Football (soccer) hooliganism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Football hooliganism is a distinct form of disorderly behaviour or hooliganism in which participants are supporters or adherents of one or more football clubs or national teams, and is frequently, although not exclusively, evidenced at or immediately before or after matches.
Although football hooliganism has only attracted widespread media attention in the last 50 years or so, it has its roots as far back as the early days of the game in the late 1800s, when gangs of supporters would intimidate neighbourhoods, attack opposing supporters, or players and referees.
In the 1960s, when fighting at football was commonplace, police would be on the lookout for fans wearing skinhead fashions or cheap work wear. Once this became apparent, hardcore hooligans started to wear the expensive clothing favoured by the well-to-do fans, to avoid police attention. This led to the development of the casual subculture.
Since then, classic gentlemen's clothing lines — such as Burberry, Aquascutum and Paul and Shark — have been appropriated by hooligans as their uniform. Now the wearing of such clothing at domestic football matches is more likely to attract, than repel police attention. The height of casual culture was the mid 1980s, when hooligans following Liverpool F.C. through Europe would raid boutiques across the mainland continent, to steal the latest fashions.
Contents |
[edit] England
It has been documented that most English hooligans are in their late teens or early twenties, although it is not uncommon for older hooligans to take part (usually as leaders). They usually come from working class backgrounds, mainly employed in manual or lower clerical occupations, or (to a lesser extent) are unemployed or working in the grey market.<ref name="factsheet1">"Fact Sheet 1: Football and Football Hooliganism", University of Leicester. Retrieved on 2006-10-07.</ref> In the 2000s, these hooligans often wear clothing styles similar to chav stereotype, such as those from the labels Prada and Burberry. This has encourage these companies to withdraw certain garments, over fears that their brands are becoming linked with hooliganism.<ref name="pradaburberry">"Prada joins the Burberry set in hooligan hell", The Times, 2004-09-26. Retrieved on 2006-10-07.</ref>.
English Hooligans are becoming more advanced in the way they plan their fights, and now use message boards and websites. These hooligans often go on other hooligan sites to tempt rival gangs into meeting up for fights.<ref name="hooligansonthenet">"Hooligans link up on the Net to plot mayhem at Euro 2000", The Guardian, 2000-04-02. Retrieved on 2006-10-07.</ref> Sometimes people at the fights post live commentaries on the Internet.<ref name="hooligansonthenet2">"Soccer hooligans organise on the Net", BBC News, 1999-08-09. Retrieved on 2006-10-07.</ref>
[edit] History
Football hooliganism in England is believed to have started at the end of the nineteenth century, when people often described as "roughs" caused minor disturbances.<ref name="tayloreport"> The Taylor Report: The Football Education Network website. Retrieved 9 July 2006.</ref> By the 1960s, hooliganism had become a more serious problem.<ref name="factsheet1" /> This led the government to respond with the 1968 Public Order Act, which, amongst other provisions, allowed the courts to ban offenders from football grounds.<ref name="tayloreport"> The Taylor Report: The Football Education Network website. Retrieved 9 July 2006.</ref>
In 1985, the Heysel Stadium disaster resulted in 39 Juventus supporters being crushed to death when a fence separating them from Liverpool fans collapsed, leading to a violent confrontation.<ref name="onthisday29may">1985: Fans die in Heysel rioting. BBC News. Retrieved on 2006-10-07.</ref>. The spotlight was quickly turned on football hooliganism, with English clubs banned from European competitions until 1990 (with Liverpool banned an extra year).<ref name="onthisday31may">1985: English teams banned after Heysel. BBC News. Retrieved on 2006-10-07.</ref>
It was not until the Hillsborough disaster, where 96 fans died through a failure of police control to deal with a large crowd coupled with poor safety standards, that the Thatcher government acted, bringing in the Football Spectators Act (1989) in the wake of the Taylor Report.<ref name="factsheet2">"Fact Sheet 2: Football Stadia After Taylor", University of Leicester. Retrieved on 2006-10-07.</ref> However, as the Hillsborough Justice Campaign notes, "the British Judicial system has consistently found that violence or hooliganism played no part whatsoever in the disaster".<ref name="hillsboroughjustice">"Hillsborough Justice Campaign", Contrast.org. Retrieved on 2006-10-07.</ref>
Football violence in stadiums declined domestically since the introduction of the Football Spectators Act, and in the 2000s much of the trouble has instead occurred away from grounds and at major international tournaments.<ref name="factsheet1" />France 98 was marred by violence as English fans clashed with the North African locals of Marseilles, which led to up to 100 fans being arrested.<ref name="englandfansonrampage"> "England fans on rampage", Daily Telegraph, 1998-06-15. Retrieved on 2006-10-07.</ref>At Euro 2000, the England team was threatened with expulsion from the tournament, due to the poor behaviour of the fans.<ref name="englandexplusionthreat"> "Aigner justifies England expulsion threat", Soccernet, 2000-06-23. Retrieved on 2006-10-07.</ref>
Following good behaviour in Japan 2002 and Portugal 2004, the English reputation has improved. <ref name="englandreputationimproved"> "Hosts singing England fans' praises", Soccernet, 2002-06-18. Retrieved on 2006-10-07.</ref> At Germany 2006, there were limited incidences of violence, with over 200 preventative arrests in Stuttgart (with only three people being charged with criminal offences). <ref name="fanfearsgrowahedofenglandmatch"> "Fan fears grow ahead of England match", The Guardian, 2002-06-25. Retrieved on 2006-10-07.</ref> However, 400 others were taken into preventative custody.<ref name="hooliganspanorama"> "Hooligans", Panorama, BBC, 2006-08-01. Retrieved on 2006-10-07.</ref> During that day, Police believe that on average each rioter consumed or threw 17 litres of alcohol.<ref name="hooliganspanorama" />
Despite hooliganism declining domestically, death threats by hooligans have become more common in the 2000s. Rio Ferdinand was the target of death threats from Leeds United fans <ref name="riodeaththreathorror"> "Rio death threat horror", Daily Star, 2006-10-04. Retrieved on 2006-10-07.</ref>, as was Peter Ridsdale.<ref name="ridsdalesentdeaththreats"> "Report: Leeds chairman Ridsdale sent death threats", CNN Sports Illustrated, 2003-02-01. Retrieved on 2006-10-07.</ref> Swedish referee, Anders Frisk, quit his position after receiving death threats from Chelsea fans.<ref name="friskdeaththreats"> "Frisk retires after death threats", CNN, 2005-03-12. Retrieved on 2006-10-07.</ref>
[edit] France
On May 24, 2001, six supporters of French club Paris St. Germain attacked Galatasaray supporters before a Champions League match. The six, who are members of an official PSG fan club, were charged with assault, carrying weapons, throwing missiles on the pitch, and racism-related charges. The investigation, led by Parisian judge Jean-Batpiste Parlos, alleged that the six had deliberately entered the part of the Parc des Princes stadium where French supporters of Turkish origin were standing, in order to attack them. Fifty people were injured during a melee between Turkish and French fans at a match between Turkish club Galatasaray and Paris Saint-Germain of France. Footage from surveillance cameras at Parc des Princes stadium helped investigators to identify the fans involved in the violence, the sources said.<ref name="TK1">"Six PSG fans arrested for crowd trouble", Turkish Daily News, 2004-09-26. Retrieved on 2001-05-24.</ref><ref name="TK2">"Lies, damned lies, Paris statistics", Turkish Daily News, 2001-03-19. Retrieved on 2006-10-21.</ref>
Security, media and the club administration of Paris St. Germain were reported as attempting to cover this up, and made accusations including that the Turkish supporters at the match — despite being overwhelmingly outnumbered — were able to inflict large numbers of casualties upon the French supporters while taking on only one casualty themselves. It was later reported that stadium security allowed French supporters to carry in staves, while confiscating flags from Turkish supporters — apparently in an attempt to allow armed French supporters to attack Turkish supporters.<ref name="TK1"/><ref name="TK2"/>
Interviews with gang members, and repeated visits to the stadium for PSG games, found that racist hooligans operate openly and with almost total impunity at the 43,000-seat grounds. That stadium hosted some matches during the 1998 World Cup, which France won with a team dominated by players from former colonies in Africa.<ref name = "Bay">"Racist insults infiltrate French soccer stadium", The Boston Bay State Banner, 2006-04-20. Retrieved on 2006-10-21.</ref>
Before a home game against Sochaux on January 4, 2006, two Arab youths were punched and kicked by white fans outside the entrance to the Kop de Boulogne. Ushers, all white, stood chatting and did not intervene. On March 7, 2006, a Paris court convicted three PSG supporters for unfurling a racist banner at a February 2005 match.<ref name = "Bay"/>
PSG’s hooligan problem seriously escalated against the backdrop of the club’s success in Europe in the 1990s. The club reached the 1995 Champions League semifinals, won the European Cup Winners Cup in 1996, and lost the final the following year. PSG hooligans made their mark by brawling with opposing hooligans from Juventus, Arsenal, Anderlecht, Glasgow Rangers, Liverpool and Bayern Munich. In September 2004, a 150-strong PSG mob attacked around 50 Chelsea hooligans (known as the Headhunters) near Porte de Saint-Cloud Metro station.<ref name = "Bay"/>
[edit] Italy
On numerous occasions, travelling English supporters have been attacked in Italy when their teams played there. One incident involved a Leeds United supporter being stabbed before a Champions League match. In one case, three Middlesbrough fans were stabbed before the club's UEFA Cup clash against AS Roma in the Italian capital. A group of extremist Roma fans, known as ultras, are being blamed for the attack. Reports said they were led by a man wielding an axe.<ref>"English fans are stabbed in Rome", BBC News, 2006-03-15. Retrieved on 2006-10-26.</ref>
[edit] Netherlands
It is a common conception that football hooliganism in the Netherlands only began in earnest after the unfortunate incidents between Feyenoord and English club Tottenham Hotspur in the 1974 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final, where large scale rioting took place. Since then several Netherlands clubs have been associated with hooliganism, such as Ajax Amsterdam, Feyenoord, PSV Eindhoven, FC Utrecht, F. C. Den Bosch, Ado Den Haag and FC Groningen. The biggest rivalry is between Ajax and Feyenoord. The most violent encounter has been the battle of Beverwijk (March 23, 1997), in which several people where seriously injured, and Carlo Picornie was killed.[citation needed] On April 15, 2004, Ajax hooligans attacked under-21 Feyenoord players, during a match against Ajax the under-21 team.[citation needed]
Another big riot in the Netherlands happened on December 16, 2000. Pierre Bouleij was killed by police, and a match between VVV and FC Den Bosch was cancelled. After this, three days of unrest occurred in the Graafse Wijk (a neighbourhood in Den Bosch), and over 300 soccer hooligans fought against the police.[citation needed]
[edit] Scandinavia
Hooliganism in Scandinavia became a growing problem in the 1980s, but pitch invasions and violence in direct connection to the football grounds decreased in the late 1990s. Organized football firms took on the role of troublemakers in Scandinavian football, moving the problem relatively far away from the grounds and the regular supporters.
Hooliganism is said to have made the entrance in Sweden when supporters of IFK Göteborg invaded the pitch, destroyed the goalposts and fought the police in the end of a 1970 football match that destined the club to be relegated from the highest league. In the end of the 1970s, inspired by the English football culture, many unruly supporter groups were created, including AIK's Black Army and Hammarby IF's Bajen Fans. The word huliganism was established in the Swedish language as a description of sports-related violence in the early 1980s.
Hooliganism in Denmark is almost exclusively a domestic affair; the traveling supporters of the Denmark national team, known as roligans, are as renowned as the Scottish Tartan Army for their peaceful nature [citation needed]. However, there are a few hooligan groups, of which some occasionally engage in violence abroad, mainly in the Swedish part of the Oresund Region.[citation needed]
[edit] Scotland
Almost every Scottish football club from the First Division up has a hooligan firm. Celtic and Rangers are the two biggest teams in Glasgow, and are considered the top two in Scottish football hooliganism (this rivalry is known as the Old Firm). The Old Firm can trace it's roots back to the 1880's, caused by the hatred between between the poor Irish-Catholics immigrants (Celtic), and the wealthy Loyalists (Rangers). As a result, many gangs have been formed. This factor has also lead to a large number of deaths in Glasgow. Other Scottish teams also have large hooligan followings, such as Airdrie United, Partick Thistle, Hearts, Motherwell.
Airdrie's Section B and Partick Thistle's North Glasgow Express enjoy a fierce rivalry, and there has been trouble after games on many occasions. There is a rivalry between Rangers Inter City Firm and Aberdeen's Aberdeen Soccer Casuals. Despite Celtic's huge support, their firm is of no great consequence. Celtic fans pride themselves on their reputation for good behavior and sportsmanship, and frown upon hooliganism within their ranks (as evidence by Fair Play awards from UEFA and FIFA following Celtic's 2003 UEFA Cup run). The Scotland national team's travelling supporters, the Tartan Army, are world-renowned for their friendliness and general aversion to violence.
The 2000s have seen a revival of casual culture in Scottish football, with many groups recruiting via the Internet.[citation needed] However, these efforts seem doomed to failure because most Scottish football fans are against this behaviour, and authorities have taken several measures to reduce football hooliganism.<ref>"Police call for stadium ban on soccer casuals", The Evening Times, 2004-02-11. Retrieved on 2006-10-26.</ref>
[edit] Turkey
According to the Turkish Daily News, hooligan groups are well organised and have their own "leaders" and often consist of organised street fighters. These groups have a "racon" (code of conduct), which states that the intention must be to injure rather than kill and that a stab must be made below the waist.<ref name="fatalmistakes">"Chain of Fatal Mistakes Heavy on the Lighter Side", Turkish Daily News, 2000-04-16. Retrieved on 2006-10-06.</ref> Other hooligans have fired rifles into the air to celebrate their team’s victory, which has been known to accidentally kill innocent people watching the celebrations on their balconies.<ref name="passionofturks">"Passion of Turkish fans", BBC News, 2000-04-06. Retrieved on 2006-10-06.</ref><ref name="givingperspective">"Giving perspective to football violence", Soccernet, 2000-05-20. Retrieved on 2006-10-06.</ref>
Trouble has arisen during matches between Istanbul rivals Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe.<ref name="passionofturks" /> However, the Turkish Football Federation has tightened security to try and contain the hooliganism. During the 2005 Turkish cup final between Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe, 8,000 police, stewards and officials were employed to prevent violence.<ref name="istanbulready">"Istanbul ready to host final", New Age Sports, Bangladesh sports newspaper, 2005-05-15. Retrieved on 2006-10-06.</ref>
In 2006, the Turkish Football Federation introduced new measures to combat the threat of hooliganism and have made new regulations that allow the Professional Football Disciplinary Board to fine clubs up to YTL 250,000 for their fans behavior. Repeat offenders could be fined up to YTL 500,000.<ref name="TFFnewmeasures">"Turkish Football Federation Introduces New Series of Penalties", Zaman, Turkish newspaper, 2006-08-09. Retrieved on 2006-10-06.</ref> Despite reports from the Turkish Football Federation, the Turkish police believe that football hooliganism is not a major threat and are "isolated incidents".<ref name="wcarchives">"The Soccerphile World Cup 2002 Archives", Soccerphile.com, World Cup Soccer and Global Football Information Website, 2002-05-20. Retrieved on 2006-10-06.</ref>
[edit] Conflicts with English fans
Before Galatasaray’s semi-final UEFA Cup match with Leeds United AFC in 2000, two Leeds fans, Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight, were stabbed to death in Istanbul following street fights between Turkish and British hooligans.<ref name="fatalmistakes"/> UEFA allowed the game to proceed and Galatasaray won 2-0.
Leeds complained because home fans jeered while a message of condolence was read for the victims.<ref name="silenttribute">"Silent tribute to Leeds fans", BBC News, 2000-04-09. Retrieved on 2006-10-06.</ref> Galatasaray's players refused to wear black arm bands. The Leeds chairman at the time, Peter Ridsdale, accused Galatasaray of "showing a lack of respect".<ref name="fourcharged">"Four charged with murder", CNN Sports Illustrated, 2000-04-10. Retrieved on 2006-10-06.</ref> He also revealed that his teams' players had received death threats before the match.<ref name="acceptturks">"Football: Uefa hints Leeds must accept Turks", The Independent, 2000-04-13. Retrieved on 2006-10-06.</ref>
Ali Umit Demi was arrested and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for the stabbing, but the sentence was reduced to 5 years on the basis of heavy provocation, while five others were given lesser sentences of under four months.<ref name="wcarchives">"The Soccerphile World Cup 2002 Archives", Soccerphile.com, World Cup Soccer and Global Football Information Website, 2002-05-20. Retrieved on 2006-10-06.</ref> The families of those accused of attacking with knives are reported to have defended their actions and approved of their children punishing the "rude British people".<ref name="fatalmistakes" />
Galatasaray fans were banned from traveling to the return match to try and avoid further clashes between fans, although there were reports of attacks by Leeds fans on Turkish television crews and the police.<ref name="wildscenes">"Wild scenes greet Turkey's heroes", BBC News, 2000-04-21. Retrieved on 2006-10-06.</ref> However the Assistant Chief Constable in charge of policing the game believed that the number if arrests was "no worse than a normal high category game".<ref name="wildscenes" />
Hakan Sukur was hit with projectiles from Leeds United supporters and the Galatasaray team bus was stoned after driving through an underpass. The game saw Emre Belozoglu and Harry Kewell sent off and Galatasaray sealed their way to the final with a 2-2 score.
Violence also occurred between Arsenal fans and Galatasaray fans before the Final in Copenhagen<ref name="arsenalfear">"Arsenal fans fear more violence", BBC News, 2000-05-17. Retrieved on 2006-10-06.</ref> in which three Arsenal fans were said to have been stabbed.<ref name="threemorestabbed">"Three more stabbed in Copenhagen", BBC News, 2000-05-18. Retrieved on 2006-10-06.</ref> Galatasaray later won the match after a penalty shoot-out.
[edit] See also
- 2006 Basel Hooligan Incident
- Casuals
- Collective Effervescence
- Hooligan firm
- Hooliganism
- Millwall brick
- Sectarianism
- Skinhead
- Ultras
- Yobbo
[edit] References
- Franklin Foer. How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization. Harper, 2005.
