An England supporter was arrested Thursday night following a drunken brawl with a 65-year-old outside a Bologna pub.
The incident reportedly occurred at the Bounty pub in via delle Moline when the elderly man, also an England fan, menaced 21-year-old Matthew Mabye with a bar stool and was subsequently punched in the head during the melee.
Apparently, the fight occurred a bit before 21.00 local time between two groups of heavily intoxicated fans outside the pub. Yet, according to La Reppublica, none of the English supporters were neither willing nor able to cooperate with police and hence the officers had to rely on an Italian observer’s account of what had occurred.
The 65-year-old suffered severe head trauma as a result of falling to the ground after being struck, and is now in an induced coma at the Maggiore hospital following emergency surgery.
Mabye was arrested at the scene and charged with a slew of offences—including public drunkenness and aggravated assault, while another 48-year-old fan received a warning for disturbing the peace and general mischief.
Groups of supporters had traveled to the area in preparation for England’s World Cup qualifying match against San Marino on Friday evening.
Britain’s Foreign Office declined to discuss the matter in detail and only released the following statement confirming Mabye’s arrest: “We can confirm the arrest of a British national in Italy on 21 March. We are providing consular assistance.”
We English always do seem to cause a ruckus everywhere we go…