Football Hooliganism. Causes of Football Hooliganism Essay

Football Hooliganism. Causes of Football Hooliganism - Essay Example Britain is one of the most popular places of football activity and this is well represented through the ever increasing fan following of the charismatic English premier league. Historical evidence shows that football attendance had dropped down significantly after the Second World War. This decline thereafter was compensated by the increased presence of spectators in knockout tournament and European Club competitions. In last thirty years and to be precise since the depressing 1985-86 season that immediately succeeded the ‘Heysel’ tragedy, number of spectators of English football increased every year. The statistics available supports the aforesaid fact. In a span of 10 years (1985-86 to 1995-96) football spectators of English football increased from 16.5 million to 21.8 million. It has also been estimated that each year around 4 to 5 million people gather to attend the football match between England and Wales. Though these figures are subject to significant doubt, yet t hey truly represent the general picture. Football hooliganism has been around for as long as there has been football itself, and it is present in every country. Typically this menace is more evident in those countries where the sport is played seriously and there is an organized league in place. It is one of the most discussed problems in modern sport and has been the subject of many debates among FIFA and UEFA member states (Football and Football Hooliganism, 2001, p.1). â€Å"Hooliganism† In Football There is no specific definition for hooliganism in football. The term hooliganism in football was coined by the media and much credit goes to the tabloid press that during 1960 was the foremost proponent of the mentioned term. Since then, the term ‘hooligan’ has been flexibly used in different incidents that occur in football matches around the world. According to most of the experts, hooliganism in football matches implies to different incidents of violence and di sorders that occur during the matches. The incidents taking place might occur amongst the fans or amongst the players involved in the game. There are two types of disarrays that have been termed as ‘hooliganism’. Firstly, impulsive and typically low level disorder that is provoked by fans at or around football matches. For example, this type of disorder is common in away matches for England. Second type of disorder is purposeful and planned violence that occurs due to substantial involvement of gangs, who belongs to specific football clubs. These gangs tend to get into a fight with rival fans who are dedicated to other clubs (Pearson, 2007). Frenzied fans use violence as resource to create and recreate their ‘hooligan gangs’. (King, 2001, p.568) In away matches the fans of visiting teams often get into fights with fans of the home teams more because they can avoid getting arrested because of presence of large crowds. (Levinson, 2002, p.1555) Football hoolig anism became recognized by the government and media as a stern problem during the year 1960. The hooligan behaviour in football has a long history. Reportedly, the ‘roughs’ were regularly the main cause of hooligan behaviour in the football matches during the end of the nineteenth century. Some clubs were located in mainly tough regions that have long records of hooliganism from the crowds. In the early era of football games, the local ‘derby’ matches provoked the worst problems. The visiting team faced the maximum problem, as the hostile crowds of the home team harassed the referee and the visiting team; the harassment sometimes led to physical torture also. This primarily occurred due to the domination of the home fans, as they