Two England fans from Oxford who were caught up in the battle of Bratislava spoke of their terror last night.

Joe DevlinJoe Devlin, 41, and Adrian White, 43, penned diary pieces from the World Cup finals in Japan for the Oxford Mail this summer.

But they said their experiences at England's trouble-torn European Championship game in Slovakia on Saturday could not have been more different.

And as Slovak riot police wielding batons charged a large section of the 4,500 England fans in the Tehelne Stadium, forcing a massive crush near a fence, Devlin admitted: "I can honestly say I feared for my life."

Devlin, who owns a shop on the Botley Road, Oxford, said trouble started when the home crowd kept making monkey chants whenever England's black players, Emile Heskey and Ashley Cole, touched the ball.

"The racist remarks began about 10-15 minutes into the game and that was the start of it all.

"The England fans got very upset at the racist abuse and they were on the fence and rattling it.

"The Slovak police then totally over-reacted. They just waded in with their batons and pushed everybody against the fence dividing the two sections we were in.

"I feared for my life because so many were crushed against the fence all through half-time. And the police kept charging and hitting anybody in sight.

"Everybody around us was saying it could have been another Hillsborough tragedy. People could easily have been badly crushed, and there was just one small entrance and exit that people were trying to get in and out of.

"I managed to get out and at the back I saw a lot of fans with bad injuries. One guy had a gaping wound on his forehead from being hit by a baton."

Devlin insisted the England fans were not to blame for starting the crowd disturbance, although some threw objects, including baguettes and coins, after the police had charged in.

"There were no English fans fighting, but there were seats ripped up by England fans and hurled at the police.

"People were just very frightened by the trouble. A lot of females were very upset - I saw women trembling with fear - and I would say about 1,000 people left the stadium at half-time because they'd had enough."

White, owner of a building supplies company at South Hinksey, said: "It was very frightening. These riot police were dressed for war and they just waded in picking on anybody. And there were no stewards at the game, it was all riot police.

"The worst part of it for me was that they were totally indiscriminate, they just went from left to right and would hit out at anyone. And they weren't batons - they were more like baseball bats. There was blood all over the floor.

"There was no way of escaping it. It just got to a point where you were wedged up against a wall, and I'm not sure how much pressure that wall would have taken. Others were wedged up against a fence just getting crushed - it was very dodgy."

The two friends had travelled to Slovakia with Travelcare as members of the England Travel Club.

Although they enjoyed seeing Sven Goran Eriksson's team come from behind to win the match 2-1, Devlin said the crowd trouble soured the night for him, and made him question whether to go to other qualifying away games.

"It ruined it for me," he said. "It was a very nasty experience, especially on the back of Japan where we had had such a great time.

"A lot of people were very angry at the way they were treated. It was just heavy- handednesss.

"On the way back to England we said we very much doubt whether we'll go to the games in Macedonia and Turkey after this," Devlin added.

FA spokesman Paul Newman argued there was a "direct connection" between the racist abuse and the fighting.

He said: "We feel some of the crowd measures employed by the police were inappropriate to say the least, and we have photographic evidence to show to the authorities."