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3 Engw 1111 Project 3 Final
3 Engw 1111 Project 3 Final
NEWSTHUMP.COM
A Galatasaray fan spreads his arms in front of a flare at a recent match in London
against Arsenal. Image courtesy of mirror.co.uk.
Exchanging smiles, thank yous, and pats on the back with their defeated
colleagues, both groups of fans eventually turn away from each other and begin
walking back down the highway. According to The Moscow Times, one fan
proclaimed, We fight before every game between Spartak and Dynamo, we
support our teams. This was not a very serious fight, next time we will fight until
we are even more bloody.
This is the epitome of fandom. These 76 fans are part of a distinguished
category of fan that is responsible for keeping sensational team spirit,
controversial regional politics, and ugly history brewing in the same pot. By
brawling to the point of being bloodied before every derby, burning flags and
banners, filling stadiums with flare smoke so that the game needs to be delayed,
and acting mad as a bag of ferrets in the city streets (including smashing store
windows and looting), these fans allow this heated pot of social dynamics to boil
over, reducing the pressure and tension in the pot while simultaneously making
room for more in the future and thereby allowing this pot to keep on brewing,
hopefully forever, for the betterment of the community as a whole.
Here in the United Kingdom this ultimate category of fan is known as
hooligans, the members of which are participants in the overarching term
hooliganism. Both of these terms have negative connotations in the modern
(read Western) world, and particularly in the world of European football.
However before we at Newsthump.com begin to explain why football hooliganism
is in fact the best thing to happen to football in centuries, let us take you through
a brief historical refresher on hooliganism, as well as our governments
desperate attempts to nip it in the bud.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF HOOLIGANISM IN BRITISH FOOTBALL
While many of you erudite Brits are familiar with the late 20th century/early
21st century forms of hooliganism, you may be hazier on the origins of modern
hooliganism, which took place in the late 18th century. At this time, fans of
Preston North End were big instigators. After a five to zero victory over Aston
Villa in 1885, fans of the two clubs sprinkled their teams with stones, tapped each
other with sticks, and shoved each other around as they let out their pent up
energy and bonded with their fellow fans. A year later they had another tussle,
this time with Chelsea fans in a railway station. These actions, however, were
viewed by some as too much. In 1905, fans, including a drunk and disorderly
70 year old woman, were wrongly brought to trail for their actions and received
quite the ear-bashing. Yet for the benefit of football fans worldwide, this was
simply the dawn of hooliganism.
It was not until the 1950s and 60s that the predominant method of showing
team allegiance became hooliganism. This is also probably the era that many
think of when hooliganism is mentioned. Also known as the English Disease,
the creation of firms in the 1970s seemed to be contagious. Soon, many football
clubs in the top flight had their own firms, which tended to be organized and
extremely passionate. Some of our older readers may even have been part of
one of these firms (if so, please share your thoughts on hooliganism in the
comments section below!).
Some found, however, that hooligan firms and their various methods of
pledging allegiance were discouraging considerably less-passionate fans from
attending matches. You probably have a puzzled look on your face: Why should
it matter if the most passionate fans are taking opportunities away from others?
Do they not deserve the opportunities themselves?
Well, unfortunately, not everyone saw things
so logically. Hooliganism was soon labeled as
barbaric and stomped out by the Government of the
United Kingdom. With the forced separation of fans
by the installation of fences in the stands, the wiring
of closed-circuit television cameras in stadiums, the
increased police presence at football matches, and
the banning of known hooligans from ever entering
the stadium again, hooligans had to minimize their
actions in the name of their team or fear being the
target of a totalitarian, 1984-esq crackdown system.
While we doubt that George Orwell was imagining
football hooligans as the big victims snookered in his
A poster depicting Big
dystopian society, this is essentially what happened
Brother from George
th
during the end of the 20 century in Great Britain.
Orwells Nineteen
This omnipresent government led to a domesticated
Eighty-Four, and
and devolved generation of fans. By eliminating the
something we would not
beautiful, pure, and free (although admittedly often
have been surprised to
violent (but is that not part of the beauty?))
see popping up in
football grounds around
expression of hooligans in the name of their team,
the UK in the 1990s.
the Government of the UK effectively destroyed the
Image courtesy of
greatest feature of the evolution of football fandom,
commons.wikimedia.org
akin to hospitals cutting off the opposable thumbs of
.
all newborns.
HOOLIGANISM AS A POLITICAL TOOL
This is not to say that hooliganism has been completely destroyed. It
persists, especially in regions experiencing political, religious, and ethnic turmoil
and it can help people cope with these difficult social issues by providing an
outlet to vent, as well as opportunities to ameliorate the situation.
As Aleksandar Manasiev explains it, hooligans in the Balkans are often
wrapped up heavily with politics and nationalism. The region is fraught with ethnic
and religious conflicts, and hooligans are often at the front lines when these
conflicts boil over to the streets. They view themselves as the foot soldiers of the
nationalist causes that dominate politics in the region. Occasionally, political
Comments
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Works Cited
Blackshaw, Ian. "The 'English Disease Tackling Football Hooliganism in
England." Asser Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Nov. 2014.
http://www.asser.nl/default.aspx?site_id=11&level1=13910&level2=139
74&level3=&textid=36384.
Chelyabinsk 38 vs 28 ECX. Youtube.com. Dimi Sidorov, 26 Oct. 2014. Web. 1
Nov. 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOOgP1MT3_c.
Flanagan, Aaron. "UEFA Drop Charges against Arsenal but Galatasaray Fined
after Champions League Clash." Mirror. Trinity Mirror, 20 Oct. 2014.
Web. 2 Nov. 2014. http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/uefadrop-charges-against-arsenal-4470732.
Hunt, Chris. "A Sad Night For English Football: Leeds United & the 1975
European Cup Final." Chris Hunt Editorial. N.p., 2009. Web. 2 Nov.
2014. http://www.chrishunt.biz/features50.html.
Ingle, Sean, and Mark Hodgkinson. "When Did Football Hooliganism Start?" The
Knowledge. The Guardian, 13 Dec. 2001. Web. 1 Nov. 2014.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2001/dec/13/theknowledge.sport.
Jonathan. "Top 100 Most Beautiful British Slang Words and Phrases Guide to
English Slang." Anglotopianet. N.p., 22 June 2013. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.
http://www.anglotopia.net/british-identity/humor/top-100-most-beautifulbritish-slang-words-and-phrases/.