Euro 2016: Joey Barton narrowly escaped group of Russian hooligans hunting for England fans in Marseilles
Rangers star was guiding mates - one with a five-year-old son - away from military-style ultras searching for a fight
JOEY BARTON had a narrow escape after running into a mob of Russian hooligans in Marseilles.
The former Newcastle midfielder, who won one England cap, was on his way to Saturday’s Euro 2016 opener.
Barton, 33 who also played for Marseilles in 2012-13, was trying to guide pals — including one’s five-year old son — away from trouble.
But they ran into a gang of ‘ultras’ searching for England supporters to attack.
Barton, now at Rangers, who originally tweeted how quiet the scene was, said: “It was a scary sight. They were clearly highly organised. They operated like a military group.
“If you put camouflage on these guys, you’d have thought they were the Russian army. That’s how big they were.
“They all had balaclavas on, or face masks or ski masks and had knuckle- dusters. They were a professional outfit.”
Barton added: “I was with two of my pals, one of whom had his young lad with him.
“We could sense there was going to be trouble so I thought I’d be clever and lead them away using the back streets I know from my time there.
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“Coming up the stairs of a Metro station I just ran into this gang. They were running round the back streets trying to cut off the English fans.
“Thankfully, they weren’t interested in us. There was 40 or 50 of them, looking for groups of England fans.
“Luckily we weren’t wearing any England kit. We walked right through the middle of them and there was no animosity or hostility.
“Some of the locals recognised me. I asked them if they were here to fight the English and they said, ‘Yeah, this is our city.’”
