thousands of FC Köln fans invade London ..

Why is this goat so famous ?

Operation Sea Lion  was Nazi Germany's code name for the plan for an invasion of the United Kingdom during the Battle of Britain in the Second World War. Following the Fall of France, Adolf Hitler, the German Führer and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, hoped the British government would seek a peace agreement and he reluctantly considered invasion only as a last resort if all other options failed. As a precondition, he specified the achievement of both air and naval superiority over the English Channel and the proposed landing sites, but the German forces did not achieve this at any point during the war and both the German High Command and Hitler himself had serious doubts about the prospects for success. A large number of barges were gathered together on the Channel coast, but, with air losses increasing, Hitler postponed Sea Lion indefinitely on 17 September 1940 and it was never put into action.

UEFA Europa League evolved from the UEFA Cup, which itself was initially conceived by Switzerland's Ernst Thommen who, along with Italy's Ottorino Barrasi and England's Sir Stanley Rous, later FIFA President, had created a tournament for representative sides from European cities that regularly held trade fairs. The 2017–18 UEFA Europa League is the 47^th  season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 9^th  season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League.   The 2018 UEFA Europa League Final will be played at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Décines-Charpieu, France.  As the title holders of Europa League,  Manchester United qualified for the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League. They will only be able to defend their title if they finish third in their group in the Champions League group stage.

               FC Köln or FC Cologne in English,  is a German association football club based in Cologne, formed in 1948.   Köln play in the Bundesliga, the highest league of German football. Like many of Germany's other professional football clubs, 1. FC Köln is part of a larger sports club with teams in other sports like handball, table tennis and gymnastics.  Its memberbase, makes it the fourth largest club in Germany.

The latest news is invasion of UK by Germans ~ as 20,000 Cologne football fans gathered in the capital ahead of tonight's Europa League match with Arsenal. Hundreds of German chanting supporters marched through the capital to the beat of a drum this afternoon.  Spirits were high but footage later emerged of two men being punched and kicked in a street during clashes.  Majority of the travelling fans were not violent, but sheer numbers have brought the capital to standstill, writes MailOnline.

Bringing the capital city to a halt, hundreds of German fans took over Wardour Street in Soho shortly after 3pm this afternoon.  The fans moved from Soho to Oxford Street before taking over Highbury Corner.  To night their club plays Arsenal at London.   Reports suggest that around  20,000 fans are thought to have travelled from the German city of Cologne for the match this evening, with hundreds joining a march down Wardour Street this afternoon.  The large group of supporters were filmed marching to the beat of drums and waving flares before the scenes of violence emerged.  They also took over an area of Oxford Street before most of them moved on to Arsenal's Emirates Stadium in the north of the city.

It is Köln's first match in Europe for more than 20 years and their notorious fanatical supporters are determined to make the most of it. It has been reported banks in Cologne ran out pounds sterling this week due to the demand from supporters planning to travel to London.  The majority of the fans were singing songs and celebrating their day in London without violence however, and police said they have made no arrests.  Reports state that - 'They did throw bottles and let off flares, but there was no significant disorder, police were on scene and there have been no arrests. The group has now left the area.'  Only 3,000 of the 20,000 fans who have travelled to London have tickets to the match, raising concerns about what the others will do once the game starts.

Arsenal have issued a warning to German fans saying that any away fans trying to get into the home fans end will be ejected.  A message on the Arsenal website said: 'Please note visiting supporters that purchase a ticket in the home end for this fixture are likely to be ejected from the stadium.   Arsenal Football Club is a professional football club based in Highbury, London, England, that plays in the Premier League, the top flight of English football.  Arsenal was the first club from the South of England to join The Football League, in 1893, and they reached the First Divisionin 1904. Relegated only once, in 1913, they continue the longest streak in the top division.

The goat that you saw at the first is the mascot, the  face of Köln – ‘Hennes the goat’, who attends all home games. Named in honour of the club's one-time star midfielder and coach Hennes Weisweiler (who coached Barcelona in the 1970s), the original Hennes was a 1950 gift from a local circus owner. Hennes VIII has been the club's go-to goat since 2008.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

14^th Sept. 2017.