You get a feel for when a storm is rolling in. In the hours before kick-off on trips to Eastern Europe, it is usually easy to gauge in which direction the night will head.
All the metaphorical sirens were flashing in Podgorica, back in March 2019. It’s only a small capital city but it felt like every officer in Montenegro had been drafted in and kitted out in combat gear to police the European Championship qualifier.
There was no physical violence but racism was everywhere and football was never going to top the agenda that evening. Danny Rose, England’s left back, was pelted with cigarette lighters and abused. Raheem Sterling and Callum Hudson-Odoi, scorers in a 5-1 win, were subjected to monkey chants.
Raheem Sterling was racially abused during England's victory over Hungary on Thursday
On to Sofia, seven months later. Sometimes you arrive at stadiums and, perhaps naively, think it won’t be as bad as some of the horror stories you have heard about past shameful incidents — Bulgaria, regrettably, was even worse.
Stickers of swastikas were on some seats close to the press box, locals argued with the travelling media alleging that our questioning of the national team head coach had in some way led to Tyrone Mings, on his debut, Marcus Rashford and Sterling being abused by Bulgarian Ultras.
The sinister edge was not apparent in Budapest. This beautiful, vibrant city was welcoming and the fabulous Puskas Arena looked every inch the kind of stadium that you could see hosting a Champions League final.
But it should never, ever have that honour. Not after the eruption that, again, took the narrative away from football.
For 45 minutes, all seemed to be going well, save for the booing and screaming that greeted England’s decision to take the knee. We were prepared for that, but it didn’t feel like anything was lingering.
Still, the booing when England players took the knee at Middlesbrough in June was more shocking as it came from those who are supposed to love them.
The mood in the stadium turned when Sterling gave England the lead in the second half
A flare was thrown after England's third goal while coins were also lobbed on to the pitch
But what moved Budapest into the realms of Podgorica and Sofia was the way the mood changed after Sterling scored.
The venom was startling. From all angles, cups full of beer came raining down. There were 27 of them strewn around Sterling, as he rose to his feet. There
