Page 5 - Bulgaria 0-6 England: 5 Talking Points

#1 Racism and unsavory chanting ruins evening

Bulgarian hooligans ruined this fixture, almost having it abandoned before half-time with racial abuse

Last but certainly not least, this Euro 2020 qualifier was a routine England win overshadowed by racist abuse and vile chanting which could have easily seen the match abandoned twice before half-time. If not for UEFA's three-step racism protocol, the game probably would have been called off and England awarded a 4-0 victory by default. That begs the question: why should two further warnings be introduced before action is taken?

As debutant Mings expressed, the incidents themselves calmed down and were less toxic after half-time: partly with the abandonment threat and also that hooligans aplenty shuffled out of the stadium once the PA warning was made. They booed, whistled, made monkey noises and more but England defiantly refused to tolerate the nonsense and after several player comments last week, this sadly doesn't come as a surprise. The issue is much deeper than UEFA sanctions, which never do enough to deter the behavior anyway.

The protocol should have been implemented a decade or two ago. Fines and stadium bans aren't effective deterrents, the main culprits didn't care about being caught or punished - instead defiant against a system that doesn't properly punish their behavior.

Tonight served as an unforgettable reminder that in 2019, these issues remain ever-present in a world where no-one deserves to be abused or discriminated against. It made for uncomfortable viewing but none more so than Bulgaria manager Krasimir Balakov's post-match interview. Aiming to deflect blame, he claimed he didn't hear racist chanting but suggested England fans were at fault after booing the national anthem and responding with chants of their own to confront the behavior in the second-half.

"All I've heard for three weeks is people talking about anything else but football. If it [racial abuse towards England players] turns out to be true, we are sorry and working very hard [to stop it]. No-one wants to see this but it's never happened before, it's happened against England but I can't speak on behalf of some fans' behaviour."

With deep-rooted issues still to be solved, this served as a sour end to a telling international break from England's perspective.