I am very curious about this phenomenon and I was wondering if anyone could shed some light for me on this regarding the frequency, severity, causes, etc.

Also, I heard about some guy who infiltrated a gang that likes to participate/cause these and he wrote a book or made a documentary about football riots. I would like to know his name and the book/docu if anyone could tell me.

Thanks,

Huge topic, but in a nutshell every team in every country has a 'firm' or 'crew' - ranging in size from 5 or 10 for shit 3rd division teams, to literally hundreds for the more notorious like Cardiif, Stoke, Leeds, Millwall. Different countries have different hooligan cultures. In the UK, fashion is just as important as alcohol and the match itself. It was well documented on the BBC's 3 part series 18 months ago which sadly is not available on video. Tons of books, videos and websites all over the place. Pretty much every firm in England has its own messageboard. The best is "In The Know"
http://www.network54.com/Forum/181218
Check out http://www.geocities.com/soccerlinkpage/hooligans.html for a very general website.

Here's the link
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/st...2002/hooligans/
also.....
http://macintyre.com/pages/static/p...gs_football.htm

quote:

Originally posted by zarathustra Also, I heard about some guy who infiltrated a gang that likes to participate/cause these and he wrote a book or made a documentary about football riots. I would like to know his name and the book/docu if anyone could tell me. Thanks,

Was it about the author’s incursion in Chelsea FC’s Headhunters and all the evidence he amassed for one of the heads to be finally arrested?

I got about 12 hours worth of hooligan's footage, if you are ever in Toronto I’ll be more than happy to lend you some tapes.

usually the english get involved.... thousands of people take the streets brawl.. many injured sometimes some get killed

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you don't want to know anything about it.

they are the scum of the earth. racists to an extreme that would scare even hitler.

quote:

Originally posted by chesco they are the scum of the earth. racists to an extreme that would scare even hitler.

Not one to generalise or broadbrush are you?

Contrary to popular belief, not all football hooligans are even remotely politically inclined, let alone racist. Probably the best known West Ham face was a young black male with a big fluffy affro - far removed from your stereotypical skinhead shouting "sieg heil!!" There certainly is a strong right-wing element connected to some clubs more than others, Chelsea being the most notorious, but in other parts of Europe, there are actually strong left wing, anti-facist firms, who can be just as violent on the terraces.

As for being "scum of the earth", I'm not sure it's entirely fair to classify child molesters, rapists, and terrorists in the same category as a football fan who loves wearing designer clothing, travelling around the country with his mates, and enjoys the odd punch-up or 30 second skirmish with some like minded individuals.

quote:

Originally posted by HalifaxGooner Not one to generalise or broadbrush are you? Contrary to popular belief, not all football hooligans are even remotely politically inclined, let alone racist. Probably the best known West Ham face was a young black male with a big fluffy affro - far removed from your stereotypical skinhead shouting "sieg heil!!" There certainly is a strong right-wing element connected to some clubs more than others, Chelsea being the most notorious, but in other parts of Europe, there are actually strong left wing, anti-facist firms, who can be just as violent on the terraces. As for being "scum of the earth", I'm not sure it's entirely fair to classify child molesters, rapists, and terrorists in the same category as a football fan who loves wearing designer clothing, travelling around the country with his mates, and enjoys the odd punch-up or 30 second skirmish with some like minded individuals.

listen mate stop trying to put them into a better light than they deserve.

This young black male was probably a yardie drug dealer who used football hooliganism to front for selling drugs or killing rival gang members.

The fact is football hooliganism was born out of racism, bigotary and general hate for fellow man.

They are scum of the earth. when you consider that young children, women and elderly men all go to football matches, and these pricks think it's alright to throw chairs, bottles even knives in amongst the crowd. open your eyes mate.

Football games used to be about father and son going for a bit of enjoyment. but theres always some people who can't see others enjoying themselves. and they are the scum i refer too.

*recalls picture of young lad with burst open head at landsdown road, when the english fans thought it was alright to throw things on to the pitch*

what was he 9, 10.

When I was in Mallorca, a friend made me watch an incredible movie based on a true story about british cops who infiltrated a 2nd division football club gang, and basically the line b/t cop and hooligan gets blurred. I've been trying to locate it in america but with little luck. Anyway its worth checking out if you can find it.

I.D. (1995)

directed:Philip Davis

Starring: Reece Dinsdale, Richard Graham, Perry Fenwick


Info from IMDB-Internet movie Database

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Nothing good can happen at this point. You can't chase the night. When the night is over, the night is over. That's just the way it is. You just gotta wake up tomorrow and hope for a better day."

I think part of the reason there is trouble everywhere England goes is because the harshness of foreign police has put timid English fans off travelling, and what you get is the more hardcore fans who go for that sort of thing. You've got to remember there are a lot of people who don't go looking for trouble but might well join in once a riot starts.

In Brussels in 2000 the police used a controversial pre-emptive method of catching England fans by gassing them out of pubs in the city centre. They arrested over 500 people heavy handedly and sent water cannons roaming the streets. The majority of them turned out to be innocent, and would probably think twice about travelling abroad for football again. The more hardcore fans are less bothered. Old men and children don't like being surrounded by armed police with submachine guns you know.

Just to remember that just because football fans sing/chant, wear scarves, wave flags, have tattoos, shaved head, wear jerseys and swear
doesnt mean they are a hooligan.

One of the most known disasters is the Heysel Tradegy in Brussels, Belgium
where a wall collapsed on Juventus fans.
The media and UEFA blamed 'hooliganism' was to blame for 39 deaths
this wouldn't of happened if the match wasnt played in a crumbling
stadium and neutral Belgians selling their tickets to Juve fans to watch the match in the neutral section.
This enabled SOME juve fans to throw rocks at the nearby Liverpool supporters and a FEW of them retailiated by charging, which resulted
in the Juve fans trying to escape but were blocked by a wall.

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• TRACKS FOR GRAPE PICKING
• TRACKS WHEN YOU HAVE GLITTER STUCK ALL OVER YOU

That's a very liverpool version of events Xavier. Juve fans tell a very different story, but the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.

Heysel was disgusting, and even many innocent Liverpool fans there said that despite provocation it was blatantly Liverpool fans to blame. UEFA's 5 year ban on all English clubs was ill-thought out in my opinion, but then someone had to stop the violence because English fans were just running amok, it was getting out of control.

As for Juve fans buying tickets from locals, that's as common as muck in European games. In fact it happens in every game. Usually a club allocates only a few thousand away tickets, so fans travel and buy them on the street. You go to any UEFA or Champions League game and you'll see locals outside the ground selling tickets in the home section to the travelling fans.