has become an inevitable focal point of tension since young men from the resident Turkish and North African communities have taken to the streets, sometimes seemingly determined to come to blows with their English counterparts. Some of the latter, of course, are all too willing to respond.
With the possibility of violent incidents hanging over the tournament for at least another week, both the British government and English football authorities have found themselves in the eye of yet another critical storm. The British Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, has already been bitterly criticised by the UEFA chief executive, Mr Gerhard Aigner, for allegedly permitting known troublemakers to travel.
Others are sure to join in the criticism, perhaps calling on Britain to adopt some form of emergency powers legislation to withdraw the passports of known troublemakers.
England's candidacy for the 2006 World Cup has hardly benefited from the negative (if perhaps exaggerated) media coverage of last weekend's events. Not that any of this appeared to worry the thousands of English fans who crammed into Place Charles II (and literally into the fountain) after Saturday night's 1-0 England win.
Watching England's fairest and finest at play, one was reminded of the words uttered by the Duke of Wellington at Waterloo, just a few miles up the road from Charleroi. Overlooking his troops on the eve of battle, the Duke said: "My God, I don't know about the French, but they frighten the life out of me."
PA adds: The British Prime Minister is expected to deliver his personal regrets to his Belgian counterpart for the havoc caused by England soccer hooligans at Euro 2000, it emerged last night. Mr Blair's official spokesman said the Prime Minister would want to discuss how Britain could help Belgian authorities to cope with the hooligans and to deplore the violence so far. Both the Belgium Prime Minister, Mr Guy Berhofstadt, and Mr Blair are attending the European Union summit in Santa Maria da Feira, Portugal.