Andy Mitten’s Euro 2016 diary: Final reflections on public transport, greedy hotels and David Guetta

Sweden fans ejoy the action during the Euro 2016 Group E match between Sweden and Belgium at Allianz Riviera Stadium on June 22, 2016 in Nice, France. Getty Images

Republic of Ireland's Shane Long and Seamus Coleman celebrate with fans and teammates at the end of their match against Italy at Stade Pierre-Mauroy on June 22, 2016 in Lille, France. REUTERS/Carl Recine

Camille Verschuere attends the Euro 2016 Group E match between Italy and Republic of Ireland at Stade Pierre-Mauroy on June 22, 2016 in Lille, France. Getty Images

Andy Mitten took the alternative route around France for Euro 2016. While most journalists packed press boxes, Andy followed the fans and the buzz to bring you an alternative take on the tournament. He attended 11 group games in France. Here are some of his final observations.

Good public transport

In Lyon, fans are invited to take a free tram to the new stadium. Volunteers made sure the huge crowds were queued in an orderly fashion, with only the occasional pool of vomit to avoid.

In Marseille, the special Euro 2016 €3.60 (Dh15) 24 hour pass for all public transport was excellent value. The metro was busy, but efficient.

In St Etienne, volunteers inspired by the crowd pushers on the Tokyo subway squashed fans into trams for the journey to the stadium.

In Nice, it was trickier. The stadium is 10 kilometres from the centre, with no rail links. The free bus system from the centre worked and all the roads were closed to make sure the buses ran freely, but there was still a 35-minute queue to board the buses.

Taxi drivers weren’t always as public spirited, refusing lesser fares in Lyon after the last trains had run.

Andres Iniesta: Magnificent

His Spain side, less so, but they’ll not give up the trophy they’re chasing a third successive time easily.

The tram moments

Oldham Athletic fans singing on the way to Albania v Romania, England fans singing and dancing about Eric Dier doing the hokey cokey before games not involving England to bemused French commuters.

The countdown...

...to matches over the loudspeakers. 10, 9, 8, 7. Yes, we know how to count – and we don’t need to be reminded.

More Andy Mitten

• Day 12: Marvellous Marseille has been a welcoming host

• Day 11: England support enjoy sunshine and peace, if not goals, in St-Etienne

• Day 10: A sea of red and black in Lyon as Albania fans witness history

The weather

Southern France in June, especially Provence, is renowned for vivid, light and clear skies thanks to the mistral wind. It has attracted some of the best painters in the world for centuries. In June 2016, it rained almost every day in Lyon. Fans were soaked en route to stadiums. It’s a good job they built a roof over Marseille’s Velodrome.

David Guetta

The French DJ is omnipresent, his anthem (featuring 18-year-old Swede Zara Larsson) played just before every game in the stadium when local volunteer children unfurl the shirts of the competing teams. The children love their moment in the stadium. The lyrics “We’re in this together, Hear our hearts beat together, We stand strong together. We’re in this forever” are idealistic. They’re also incorrect. Eight teams are no longer in the tournament.

L’Equipe’s team of the group stage

M McGovern (Northern Ireland); J Vertonghen (Belgium), M Hummels (Germany), F Schar (Switzerland), T Meunnier (Belgium); I Perisic (Croatia), L Modric (Croatia), G Krychowiak (Poland), N Kante (France), L Kleinheisler (Hungary); G Bale (Wales).

Related: Check out The National's team of the group stage

The Iceland chant

Lyrics ‘OOhh’ – builds up and up into a crescendo of claps. It intimidates, it works. Other fans have started to copy it.

Will Grigg’s on fire

The Northern Ireland striker, a late call up, has yet to play a minute, yet his song is better known than any other. Fans of other teams have began singing: "Will Grigg's on fire, your defence is terrified" to Gala's 90s classic Freed from Desire. Is Wigan Athletic striker Grigg being saved to come on and score the winner in the final?

DJs

Some of them with big names have been playing in the fanzones which have been set up in each city. They’ve not been as popular as expected. The attraction of walking past stalls showcasing the products of Uefa’s corporate sponsors – soft drinks, cars, telecommunications – and buying drinks at twice the price of outside the fanzones is limited.

The British

They’re everywhere. England, Wales and Northern Ireland have huge followings at their every game, but there are thousands of football fans taking in as many games as possible as part of a football holiday. Pitchside flags from English teams are regularly the third most popular at games ... following the flags of the two competing teams.

The stadia

Excellent and have either been rebuilt or redeveloped in a sensitive manner. Bordeaux’s new stadium, with a series of exterior columns like Brasilia’s national stadium, is one of the most beautiful new venues in Europe. Marseille’s Velodrome is the best, an architectural masterpiece. It’s also bang in the middle of the city it serves, unlike Lyon’s new home on the fringes of the city.

Related: The 10 stadiums hosting matches at Euro 2016

Greedy hotels

They work off supply and demand, but hoteliers can’t complain about Air BnB when a 2 star budget hotel costs €300. A room in a private house, where you can meet locals, costs a sixth of that price.

The Train à Grande Vitesse (TGV)

It is carrying most of the fans around France. It’s fast, regular and usually good value. The 300-kilometre distance between Lyon and Marseille takes only 90 minutes. The trains are busy and the strikes earlier in the tournament didn’t help, with signs posted that “all trains for today are sold out”. There are moments of humour too, the driver of one train wishing “the best of fortune to the fans of the North of Ireland” brought a cheer.

Ticket touts

They have had a poor tournament so far. With ticket agencies left out of pocket after buying tickets they’ve been left unable to shift at even face value. In the words of one English tout working outside Poland v Ukraine on Tuesday, “They’re like confetti”. A fear of terrorism, too many games, expensive face value tickets (most cost €145) and increased stadia capacity have all hit demand. The only games where demand is higher involve England, Wales and the Republic of Ireland. The touts are happy that all three remain in the competition.

Vivid colours

The Swedes’ bank of yellow looked fantastic, with tens of thousands of fans wearing the colour. It’s the same with the majority of the hardcore fans, who Uefa position around the corner flags for the best visual effect for the television viewers which matter so much to their advertisers. Fans from the smaller nations have been among the best, the Albanians, Icelanders, Hungarians and Swiss all a joy.

Big mistake

The Russians hooligans who attacked England fans in Marseille thought that England fans were still hooligans. They're not. Most of the genuine fighters were under some of the 3,000 banning orders back in Britain.

Protest

Croatian football has serious corruption issues and the fans have a right to protest. Doing it during the Euros gave those protests a high profile. They also ruined the chance of their team beating the Czech Republic. Fortunately, the Croatia team are so good that they could make amends by beating Spain.

Getting better with time

The behaviour of England fans improved considerably during the tournament. Jingoistic and sabre rattling in Marseille, by St Etienne, they didn’t even boo the rival national anthem. There are more English fans than any others in France.

Irish joy

Robbie Brady's celebration for Ireland after scoring against Italy. Tearful and full of pride, it rightly made the front pages of all the French newspapers. The highlight of his career, if not his life.

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