Football hooliganism
Football hooliganism refers to the unruly or violent behavior exhibited by supporters of football (soccer) teams, most prominently observed in the United Kingdom but also seen in various countries around the world. Historically, violent incidents associated with football can be traced back centuries, with notable escalations occurring from the 1960s through the 1980s, when organized groups of fans, often from lower-income backgrounds, began to engage in more systematic brawling. Incidents peaked during this period, culminating in tragic events such as the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985, which resulted in numerous fatalities and prompted significant changes in stadium management and crowd control measures.
In response to widespread violence, authorities implemented stricter regulations, including increased police presence, limitations on alcohol sales, and the restructuring of stadium seating arrangements. Despite these measures leading to a decline in incidents by the early 2000s, sporadic acts of violence continue to occur, indicating that hooliganism remains a challenge for the sport. Although the term is often linked to English football, similar behaviors have been reported globally, with notable incidents still occurring, such as clashes between fans at international tournaments. Understanding the cultural and social dynamics behind football hooliganism can provide insights into the broader challenges of fan behavior in sports.
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Football hooliganism
Football hooliganism is a term used to describe unruly or violent behavior associated with supporters of a football, or soccer, team. Hooliganism is generally linked to young, working-class groups from low-income backgrounds. The term is mostly used in reference to football in the United Kingdom, though disruptive fan behavior has been noted in many counties. While violence at sporting events dates back centuries, a rise in disturbances at English football matches in the 1960s brought the issue more attention. Football hooliganism peaked in the 1980s with several major, and sometimes deadly, incidents forcing changes in how the sport operated. By the twenty-first century, violent fan behavior had decreased, but scattered incidents remained a problem.
Background
Games similar to football were first played thousands of years ago in China, Greece, Rome, and Central America. The sport resembling modern football can trace its origins back to medieval England. During the fourteenth century, villagers would try to kick a crude "ball" made of a pig's bladder into the other side's goal. These football games were often very violent and at times resulted in clashes between rival villages. In 1349, King Edward III banned the sport because he thought its violence was out of hand and could lead to an uprising.
By the nineteenth century, football rules were standardized, and the sport began to resemble the modern game. Violence at matches, however, continued to be a problem on many occasions. In 1846, a "lawless rabble" reportedly gathered at a match in Derby and forced local authorities to "read the riot act" and order the crowd to disperse. In 1885, a newspaper described the fans of Preston North End as "howling roughs," who attacked both their team and the opponent with sticks and rocks. A 1909 match in Glasgow, Scotland, ended with an estimated six thousand fans rioting in the streets. More than fifty police officers were seriously injured and much of the area around the stadium was damaged.
Overview
The exact source of the word hooligan is unknown, but it is believed to have originated about the turn of the twentieth century. It first appeared in court reports in a British newspaper in 1898. Experts believe it is likely derived from the Irish name Houlihan, a term used to refer to the Irish at the time.
Football violence lessened somewhat in the years surrounding World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945), but the postwar years saw an upsurge in the problem. During the 1960s, disruptive groups of fans began to band together, traveling to matches for the purpose of battling fans of opposing teams. These gangs often went by the slang terms firms, boys, or crew and generally came from lower-class backgrounds. Game disruptions could range from obscene taunting and berating fans of another team to brawls and full-scale riots. At times, fights could be arranged beforehand to take place at a location away from the police; other times, they could erupt spontaneously as the game progressed.
Football violence began receiving widespread coverage in the British media, with the term hooligan first used to describe those who committed the violent acts. By the late 1960s, about twenty-five incidents of football hooliganism were being reported per year. In the 1970s and early 1980s, gangs began giving themselves nicknames such as Manchester United's Red Army, Millwall's Bushwhackers, and West Ham's Inter City Firm. More than six thousand people per year were arrested on hooliganism charges through the 1980s. In some extreme cases, riot police were called in to disperse unruly crowds. A riot at a match between Luton and Millwall in 1985 resulted in thirty-one arrests and more than eighty people injured.
The worst outbreak of violence occurred on May 29, 1985, at the European Cup final between Liverpool and the Italian football squad Juventus. A group of disorderly Liverpool fans stormed an area set aside for Juventus supporters at Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium. As the Juventus fans tried to flee, they were pressed up against a concrete retaining wall. The wall collapsed, killing thirty-nine people and injuring more than six hundred others. The incident resulted in a five-year ban of English football teams from competing on the European mainland.
Four years later, ninety-six people were crushed to death during a match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England. While hooliganism was not directly responsible, policies put in place to combat fan violence at football matches did contribute to the disaster. The tragedies of Heysel and Hillsborough, coupled with the widespread association of English football fans with hooliganism, forced major changes in the way the sport was run. Police presence at games was increased, alcohol sales were limited or banned, and opposing fans were separated. Stadiums also replaced standing-room-only terraces with individual seating. Since the year 2000, the British government has collected the passports of convicted hooligans before an international tournament to keep them from traveling.
The measures significantly lessened incidents of hooliganism, though they did not eliminate it entirely. By the beginning of the twenty-first century, the number of arrests had fallen to less than four thousand per year. During the 2010–2011 season, the number of arrests at matches involving teams from England or Wales was reported at 3,089. During the 2023–2024 season, the United Kingdom government reported 2,584 football-related arrests. Around one hundred and forty of these arrests were made for possession of class A drugs. Fights between team supporters were still an issue, but police reported that many of these altercations took place away from the stadiums.
The reputation of hooliganism remains connected to English football, though violent incidents often occur at matches worldwide. In 2016, two hundred Russian fans attacked a group of English supporters after the teams tied at the European Championships in Marseille, France. Fans of both teams clashed with each other in Marseille and nearby Lille, forcing riot police to use tear gas and water cannons to stop the violence. More than thirty people were injured and numerous arrests were made. A match in Germany in 2024 left seventy-nine people injured in skirmishes, including ten officers. That same year, police searched for thirty people in a Malaysia brawl that left a train damaged.
Political tensions worldwide can also contribute to the heightened emotions and violence sometimes found at football games. During the Israeli assault on Gaza in 2024, increased tensions led to several incidents. In Amsterdam, after a match between an Israeli team and a Dutch team, the capital erupted in violence and chaos as fans clashed and reports of both antisemitic and anti-muslim violence poured in. Other countries took note of the violence and France, in response, deployed more police to its match with Israel’s soccer team to ensure peace. While there were instances of booing and small, brief clashes between fans, the country was able to avoid the same widespread violence.
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