by paulie1975

Created on: April 09, 2011   Last Updated: April 10, 2011

Football hooliganism is a worldwide problem, it was widely associated with English football fans in the 1970’s to 1990’s, but it is clear now that this issue is much wider.  The cause of hooliganism can be linked to a sociological necessity for hooligans to attach themselves to their team/area or barrio.  It can be caused by xenophobia or racism, or can simply be the stupid herd mentality caused by men wanting to be part of something.  There are still occasional issues in the UK, but nowadays there seem to be greater problems in Eastern Europe, Italy, South America and Africa.

In England the problems reached their peak after the awful Heysel Stadium tragedy, an experience where a number of Italian Juventus supporters were killed during a riot involving Liverpool Football supporters and Hillsborough, an English cup semi-final where Liverpool supporters were crushed, the reasons are still being argued today, but it was clear that something had to change quickly.

In the UK, what was done to help resolve the issue of hooliganism? Well a number of things actually.  Racism is intolerable in any walk of life, so any ‘fan’ noted making racist taunts is thrown out of the ground and banned.  Also if clubs cannot control their fans and damage is caused, they are fined, this has made clubs assess policing and stewarding at grounds to ensure this doesn’t happen, with a zero tolerance policy to racism.

One of the key issues with hooliganism in the UK was alcohol, whilst it is still sold in grounds, the prices were raised and plastic cups only were allowed, this again helped to ensure that anyone going for a few beers and fight probably couldn’t afford it.  Pricing in general has helped change the face of football support.  Following Hillsborough, all grounds were forced to become all seater, avoiding the risk of crushes, ensuring that everyone had their own space and this then encouraged more women and children to games.

This change in support ensured that clubs changed their profiles, and the atmosphere before games is now much less intimidating and much more suited as a place to bring the whole family, having watched games in Poland, Argentina, Italy, Spain and South Africa, I can fully appreciate how much this has changed as all of these countries still have issues with either racism, crowd control, or nasty, at times violent atmospheres in and around grounds.

With regards to International football, one of the key things that seems to have affected English football fans was a realisation that the stupid thugs who attached themselves to the team with their mix of violent hooliganism and xenophobia was making English people in general unwelcome abroad, the Football Supporters Association ensured that only vetted supporters could become England Official Members and buy tickets for games, the pricing ensured only the most dedicated could follow the team.

This has been positive as there has been little trouble of note in any football tournament involving England Supporters following the hugely successful Japan World Cup in 2002, part of this was the hugely warm welcome presented by the Japanese nation, which made many English fans appreciate how wonderful tournaments could be if they were accepted into the party rather than having to stand on the outside watching some of their more inebriated countrymen throwing chairs and embarrassing themselves!

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