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| Steve McClaren smiles for the camera with Britain's most notorious football hooligan James Shayler |
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| Heartbreakers | |
| Written by Dave Jarvis | |
 England manager Steve McClaren smiles for the camera with one of his
new mates – notorious football hooligan James “The Pig of Marseille”
Shayler.
The shaven-headed thug – wearing the grey T shirt on the left – fooled the hapless England boss into thinking he was a genuine fan. McClaren didn’t seem to realise that his smiling new pal was the man responsible for triggering some of the worst scenes of soccer violence ever seen at the World Cup in France in 1998. Our snap was taken on October 10th this year (2006) in the bar of the Hotel Esplanade in Zagreb, Croatia, where Shayler and his pals were drinking just before we went on to lose 2-0 to Croatia. McClaren was in the bar with his right hand man Terry Venables and goalkeeping coach Ray Clemence when Shayler and his mate Simon Mottola – pictured with his arm around McClaren – joined them. Less than 24 hours later England suffered one of their most humiliating defeats of recent years when they lost to Croatia in the Maksymir Stadium. “I never told McClaren who I was and he didn’t ask,” said Shayler. “He was happy to pose up with me and the lads.” McClaren got his tactics all wrong on the night of the match just as he seemed to do in the bar before the game.
But you could hardly forgive him for not recognising Shayler. He is one of the most photographed hooligans in Britain after being snapped during the Battle of Marseille. His image was flashed around the world and genuine England fans alerted the cops to his activities after seeing his picture in British newspapers. His ugly mug has been shown repeatedly in books about soccer hooligans. Fat Shayler, 39, was dubbed The Pig of Marseille in France and thrown in a French jail for two months after starting riots in the port City. He was arrested after throwing rocks at cops and Tunisian fans in the worst violence of the 1998 World Cup. Shayler, from Wellingborough, Northants, a Leeds fan, was banned from the club’s Elland Road ground for life after he returned to England. He is notorious in his home town where he is barred from some pubs for fighting. He has also done time in the UK for drug offences. But hapless McClaren can console himself with the knowledge that it is not the first time Shayler has pulled the wool over the eyes of the men from the FA. Before the 1998 World Cup he was allowed to join an official Football Association supporters’ club despite having convictions for violence. Shayler, a roofer by trade and father of three, passed vetting procedures despite his record of football violence. |
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