MANY of you will have seen the TV pictures of the violence in Albufeira. It's certainly the talk of the town over here, but seeing things at first hand, there is only one group to blame.

In my view the entire thing is stage-managed by the police and I've never seen anything like it in my life.

Up to 30 mounted Portuguese police just appeared out of nowhere the other night and started streaming in, indiscriminately battering fans enjoying a drink and a bit of banter.

I've read the newspapers moaning about the drunken English fans, and sure, most fans had been drinking - many to excess.

But let me tell you there was no provocation and absolutely nothing the fans did to justify such brutality.

Anyone who has been to Albufeira will know it is a tight little strip packed with bars and there was absolutely no escape as the police began battering fans with black truncheons around three feet long.

It all happened that quickly and that innocently, it had to be pre-planned and the police were certainly psyched-up for a fight because they were waving the weapons around before anyone could react.

It was unbelievable. One unlucky guy had his head split open just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. In the end, my mates and I were just glad to get out of there quick.

The start of the fighting was as sudden as it was unexpected.

People had been sat around watching the football and, naturally, there was a loud cheer when Holland scored against Germany.

The next thing the police stormed in like storm-troopers dressed like mini-Darth Vaders, hitting people indiscriminately and stopping at nothing to clear the streets and the bars.

There had been no trouble. Nothing. I spoke to some people who were staying about four miles out of town and they had to walk home in the middle of the night because they couldn't get back into town to get a taxi.

I am driving to the England game tonight in Coimbra and I'm glad it's a six-hour drive there and back.

That way, it means we won't get back until late and if England lose to Switzerland I dread to think what might happen.

Tickets for the games are like gold dust, so many of the fans based here will stay and watch the match on TV.

As it stands, things are already on a knife edge and if England lose I fear the repercussions could be nasty.

As for the game itself, as I said, a few mates and I have hired a car to get to the game.

We spent so long packed onto a train like sardines for the France game, we decided we deserved to travel in style.

An 8am start and a six-hour drive might not seem like heaven, but we'll all share the driving and hopefully have something to celebrate at the end of a long day.