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FA launches 'don't be that idiot' campaign

The Football Association has launched a campaign which warns fans "don't be that idiot" in an attempt to combat anti-social behaviour ahead of the UEFA Nations League finals in Portugal.

A video accompanying the campaign shows a man's embarrassment as he watches back and reflects on examples of his own anti-social behaviour including dropping a bike into a canal and climbing on top of a stationary car.

England manager Gareth Southgate appears on screen at the end of the film to urge fans to behave, saying: "You're part of the team, make the country proud."

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The video asks fans to consider whether they would behave in an anti-social manner in their normal lives outside of football and encourages them to follow positive examples to improve the experience of following their team.

FA Chief Executive Martin Glenn said the campaign had been started because poor conduct had re-emerged among fans.

"It's been a great season for English football and England but we can't ignore some of the anti-social and embarrassing behaviour that has crept back into the game," he said.

"There are thousands of brilliant supporters wherever our teams go, but there is an increasing problem that must be called out."

Last year more than 100 England fans were arrested in Amsterdam for anti-social behaviour before a friendly against Netherlands.

Then, in October, the FA strongly condemned fans who were involved in disturbances in Seville before England's UEFA Nations League fixture with Spain, when riot police were drafted in to repel fans brandishing tables and chairs and vandalising cars.

"We have gone from the organised violence days to, more recently, a growing number who become involved in anti-social behaviour," Tony Conniford, the FA's head of security, said.

"Unfortunately we have this growing number that thinks it's acceptable to just go wherever they want and behave in a manner that creates a bad impression and leaves a bad taste with the hosts.

"As a country, I think the whole of it feels that embarrassment. We all feel it, everybody associated with the team feels it."

Thousands of England fans will travel to Portugal next week to see them play the Netherlands in Guimaraes for a place in the UEFA Nations League final three days later in Porto.