Brighton and Hove Albion in Athens ’23: Blood, sweat... and tear gas

The obligatory being held in the stadium after the game now comes with the territory, as does the robust nature of the home support in the wake of their 1-0 defeat.

Clearly we still have an issue with a very small minority of the Albion travelling support, although perhaps in mitigation the level of provocation at all three Europa League away games has been of the scale.

The respective ‘Ultras’ of all three of our European opponents have made the legendary Millwall F Troop look like the Vienna Boys Choir.

But tear gas in Athens? Really?

Apparently representatives from the Greek ‘rozzers’ have been quick to play down the incident in the away end around 30 minutes after the final whistle stating that the original gas canisters were administered outside the ground to disperse the rioting home fans and unfortunately the aforementioned chemicals have then wafted into the stadium and affected almost all of the Albion travelling support.

Inside it was carnage. At 59, I’ve never truly seen anything like it, I’d previously been CS-gassed in Sterns nightclub in 1984, so when I came out of the toilet in the stadium and the back of my throat reacted, and I saw the riot police with their gas masks already on, I unfortunately knew what was coming.

Thankfully no one was seriously hurt in the resulting panic, although I did see a number of Albion fans both young and old in extreme distress, and huge credit and thanks needs to go to the stadium medical stuff, especially the ones who looked after the young asthmatic who was clearly experiencing serious difficulties with his breathing.

The concession staff were also excellent, despite being gassed themselves, giving out water to anyone who needed it.