Gardaí launch operation to deal with England fans ahead of Ireland clash

All Garda leave in Dublin has been cancelled ahead of the feisty fixture.

Gardaí are rolling out extreme measures ahead of the arrival of thousands of England fans in Dublin this weekend as Lee Carsley's Three Lions take on Heimir Hallgrímsson's Republic of Ireland at Aviva Stadium.

According to The Times, all Garda leave in Dublin has been cancelled and around 350 specialist officers will be on duty as large numbers of fans are expected to make the journey to Ireland without tickets.

These measures are part of a major policing plan - named Operation Dearóil - which will run from Friday to Sunday morning.

England fans have been allocated 2,981 seats for Saturday evening's game, while almost 12,000 are estimated to have applied for tickets.

An Garda Síochána forces are expected to draw on their experience with overseas visitors who travel to the city for stag dos and other events, while a team from the UK Football Policing Unit (UKFPU) will also be present in the Irish capital.

Irish police have looked to the approach deployed by German police during the Euros earlier this summer.

In 1995, a friendly between the neighbouring countries at Lansdowne Road was abandoned during the first half after crowd trouble escalated into violence.

Some Ireland fans had to spill onto the pitch to avoid being struck by missiles launched by a group of England fans.

England returned to Dublin for the first time since that 1995 incident in 2015 and, thankfully, no trouble ensued and the friendly ended in a nil-all draw.