The initial response of Russian media to the scenes of violence in Marseille was one of gloating that Russian fans had come out on top, and planting the blame squarely on England supporters. Some reports in Moscow insisted that a small group of England fans had attacked hundreds of Russians and provoked them into a response, while others painted a picture of heroic Russians fighting off hordes of English hooligans.

“Two hundred and fifty Russian fans repulsed an attack by several thousand English and forced them to flee,” state news service Vesti reported. “English fans started the fight by attacking our fans, but 250 Russians from different corners of our country did not flinch and repulsed the attack of the heavily drunken islanders.”

Hooliganism in Russian football has a long history, with many clubs having a strong following from both far-right groups and supporters who idolise 1970s English football gang culture and often get into fights in and around the stadiums.

One Moscow-based lawyer, who travelled with CSKA Moscow fans to away games, recounted tales of long bus journeys to far-flung Russian towns, permeated by heavy drinking and fights organised with the home fans on arrivals. However, authorities have cracked down on hooliganism in recent years, there is a heavy police presence around most league games, and the kind of pitched street battles witnessed in Marseille are rare.

When Russia lost to Japan during the 2002 World Cup, hundreds of angry fans went on the rampage through Moscow, torching cars and stabbing one man to death. Since then, violence has tended to be confined to the football stadiums themselves, where derby games and matches between teams from central Russia and the north Caucasus are often hotspots for violence.

The clash between England and Russia was long marked as a potential trouble spot, but French police and football officials will be keeping their fingers crossed that Russia and Ukraine do not end up meeting in the knockout stages. If Russia win the group and Ukraine finish third in theirs, there is the possibility of a last-16 clash which, given the annexation of Crimea and the war in east Ukraine, would make for a spicy encounter on the field, with high potential for fan violence off it.

The Russians attending the tournament are likely in the main to be wealthy urban Russians who have the cash to fly internationally, as well as a large contingent of wealthy Russians who live on France’s Mediterranean coast. But, as with the England fans, it is believed that a sizeable contingent of hardcore fans looking for fights have also travelled. Russian news agencies showed a photograph of a man posing in front of a line of riot police, draped in a Russian flag and wearing a Vladimir Putin T-shirt.