Football Violence in the UK

Here's a link to last night's violence after West Ham beat Milwall 3-1 in the Carling Cup.

It seems after our recent success with football hooliganism, its back on the rise. Maybe with the economic situation deteriorating will we see the rise in violence in the stadiums again like we saw in the 80's. lets hope not.

news.bbc.co.uk...

utter utter utter morons.

I'm not even sure I need to add to that. But i can rant about these muppets all day long if you want me too

IT'S A GAME fer crying out loud, like

They don't go there for the game of football , they go there simply or fight, there's no point banning these mindless thugs, as they'd wait outside and fight the opposing fans when the game finishes.

They actually organise the ruckus BEFORE the game starts with the opposite hooligans.

I know we all go on about a POLICE STATE, but in this case I think phone tapping and really intrusive measures are warranted, let their families feel the wrath of big brother breathing down their necks and let the families sort the hooligans out because the Police can't.

How many of these so called 'football fans' would go to the fights if they're families told them not to go otherwise they'd be ostracised?
The state should evict them from their homes, and jail them, then charge them with thousand pound fines everytime they get arrested, and every time they get another arrest on their books they have to pay another 1000? 1=1000 2=2000 3=3000 etc. How long before they stop?

Mindless scum. thats all they are. low IQ neanderthals the lot of them, no wonder I hate football..

Milwall and West Ham fans are crazy. My friend went to a Milwall match and got hit with a dart in the chest.

Its just people blowing off steam.. its what football match's are there for. A lot of the time the violence is organized by both sides and agreed on.

It doesnt seem like there were many police about. Cant say i blame them.


[edit on 26-8-2009 by VitalOverdose]

Welcome back to the 80s...

Football violence never really went away, I think it did really diminish though, but with socio/economic factors getting worse, it'll seemingly follow-through that the disenfranchised people will seek to vent their frustrations.

Problem is, with the massive clampdown on UK football violence, the hardcore remained, still organising, still doing their thing, they just got better organised to avoid the police. As times get harsher and people begin to gravitate towards football violence/hooliganism more - they'll be entering into a very well-organised network, with an old and experienced hierarchy that governs very well. A massive worry with this is also going to be the less overt, but still very in place links and sympathies for the extreme right-wing (BNP etc).

For young males the sense of community and bonding in there must be quite attractive and can give a sense of self-esteem that may be otherwise lacking, especially with the state of modern society...

As a slightly pesssimistic/ironic end-thought here, perhaps we should just let it go on? Just televise it, like a more brutal X-factor.

This unfortunately is not going to go well for all invovled and the English world cup bid. Hell it was West Ham vs Millwall, even a blind mans dog could of predicted trouble that night. It would be easy to say its the stupid minority but given the sheer number of fans inside causing trouble its hard to see past it. And it was worse out of the ground because all those hard old firm guys already had a lifetime ban so they just turned up for a fight. Someone got stabbed in the chest, thats attempted murder and you ccan gaurantee that is exactly what they where trying to do, kill somebody.
Both clubs need to face massive penalties for their own fans disgrace.

Steven gerard and rooney are as bad as them, and you people allaud them, lol.

Sick of the animals on the streets of this world, but 99% of people are like that. Then they wonder why people who do not do these things, feel they do not belong to the animal race.

Originally posted by VitalOverdose

Milwall fans are crazy my friend wen to a Milwall match and got hit with a dart in the chest.

Its just people blowing off steam.. its what football match's are there for.

[edit on 26-8-2009 by VitalOverdose]

Getting a dart in the chest doesn't sound like much fun, but I bet your friend said " ho ho , oh look there's a dart embedded in my chest but I'm not worried their just 'letting off steam'".

Was he ok with being stabbed? supposing it was your 5 year old child getting a dart in their eye because some pillock decided to let off steam at a football game.

Would you be ok with with explaining to the child why he's blinded for life?
Would you like to explain to your friends family why he died because he got a dart in the heart?

There's NO EXCUSE for fighting at a football match , either before during OR after like these *snip* were. I suppose the football was just there to be ignored , after all the fans don't want to watch a bunch of overpaid self opinionated nancy boys chasing after a ball? They'd rather be there for the blood they can spill after.

Whatever happened to the 'beautiful game? . oh its there , hidden behind the police cordon and TV screens showing the mindless violence .




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[edit on 8/27/2009 by JacKatMtn]

theres other sports violence too?

reply to post by DataWraith


My friend was causing as much trouble as he got himself into ,he knew what he was doing. Thats the London culture for you.

quite simply if you don't want trouble dont support a team like Millwall or West Ham. Everyone know what they are like.Do you really think there was anyone there who thought "wow i didnt expect that'?


[edit on 26-8-2009 by VitalOverdose]

reply to post by VitalOverdose


What a poor attitude, its time to take 'green st' and 'football factory' off playback. Its not to be glorified or seen as letting off steam, its assault. And you know with a new movie coming out soon called 'The firm' even more youngsters are going to be chasing this life. English football suffered in Europe because of brainless Liverpool supporters, and there are a whole heap of Frenchman and Germans on the board of Fifa looking for any trouble in England. The clubs invovled here deserve the harshest of penalties and then maybe can you save the world cup bid.
Any body who just skims over this and says 'boys will be boys' is just as bad as the guy holding the knife.

reply to post by VitalOverdose


No sympathy for your friend then, sorry mate.
Thats football...

reply to post by pazcat


All sports are just distraction for the mass's and it seems to me football is doing its job.

reply to post by DataWraith


He stopped going after that but he still laughs about it now. Its a very rough youth culture in London.

I just spotted this on google video

Google Video Link

[edit on 26-8-2009 by VitalOverdose]

Personally, I have no interest in football - went to a game once as a kid, it was cold and raining and I couldn't see much, plus I've never really been one for competition... but, as it happens I know a few people that would be labelled hooligans and a few guys that're (self) reformed.

It's a very interesting phenomen, as I see it - and I've heard many, many stories and witnessed some "incidents" - for some people (involved), there's an amazing sense of camaraderie involved, if you're in the heart of it with fellow hooligans, it's very exhilerating and there's a bunch of you fighting for a common goal, with the very real threat of physical harm - there's a massive rush and sense of community, that often isn't otherwise present. Look at other areas where groups work together in the face of danger and look at the social-dynamics in that group...

In no way do I mean this disparragingly, but look at soldiers, firefighters, oil-rig workers - areas that are very dangerous, then see the way they interact. There's a bond there that is rarely present in other professions, they all realise their lives can be in the hands of a colleague.

We're in a place as a society where common-bondings aren't common... people are mostly in it for themselves and constantly fed by the media that a life of accruing possessions is success - and there's a massive swath of people that will never be able to do this (myself included, I just don't want "that" kind of success), so they're potentially from backgrounds where they've never had that sort of bonding and then they get it, get recognition for "achievements" etc - very attractive to some.

As a statement of personal experience, all the people I've known involved in hooliganism seem to me (as someone that doesn't care for football), to have a great knowledge of the sport, be very informed on history, tactics etc and have a genuine passion for the game, it seems as though the hooliganism and football though are separate entities to them - the sport is one thing to them and the hooliganism another, they just happen to go hand in hand. Even without football (or another sport), these people would still be violent and seek out others to engage with in this way.

The Hooliganism has been kept to a low level for quite a while now, Millwall have always had a reputation for agitation ever since I was a kid.

I do however think this has something to do with the fact that a West Ham player and his Mum where stabbed a few days ago, See Here

Whatever the reason for this attack, tensions where going to be high, any football fan will tell you, this kind of incident always leads to taunting and sometimes it goes way over the top, I doubt this is a return to the days of old, sounds trivial when it's said, but this was a lot of pissed off and shocked fans letting the steam go in a huge blow out.

I know as a Liverpool fan, there is a guy from this area who recently took Gerrard to court for assault, Gerrard was found not guilty, but the guy who brought the charges even though when this incident happened claimed he was not looking for compensation, has now brought civil action for damages, this takes Gerrards mind off the game, so this guy now has about 50,000 people wanting to meet him in the street so to speak.

It's a high tension game, all it needs is a little fuel.

there is an argument that the violence died down in the early 90's because of the whole Acid House culture , footy fans all used to meet up at the raves take E's and become bezzie mates. there were also stricter policing of games , but i'm sure E culture helped.

The influence of Acid House, still lives on in Britain, probably the most influential youth cultural movement in our history.

You know I was talking to a friend of mine that was telling me that the way Mexican fans acted in Azteca stadium when we beat the US a couple of weeks ago was disgraceful. I told him that it just goes to show him how new the US is to football. I told him that fans throwing stuff and shouting during the National Anthem is nothing. I think this is a perfect example of how bad it can get,(although it could be worse) and for the most part I think we should be glad that usually its just drunk people throwing cups and toilet paper rather than people being stabbed. Although I hear now fans are throwing rolls of the paper they use in receipt machines, which is kind of heavy and would probably hurt.

i went to a fight the other day, and a West ham match broke out

It never really went away though, did it.

I'm a Birmingham City season ticket holder. We've got our fair share of naughty boys and occasionally trouble breaks out. The last home game Vs. Wolves was marred by violence in Birmingham city centre after the game.

Against Cardiff in January, we had our seats being ripped up and thrown at us by those lovely welshmen, after a Lee Bowyer last minute equaliser.

I know for a fact that when we play Villa next month there will be some fisticuffs, to put it mildly.

Acid House and a step-up in policing DID achieve results, but as has been said only drove the hardcore underground.

Of course in times of recession football violence increases. Disenfranchised young men, with no stake in society, perhaps even no job at the moment. They have nothing to live for, except saturdays. Comradeship, adrenaline, excitement; all these things are found in the 'firms' which are more than likely sadly lacking in their normal lives.

And then of course there's the human love for violence, coupled with cheap lager.

How do you stop it? I haven't got a clue.