The Return of Hooliganism
[26.08// Everyone's doing it, so why not us. No, not being a footie hoolie, but writing about the scenes at Upton Park last night. This is our attempt]
Actually, that title is wrong.
For hooliganism to return implies that it went away which, of course, it never did. It’s just that we dont hear much about it these days. You can understand then how this particular incident made the news – it was a particularly bad incident.
The antagonism between Milwall and West Ham fans is well documented in various books and films, so when this fixture came up, the alarm bells at the FA, the relevant police authorities and local councils must have been ringing of their mountings.
Despite the best efforts of all involved, the well-organised nature of football thuggery meant that trouble was always going to occur. The sheer scale and veracity of it surprised many. Outside the ground, running battles ensued, while inside the ground several pitch invasions added to the tense atmosphere, as seats where ripped up and launched at anyone within range. The scenes on the news that evening where shocking, a flashback to events we’ve not seen for some time.
Football violence, often called the English Disease, is not a phenomenon common the just England. In Scotland, various soccer hooligans have scurged our game. Both Aberdeen and Hibernian had a notorious and vicious hooligan element – called ‘Casuals’ after their dress style – that made any games between the two particularly worrisome for police and local residents.
But while violence at games in Scotland was never as prevalent as it was in England, in Scotland we have another scurge, one just as unpleasant: sectarianism. In recent months, the topic of sectarianism – essentially – has reared its ugly head again in Scotland.
The Famine Song, a song which features the lyric ‘the famine’s over, why dont you go home” sung to the tune of The Beach Boys “Sloop John B” by supporters of Rangers sparked a minor diplomatic incident when the Ireland’s Consul General approached the Scottish Government to condemn the song. Likewise, Celtic have written to their season ticket holders warning them that sectarian behaviour (for example the singing of Pro IRA songs) at Parkhead would not be tolerated.
Co-operation between the football authorities, the police and the government has seen to it that violence on the scale seen in the 70’s and 80’s no longer occur, but clearly there exists an undercurrent of violence and sectarianism that no amount of legislation, such as the Football Spectators act (which introduced the idea of club membership schemes, effectively a register of a clubs fans), stiffer prison sentences for culprits, alchohol and stadium bans can eradicate.
Despite increasingly sophisticated policing, surveillance and monitoring techniques, football hooliganism still occurs, as we saw at Upton Park last night. In Scotland, the Nil by Mouth, Sense Over Sectarianism and Pride Over Prejudice campaigns have made a valiant start to eradicating sectarianism from the terraces but as we have seen recently with the Famine Song controversy, there’s still a long way to go.
Although it’s through football that both sectariansm and hooliganism find a voice, both have their roots in British society. The solution to hooliganism and sectarianism, together with the third ‘ism’ that permeates not just football, but society in general, racism, cannot be found in banning fans, closed-door games and legislation alone.
Actually, that title is wrong.
For hooliganism to return implies that it went away which, of course, it never did. It’s just that we dont hear much about it these days. You can understand then how events at Upton Park made the news – it was a particularly bad incident.
The antagonism between Milwall and West Ham fans is well documented in various books and films, so when this fixture came up, the alarm bells at the FA, the relevant police authorities and local councils must have been ringing of their mountings.
Despite the best efforts of all involved, the well-organised nature of football thuggery meant that trouble was always going to occur. The sheer scale and veracity of it surprised many. Outside the ground, running battles ensued, while inside the ground several pitch invasions added to the tense atmosphere, as seats where ripped up and launched at anyone within range. The scenes on the news that evening where shocking, a flashback to events we’ve not seen for some time.
Football violence, often called the English Disease, is not a phenomenon common the just England. In Scotland, various soccer hooligans have scurged our game. Both Aberdeen and Hibernian had a notorious and vicious hooligan element – called ‘Casuals’ after their dress style – that made any games between the two particularly worrisome for police and local residents.
But while violence at games in Scotland was never as prevalent as it was in England, in Scotland we have another scurge, one just as unpleasant: sectarianism. In recent months, the topic of sectarianism – essentially – has reared its ugly head again in Scotland.
The Famine Song, a song which features the lyric ‘the famine’s over, why dont you go home” sung to the tune of The Beach Boys “Sloop John B” by supporters of Rangers sparked a minor diplomatic incident when the Ireland’s Consul General approached the Scottish Government to condemn the song. Likewise, Celtic have written to their season ticket holders warning them that sectarian behaviour (for example the singing of Pro IRA songs) at Parkhead would not be tolerated.
Co-operation between the football authorities, the police and the government has seen to it that violence on the scale seen in the 70’s and 80’s no longer occur, but clearly there exists an undercurrent of violence and sectarianism that no amount of legislation, such as the Football Spectators act (which introduced the idea of club membership schemes, effectively a register of a clubs fans), stiffer prison sentences for culprits, alchohol and stadium bans can eradicate.
Despite increasingly sophisticated policing, surveillance and monitoring techniques, football hooliganism still occurs, as we saw at Upton Park last night. In Scotland, the Nil by Mouth, Sense Over Sectarianism and Pride Over Prejudice campaigns have made a valiant start to eradicating sectarianism from the terraces but as we have seen recently with the Famine Song controversy, there’s still a long way to go.
The solution to hooliganism and sectarianism, together with the third ‘ism’ that permeates society and football, racism, cannot be found in banning fans, closed-door games and legislation alone. Although it’s through football that both sectarianism and hooliganism find a voice, both have their roots in British society.
And it will require fundamental changes in that society to eradicate both from our game.
