Football hooliganism
Encyclopedia
Football hooliganism, sometimes referred to by the British media as the English Disease, is unruly and destructive behaviour—such as brawls, vandalism and intimidation—by association football club fans. Fights between supporters of rival teams may take place before or after football matches at pre-arranged locations away from stadia, in order to avoid arrests by the police, or they can erupt spontaneously at the stadium or in the surrounding streets. Football hooliganism
can range from shouts and small-scale fistfights and disturbances to huge riots where firms attack each other with deadly weapon
s such as sports bats, bottles, rocks, knives and pistols. In some cases, stadium brawls have caused fans to flee in panic; some being injured when fences or walls collapsed. In the most extreme cases, hooligans, police, and bystanders have been killed, and riot police have intervened with tear gas, armoured vehicle
s and water cannon
s.
A football firm (also known as a hooligan firm) is a gang
formed to oppose and physically attack supporters of other clubs. Some firms exist to promote fringe political causes
, both on the far Left and Right, with the football aspect of the club of minimal importance behind the promotion of their political ideals through violence. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the casual subculture transformed the British football hooliganism scene. Instead of wearing working class
skinhead
-style clothes, which readily identified hooligans to the police, firm members began wearing designer clothes and expensive offhand sportswear.
Football hooliganism has been depicted in films such as I.D.
, The Firm
, Cass
, The Football Factory, Green Street
, Rise of the Footsoldier
and Awaydays
. There are also many books about hooliganism, such as The Football Factory
and Among the Thugs
. Some critics argue that these media representations glamorise violence and the hooligan lifestyle.
banned football (which then was a violent free-for-all involving rival villages fly-hacking a pig's bladder across the local heath) because he believed the disorder surrounding matches might lead to social unrest
or even treason
. The first alleged recorded instances of football hooliganism in the modern game took place in the 1880s in England, a period when gangs of supporters would intimidate neighbourhoods, as well as attack referees and opposing supporters and players. In 1885, after Preston North End
beat Aston Villa
5-0 in a friendly match, the two teams were pelted with stones; attacked with sticks, punched, kicked and spat at. One Preston player was beaten so severely that he lost consciousness. Press reports of the time described the fans as "howling roughs". The following year, Preston fans fought Queen's Park
fans in a railway station; the first alleged instance of football hooliganism away from a match. In 1905, several Preston fans were tried for hooliganism, including a "drunk and disorderly" 70 year old woman, following their match against Blackburn Rovers
.
Between the two world wars, there were no recorded instance of football hooliganism, (though for example Millwall
's ground was reportedly closed in 1920, 1934 and 1950 after crowd disturbances) but it started attracting widespread media attention in the late 1950s due to its re-emergence in Latin America. In the 1955-56 English football season, Liverpool
and Everton
fans were involved in a number of incidents. By the 1960s, an average of 25 hooligan incidents were being reported each year in England.
In Azerbaijan Biggest problems come from fans of PFC Neftchi Baku (Flagman) (Ultra Neftchi) and Khazar Lankaran (Bosman) (12 Player)
, Anderlecht
and Standard de Liège were a common problem. In Belgium, the Flemish
firms are mostly right-winged. In Wallonia there are more left-winged groups, due to the political situation in the country.
On June 3, 2011, after the match Belgium - Turkey, several riots occurred in the city center of Ghent
after the match ended in a 1-1 draw. 30 people were injured. After they won the championship against Standard de Liège, fans of K.R.C. Genk
, who were intimidated by the police, attacked the police in the center of the city.
is a big problem. Biggest problems come from fans of FK Željezničar Sarajevo (The Maniacs), FK Sloboda Tuzla
(Fukare), Zrinjski
(Ultras Mostar) and FK Sarajevo
(Horde Zla). Also there are many other teams in Bosnia that have hooligans as supporters. FK Borac Banja Luka (Lešinari), NK Čelik Zenica
(Robijaši), FK Velež Mostar
(Red Army), HŠK Zrinjski Mostar
(Ultras), NK Široki Brijeg
(Škripari) also have not so polite fans. Riots often happen after the games and in restaurants, bars, etc.
Bosniak oriented groups are fans of FK Željezničar Sarajevo (The Maniacs), NK Čelik Zenica
(Robijaši), FK Velež Mostar
(Red Army), FK Sloboda Tuzla
(Fukare) also fans of the FK Sarajevo
(Horde Zla).
Serb oriented groups are fans of FK Borac Banja Luka (Lešinari), FK Slavija, and associated with Serbs are FK Drina Zvornik
(Vukovi). Croat oriented groups are fans of NK Široki Brijeg
(Škripari) and HŠK Zrinjski Mostar
(Ultras). Most football fans from Bosnia and Herzegovina are politically right oriented in higher or lesser degree.
. Several teams have organised ultras groups and firms, including CSKA Sofia(Ofanziva, 14, Lulin Boys, Torcida Plovdiv, UCSH, SWCR), Levski Sofia(Sofia Zapad, South Division), Botev Plovdiv(Izgrev Boys, Brigada Trakia), Lokomotiv Plovdiv(Lauta Hools, Napoletani), Minyor Pernik(Teva Boys), Beroe Stara Zagora(Zara Boys), etc. Most of the groups express far-right political views, especially against gypsies and Turks. There are several feuds between the ultras groups, with the biggest being between CSKA and Levski Sofia fans and between Botev and Lokomotiv Plovdiv supporters. Numerous occasions of vandalism on the stadiums have occurred, most notably on 26.02.2011 in the derby between Levski and CSKA Sofia played on Georgi Asparuhov Stadium
.
has seen riots over inter-ethnic resentments and the politics that were reignited by the breakup of the Yugoslav federation
in the 1990s. Two of the best known hooligan firms are Torcida
(Hajduk Split
) and Bad Blue Boys
(Dinamo Zagreb). However, the groups are not just hooligan firms; they are more like the South American Torcida
supporters groups and Ultras
groups, with organised Tifo
s and so on.
On 13 May 1990 (before the breakup of Yugoslavia) Serbian club Red Star Belgrade
was in Zagreb
to play Dinamo Zagreb
at the Maksimir Stadium
. Red Star brought over 3,000 fans to the game with the late Željko Ražnatović
(known as Arkan) a Serbian paramilitary leader being a prominent member. Before the match a number of small fights broke out. Police reinforcements soon arrived with armoured vehicle
s and water cannon
s, focusing and beating solely Dinamo's fans; the legendary reaction of the Dinamo's player Zvonimir Boban
is when he kicked the policeman, defending Dinamo's fan beaten by the police. The fighting lasted for over an hour and hundreds of people were injured. Football hooliganism in Croatia is sometimes connected with racism and nationalism, although the racist remarks, if any appear, are pointed solely to opposing club's players, never to own squad.
Ethnic tension between Croats and Serbs has also led to fighting at a football match in Australia. On 13 March 2005, Sydney United (who have a large Croatian following, and were established by Croatian immigrants) and Bonnyrigg White Eagles (who have a large Serbian following and were established by Serbian immigrants) met in Sydney
in the New South Wales Premier League
. About 50 fans clashed, resulting in two police officers getting injured and five fans being arrested. Football NSW held an inquiry into the events. Both clubs denied that the fight was racially motivated or that there was any ethnic rivalry.
Croatian hooligans are also notorious for staging large illegal pyroshows at stadiumsrge incident occurred in 2003 in which signal flares and smoke bombs are hurled into the pitch causing postponement or cancellation of the match. A lain Rome during the Hajduk-Roma match when 900 Torcida fans threw signal flares at Roma fans resulting in various injuries and clashes with the police.
Another incident occurred in Genoa
in 2007 when masked Torcida fans attacked the police with bricks,bottles and stones.Rioting continued in the stadium when Torcida fans threw chairs into the pitch and made nazi salutes.
A riot occurred in 2006 in Osijek
during the Osijek-Dinamo match.Several clashes between the Bad Blue Boys and Kohorta occurred before the match in which one Osijek fan received several stab wounds after which Osijek fans attacked the police and Dinamo fans with signal flares and stones.
A large riot occurred in 2008 in Prague
prior to the Sparta Prague-Dinamo match. Riots were ignited with the support of Sparta's ultrafans to Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić. Approximately 500 Bad Blue Boys rioted in the city centre breaking shops and attacking police with chairs,signal flares and stones.Approximately 300 Bad Blue Boys were detained and 8 police officer were injured.Prior to the riots some Bad Blue Boys provoked local Romani people by giving nazi salutes.
A large riot occurred in 2010 on 1.May at the Maksimir stadium
when the Bad Blue Boys clashed with the police resulting in many arrests and one critically injured police officer.After the match violent clashes continued in which one Dinamo fan was shot by police officers.
A large number of Croatian
football supporters are patriots
and nationalists and often rally together at political or self organized events to show support for the nation
al idea. In 2008 local Delije
attacked a Croatian student home in Vukovar
. After 2 weeks a large rally was organized by hooligan firms. 2500 Croatian
football supporters converged on the city in search of Serbian
football supporters but a heavy police presence prevented large scale violence. Several weeks after the rally masked Kohorta stormed a Delije
fan club meeting in Bobota and attacked the police and Delije with signal flares and baseball bats resulting in several injuries.
A large incident occurred in 2009 prior to the FC Timişoara-Dinamo match. 400 Bad Blue Boys rioted in the city centre and attacked local Serbs
and Romani people. After the incident Romanian
police detained a large number of Dinamo fans but the situation escalated again at the FC Timişoara stadium when 200 Bad Blue Boys tore down the pitch fence and attacked the police with chairs and bats resulting in several injured police officers.During the clash Dinamo fans fired signal missiles at FC Timişoara fans resulting in severe injuries.
Many Croatian
hooligan groups have also displayed nazi flags at matches and have neo-nazi skinheads in their ranks. Several incidents occurred when Bad Blue Boys and Torcida made racist chants towards opposing club's football players of black skin
descent and hurled bananas in the pitch. In 2010 an Camerun player was attacked in Koprivnica
resulting in severe injuries.
In December 2010. 10-15 Tornado (Zadar
) hooligans attacked an Partizan
traveling coach with stones and bricks resulting in one injured person .
In December 2010 30-40 Bad Blue Boys
attacked an PAOK
traveling coach with stones, bricks and flares setting the traveling coach on fire and inflicting injuries on several passengers.
culture was introduced in Denmark. Hooligans in Denmark are mostly football fans who engaged in violence at football matches. Hooligans in Denmark usually fight in hooligans groups against other hooligans groups from rival football teams. The hooligan in Denmark usually arranges fights with the counterparts before or after the matches, but the fights can also take place far from the stadium or in the stadium during the matches. The Danish man who attacked the referee during a UEFA Euro qualification match in 2008 between Denmark and Sweden later known as the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier fan attack
has however not been classified as a hooligan. In the beginning of the era of hooliganism in Denmark the hooligans operated with a relatively sharp honor code among themselves, which meant that they only fought with like-minded people, and the use of weapons was not permitted. However in recent years there have been examples of this so-called honor code being disregarded by various Danish hooligan groups. Casuals and hooligans operate close with each other in Denmark and the two groups often overlap each other both at the stadium and outside the stadium in this country. The hooligan groups in Denmark are often linked to the radical right-wing like the radical right-wing group Danish Front. Football hooliganism is regarded as a serious problem in Denmark both too the sport itself and too the Danish society in general. In an attempt to control hooliganism in Denmark the Danish parliament introduced a hooligan registry in 2008.
The following hooligan groups have been or are still active hooligan groups in Denmark: White Pride (AGF
) formerly Ultra White Pride was the first real nationalist/ racist hooligan group in Denmark. They have existed since 1994. Aarhus Casuals (AGF) usually has a size of about 50 people. However, this may change depending on the significance of the concrete match. Southside United (Brøndby IF
) was the first hooligan group in Denmark. The group started under the name Southside Brigade, but was renamed after several groups joined forces. The group consist of about between 170 and 250 people. Blue Front (Brøndby IF) consists of approx. 80 members between 17 and 22 years. Blue Front serves as the youth group to Southside United. Yellow Blue Crew (Brøndby IF) can assemble up to 70 people at big matches. Yellow Blue Crew is a non political group. It started out as a regular ultras group in 2006 but has had a great member replacement and is now back on track, as a more direct casual group consisting of young people in their early 20s. The group is centered around the town of Herlev
and also known as The Herlev Boys or YBC. Copenhagen Casuals (FC Copenhagen) was founded in the mid-1990s under the name Copenhagen Ultras. The group consists of approximately between 50 and 100 people. Several members are active on the extreme right. Copenhagen Casuals Young Boys (FC Copenhagen) is a group of young people which are active in Copenhagen Casuals. The group was formed in 2003 and serves as a springboard to Copenhagen Casuals. Blue Army (Lyngby BK) counts approximately between 70 and 100 people, several persons from the right wing. The Island Boys (OB
) is a relatively new group at the Danish hooligan scene, which includes supporting forces from the Odense football environment. The group is non-political. Green City Casuals (Næstved BK
) is a non political group that first appeared on 13 April 2006. Membership is estimated to be approximately 15 people. Horsens Casuals (AC Horsens
) is a violent group of Horsens
fans who have not been active since the 2005/06 season. They were best known for their brawl with Odense Casuals, where there were used golf clubs as weapons. It is said that the group had approximately 100 members. HIK Hooligans (HIK
) is a non-political group that emerged in the season of 2005/2006. The group consists of around 25 members and is due to their club's location in the second best Danish league limited to fewer direct confrontations than the hooligan groups supporting the clubs from the best Danish league. The group moves in the environment around Copenhagen Casuals and has a friendly relationship with this group. The HIK Hooligans is also known as 8911. Supra Esbjerg (Esbjerg fB
) is a hooligan group from the city of Esbjerg
which does not exist anymore. The group contained a hardcore inner group of between 15 and 20 people and a relatively large youth group taking the city's size into consideration. There have been many cases of brawl with other fans, however, the group was best known for their showdown with the group Aalborg Casual Youth.
Besides the official members of this hooligan groups there are also a lot of so-called hangarounds which means people which are not permanently attached to the groups.
, including racial tension. In the 1990s, fans of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) fought with supporters from Belgium, England( in 1994, Paris Saint-Germain F.C. hooligans fought running battles with English club Arsenal for 3 hours prior to the uefa cup semi-final in Paris. Over 300 Arsenal hooligans "TheHerd" fought against 1000 French hooligans, it was reported as one of the worst incidents of hooliganism in France), Germany, Italy and Scotland. There is a long standing north/south rivalry between the PSG (representing Paris and by extension northern France) and Olympique de Marseille
(representing the South of France) which has encouraged authorities to be extremely mobilized during games between the two teams. Violent fights and post-game riots including car burning, and store windows smashing have been a regular fixture of PSG-OM games. In 2000, the bitter rivalry turned particularly violent. On 24 May 2001, fifty people were injured when fighting broke out at a match between PSG and Turkish club Galatasaray
at the Parc des Princes
stadium. PSG were initially given a record $571,000 fine, but it was reduced on appeal to $114,000. Galatasaray was initially fined $114,000 by UEFA, but it too was eventually reduced to $28,500. In May 2001, six PSG fans from the Supporters Club, were arrested and charged with assault, carrying weapons, throwing items on the pitch and racism. The six were alleged to have deliberately entered a part of the Parc des Princes stadium where French fans of Turkish
origin were standing, in order to attack them. The six were banned from all football stadiums for the duration of their trial.
On 24 November 2006 a PSG fan was shot and killed by police and another seriously injured during fighting between PSG fans and the police. The violence occurred after PSG lost 4-2 to Israeli club Hapoel Tel Aviv at the Parc des Prince in a UEFA Cup
match. PSG fans chased a fan of Hapoel Tel Aviv, shouting racist and anti-semitic slogans. A plainclothes police officer who tried to protect the Hapoel fan was attacked, and in the chaos, one fan was shot dead and another seriously injured. In response, the French Interior Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy
held a meeting with the president of the French Football League, Frederic Thiriez to discuss racism and violence in football. The director-general of the French police, Michel Gaudin, insisted that measures against football hooliganism had reduced racist incidents to six that season from nineteen in the previous season. Gaudin also stated that 300 known hooligans could be banned from matches. The fan who was shot, was linked with the Boulogne Boys, a group of fans who modelled themselves on British hooligans in the 1980s. The group's name comes from the Kop of Boulogne
(KOB), one of the two main home fan stand at the Parc des Princes. The KOB themselves held a silent memorial march attended by 300 and accused the police office of murdering the fan. They cited bias in the French press who had only given a "one-sided" account of the incident. French President Jacques Chirac
condemned violence that led up to the shooting, stating that he was horrified by the reports of racism and anti-Semitism. French Prime Minister
, Dominique de Villepin
called for new, tougher measures to deal with football hooligans. Prosecutors opened an inquiry into the incident, to determine whether the officer involved should face criminal charges.
Before a home match against Sochaux
on 4 January 2006, two Arab
youths were punched and kicked by white
fans outside the entrance to the KOB. During the match racist insults were aimed at black players and a PSG player of Indian
origin, Vikash Dhorasoo was told to "go sell peanuts in the metro". On 7 March 2006, three PSG supporters were convicted for unfurling a racist banner at a match in February 2005, that was being held as part of an anti-racism campaign. The fans were banned from the stadium for three years, and fined between US$90 and $1,200.
In the recent years, following UK's example, France's legislation has changed, including more and more banning of violent fans from stadiums. The threat of dissolution of fan groups has also tempered the outward rivalry and violence of a number of fans. Known violent fans under ban sentences are to report to the nearest Police station on nights of game, to prove they are not anywhere in proximity to the stadium.
and far right
groups In June 1998, after a FIFA World Cup
match in France between Germany
and Croatia a French policeman was beaten to the point of brain damage by German fans. Following the incident, German police contacted many of the known 2,000+ German hooligans to warn them they would be arrested if they travelled to upcoming matches in France. A German fan was arrested in 1998 and charged with attempted murder and in 1999, four more Germans were convicted in the attack In 2001, Markus Warnecke, the German fan who was accused of leading the attack, was found guilty and jailed for five years and banned from France for ten years, and from all sports facilities for five years.
In March 2005, German football fans fought with police and rival fans at a friendly match
between Germany and Slovenia
in Celje
, Slovenia
, damaging cars and shops, and shouting racist
slogans. The German Football Association
(DFB) apologised for the behaviour. As a result, 52 people were arrested; 40 Germans and 12 Slovenians. Following a 2-0 defeat to Slovakia
in Bratislava
, Slovakia
, German hooligans fought with the local police, and six people were injured and two were taken into custody. The DFB again apologised for fans who chanted racist slogans.
In June 2006, Germany beat Poland
in a World Cup Finals match in Dortmund
, which led to violent clashes. The police detained over 300 people in Dortmund and German fans threw chairs, bottles and fireworks
at the police. Of the 300 arrested, 120 were known hooligans. In October 2006, a task force was established to deal with violence and racism in German football stadiums. The worst incident took place at a Third division (North)
match between the Hertha BSC Berlin B-team and Dynamo Dresden
, in which 23 policemen were injured. In February 2007 in Saxony
, all German lower league matches, from the fifth division downward were cancelled after about 800 fans attacked 300 police officers (injuring 39 of them) after a match between Lokomotive Leipzig and Erzgebirge Aue
II.
There were minor disturbances after the Germany and England match during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. An England flag was burned down amongst a mob of German supporters in Duisburg-Hamborn in Germany.
on 29 March. The fight involved 500 fans of rival Super League Greece
clubs Panathinaikos, which is based in Athens
, and Olympiacos, which is based in nearby Piraeus
. The Greek government
immediately suspended all team sports in Greece and severed the ties between teams and their supporter's organizations.
On a Third Division match between Panetolikos and Ilioupoli was stopped for thirty minutes when players and fans clashed following a Panetolikos disallowed goal. Two players and a coach were sent to the hospital.
On 18 April rival fans clashed with each other and riot police in Ioannina
during and after a Greek Cup
semi final match between local rivals PAS Giannena and Larissa
. There was trouble during the game in which Larissa won 2-0. Fans set fire to rubbish bins
and smashed shop windows, while police tried to disperse them by firing tear gas.
On 10 October 2009, a group of about 30 hooligans disrupted an "Under 17" match between local rivals PAOK and ARIS. Among the injured were a group of ARIS players and their coach, a veteran PAOK player and another official.
On October 7, 2011, a group of Greek supporters firebombed the away section of a Euro 2012 qualifying match against Croatia in Athens resulting in several injuries.
The Eastern-Hungarian derby is diveded by three clubs: Debreceni VSC (from Debrecen), Diósgyőri VTK (from Miskolc) and Nyíregyházi Spartacus (from Nyíregyháza, whois in the second division at the moment.) thousand of fans are supporting their team in a hellish atmosphere.
Western-Hungary's derby is between Zalaegerszegi TE (ZTE, Man U fans must remember them) and Haladás VSE (from Szombathely.) a hellish atmosphere also guarranted at their games.
One thing is common between these hooligans; they hate their biggest rival's fans and they want to show them, who is the strongest.
In December 2001, police tear gassed brawlers at a Champions League match between AS Roma and Liverpool, in which four Liverpool fans were stabbed. In March 2006 three fans of English club Middlesbrough F.C.
were stabbed before the club's UEFA Cup
clash against A.S. Roma
in Rome in an attack blamed on Roman ultras.
After a weekend of violence in January 2007, the president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) threatened to halt all league football. An official of amateur club Sammartinese died when he was caught up in a fight between players and fans in Luzzi
and in Florence, a Livorno fan needed 20 stitches in his head after being attacked by Fiorentina fans. About 100 Atalanta fans tried to attack coaches carrying Catania fans and fought with police and at a Serie D game, a linesman was hit by a metal drum thrown from the stands. In February 2007 the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) suspended all football matches after a policeman was killed at the Serie A match between Catania
and Palermo
. The policeman, Officer Filippo Raciti, died when he was struck in the face by a small explosive as the police were trying to deal with the fighting outside the ground. On 4 April 2007 AS Roma and Manchester United
fans fought during UEFA Champions League match. A Manchester United fan was stabbed and eleven fans taken to hospital. Two Roma fans also received hospital treatment. The head of Rome police, Achille Serra, claimed that the police action was justified and that there would be no inquiry.
in Dublin. Although The Bohs Soccer Casuals are the only estbalished firm in the League of Ireland
there have been riots at matches between the Bohs Soccer Casuals and hooligan supporters of Shamrock Rovers
. The Rivalry between Bohemians & Shamrock Rovers
is the most intense in the country with a large police presence at all games between the two clubs.
at the 1974 UEFA Cup
Final. Since then, several Dutch clubs have been associated with hooliganism, Ajax, Feyenoord, FC Utrecht, FC Groningen, Twente Enschede and ADO Den Haag
. The most violent rivalry is between Ajax and Feyenoord. On 16 June 1990, English fans were arrested for brawling in Amsterdam
before a friendly match. The bloodiest football hooligan encounter has been the Battle of Beverwijk between Feyenoord and Ajax hooligans on 23 March 1997, in which several people were seriously injured and Carlo Picornie was killed. On 26 April 1999, 80 football fans were arrested when Feyenoord supporters rioted after a cup match with NAC Breda
. The 2002-03 season was marked by continued fighting between fans of Ajax and FC Utrecht, and between fans of Ajax and Feyenoord. In 2006, a riot broke out between Feyenoord fans and French police in Nancy.
. During the riot, hooligans
pelted police officers with stones and fought a running battle with knives and axes. One victim was found lying seriously injured at the scene, and later died in hospital. During the 1998-99 UEFA Cup, Italian footballer Dino Baggio
, from Parma F.C.
was stabbed in the head by Wisła Kraków supporters. The knife was thrown at him from the part of the terraces occupied by the Poles.
Recent violence
in Portuguese
football included fans throwing objects at players on the pitch and staff. Super Dragoes threw golf balls towards Benfica Goalkeeper Roberto during a FC Porto vs Benfica game, and got into various fist fights with the Benficas fans, proceeding afterwards to a massive riot. During a high policed rivalry between S.C. Braga and Vitória Guimarães incidents have occurred outside the pitch. Incidents of golf ball chucking and seats torn apart in each others stadium are very common, especially by the well-known Vitória Guimarães firm White Angels.
During a high profile UEFA Europa League game on 18 March 2010, sporting fans hurled rocks and flares towards Atlético Madrid away fans outside the stadium, whilst some Atletico fans threw glass bottles back. A strong police presence around the stadium helped stop the violence between the two sets of fans.
(Gladiators, Union), FC Lokomotiv Moscow
(Red-Green's, Vikings, BHZ, Trains Team), PFC CSKA Moscow (RBW, Gallant Steeds, Yaroslavka, Einfach Jugend), FC Dynamo Moscow
(Capitals, 9-ka) and FC Torpedo Moscow
(Tubes, TroubleMakers), but faces tough competition from the internationally feared firms of FC Zenit Saint Petersburg
(Music Hall, Coalition, Snakes Firm) from the second biggest city of Russia, Saint Petersburg
. Russian hooligans often have an underlying resentment towards Russia's perceived political rivals.
and Serbia
's two main clubs, FK Partizan
and Red Star Belgrade
. They are known as the Grobari
(Gravediggers) and Delije
(the name means heroes), respectively. FK Rad
is a less-successful Belgrade club, whose associated hooligans, known locally as "United Force", have notoriously been involved in many violent incidents.
On 2 December 2007, a plainclothes police officer was seriously injured when he was attacked during a Serbian Superliga
match between Red Star Belgrade
and Hajduk Kula. On 14 April 2008 a football fan was killed near Novi Sad
after clashes between FK Partizan
's Grobari
and fans of FK Vojvodina
. That same week, after a Red Star Belgrade-Partizan cup match, three people were injured and a bus destroyed by hooligans.
On 19 September 2008 a Serbian football hooligan was sentenced to ten years in jail for an attack against a police officer at a Red Star Belgrade
–Hajduk Kula game.
On 12 October 2010 Serbia's Euro 2012 Qualifying clash with Italy was abandoned after only 6 minutes after several Serbian fans threw flares and fireworks onto the pitch and caused severe trouble in and out of the ground.
Partizan Belgrade were disqualified from the UEFA Cup, after crowd trouble in Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina. Grobari threw flares and stones and fought with supporters of Zrinjski Mostar and police.
Fourteen Grobari were convicted for the murder of Toulouse fan Brice Taton in Belgrade. They attacked them with baseball bats and flares while wearing surgical masks. The hooligans received up to 35 years in prison.
and Djurgårdens IF have been reported fighting after games in Stockholm
. Modern hooliganism began in 1970 when fans of IFK Göteborg
invaded the pitch, destroyed the goalposts and fought the police at the end of a match that relegated Göteborg from the Allsvenskan
, although Hooliganism in Sweden became a growing problem in the 1980s, but pitch invasion
s and violence at football grounds decreased in the late 1990s; when hooligan firms started pre-arranging their fights away from the grounds and the regular supporters. Five clubs that have large organised hooligans firms are AIK
(Firman Boys), IFK Göteborg
(Wisemen) Djurgårdens IF (DFG) Hammarby IF
(KGB) and Helsingborgs IF
(Frontline). But several other football, bandy and ice hockey clubs have active hooligan followings. In July 2002, a member of the Wisemen was killed after a pre-arranged fight against Firman Boys. In November 2002, 12 members of the Wisemen stood trial for inflicting life-threatening injuries on a Hammarby
fan in 2001.
in Spain arises from three main sources. The first is racism
, as some black
players have been victims of ethnic slurs. Samuel Eto'o
, a former FC Barcelona
player from Cameroon
, has denounced the problem. The second source is the strong rivalry
between Real Madrid
and Barcelona
. After transferring from Barcelona to Real Madrid, Luís Figo
's appearance in Barcelona's Nou Camp
Stadium triggered a strong reaction. The crowd threw bottles, mobile phones and other things (including a pig's head). Although nobody was injured the match was followed by a large discussion on fan violence in the Spanish Primera División
. Hooliganism is also rooted in deep political divisions arising from the General Franco fascist regime days (some Real Madrid
, Atlético Madrid, Espanyol, Real Betis Balompie or Valencia CF
ultras are linked to franquista groups), the communist ones, (such as Deportivo La Coruña
, Sevilla FC
or Rayo Vallecano
) and the independentist movements in Catalonia
(like FC Barcelona
) and the Basque region. In Spain, organized hooligan groups are popularly called grupos ultra.
In 1998, Aitor Zabaleta, a supporter of Real Sociedad
was killed by an Atlético Madrid hooligan who was linked to a neo-Nazi group (Bastión), just before a match between these two teams. In 2003, a supporter of Deportivo La Coruña
was killed in riots by Deportivo hooligans, when he tried to protect a supporter of the opposing team, SD Compostela
. Since then, authorities have made attempts to bring hooliganism more under control. In 2007, there were acts of hooliganism before a match between Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid, with several cars being destroyed and policemen injured by flares and bottles which were thrown at them. Many black foreign players have been racially abused, such as at a recent friendly match between Spain and England, in which black England players such as Shaun Wright-Phillips
and Ashley Cole
endured monkey chants from Spain supporters. There also have been local disputes between rival teams, for example between Cádiz Club de Fútbol and Xerez CD
or Real Betis Balompie and Sevilla FC
. In 2008, after a hooligan incident versus Espanyol, FC Barcelona
very publicly took a stand on violence, saying it hoped to stamp out violence for good.
In 2007 Atlético Madrid hooligans clashed with Aberdeen FC hooligans prior to a UEFA Cup
match.
, 13 May 2006, occurred on the last day of the 2005-06 season, when FC Zürich defeated FC Basel
at St. Jakob Park to win the Swiss championship with a last-minute goal. After the final whistle, angry Basel hooligans stormed the field and attacked Zürich players. The Zürich team were forced to celebrate in the upper deck of the stands while the fighting continued. There was similar fighting in the streets that night.
, hooligan groups are well organised, have their own "leaders", and often consist of organised street fighters
. These groups have a "racon" (code of conduct), which states that the intention must be to injure
rather than kill
and that a stab must be made below the waist. Other hooligans have fired firearms into the air to celebrate their team's victory, which has been known to accidentally kill innocent people watching the celebrations on their balconies.
Trouble has arisen during matches between Istanbul rivals Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe. However, the Turkish Football Federation
has tightened security to try and contain the hooliganism. During the 2005 Turkish cup final between Galatasaray
and Fenerbahçe, 8,000 police
, stewards and officials were employed to prevent violence. In 2006, the Turkish Football Federation introduced new measures to combat the threat of hooliganism and have made new regulations that allow the Professional Football Disciplinary Board to fine clubs up to YTL 250,000 for their fans behavior. Repeat offenders could be fined up to YTL 500,000. Despite reports from the Turkish Football Federation, the Turkish police believe that football hooliganism is not a major threat and are "isolated incidents".
Before Galatasaray's semi-final UEFA Cup match with Leeds United A.F.C.
in 2000, two Leeds fans, Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight, were innocently stabbed to death in Istanbul
following street fights between Turkish and British hooligans. UEFA allowed the game to proceed and Galatasaray won 2-0. Leeds complained because home fans jeered while a message of condolence was read for the victims. Galatasaray's players refused to wear black arm bands. The Leeds chairman at the time, Peter Ridsdale
, accused Galatasaray of "showing a lack of respect". He also revealed that his teams' players had received death threats before the match.
Ali Umit Demir was arrested and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for the stabbing, but the sentence was reduced to 5 years on the basis of heavy provocation, while five others were given lesser sentences of under four months. The families of those accused of attacking with knives are reported to have defended their actions and approved of their children punishing the "rude British people". Galatasaray fans were banned from traveling to the return match to try and avoid further clashes between fans, although there were reports of attacks by Leeds fans on Turkish television crews and the police. However the Assistant Chief Constable in charge of policing the game believed that the number of arrests was "no worse than a normal high category game". Hakan Şükür
was hit with projectiles from Leeds United supporters and the Galatasaray team bus was stoned after driving through an underpass. The game saw Emre Belözoğlu
and Harry Kewell
sent off and Galatasaray sealed their way to the final with a 2-2 score.
Violence also occurred between Arsenal
fans (mainly from The Herd) and Galatasaray fans before the 2000 UEFA Cup final in Copenhagen in which a Galatasary fan, an Arsenal fan and a Dane were said to have been stabbed. Galatasaray later won the match after a penalty shoot-out.
Hooliganism in Turkey is also a problem in Ankara
, İzmir
, Eskişehir
, Bursa, Samsun
and Adana
. During the 2003–2004 season, a Second League Category A, match between Karşıyaka and Göztepe
on 8 February 2004, involved rival Karşıyaka and Göztepe supporters clashing and the match was subsequently stopped for 33 minutes. This was due to Karşıyaka leading 5-2 after coming back from a 2-0 deficit. After the match, Göztepe fans clashed with the police, seven police officers were wounded and fifteen Göztepe fans were arrested.
Bursaspor fans clashed with policemen at a match against Samsunspor match in the Turkcell Super League
in Adapazarı
at the end of the 2003-04 season. The match was played in Adapazarı due to events at a previous match between Bursaspor and Çaykur Rizespor. Bursaspor were playing to avoid relegation. Bursaspor won 1–0 the but were relegated to Category A after rivals won. After the match, Bursaspor fans ripped out and threw seats at the Sakarya Atatürk Stadium They also fought with craftsmen of Gölcük during their journey to Adapazarı. The Bursaspor-Diyarbakırspor game in March 2010 was suspended in the 17th minute after Diyarbakırspor supporters threw objects on the field. One object struck and knocked down an assistant referee.
On 7 May 2011, Bursaspor supporters clashed with the police ahead of the team's match with rival Beşiktaş. 25 police officers and 9 fans were injured in the violence.
matches would usually have the worst trouble, but in an era when travelling fans were not common, roughs would sometimes attack the referees and the away team's players. In the early 1980s, many British hooligans started wearing expensive European designer clothing, to avoid attracting the attention of authorities. This led to the development of the casual subculture.
During the 1970s, organised hooligan firms started to emerge with clubs such as Everton F.C.
(County Road Cutters) Arsenal
(Gooners, The Herd) Aston Villa (Villa Youth, C-Crew, Aston Villa Hardcore (Villa Hardcore)) Birmingham City (Zulus, Zulu's Warriors, Zulu's Army, The Zulu
), Derby County
(Derby Lunatic Fringe
), Chelsea
(Headhunters
), Liverpool
(The Urchins), Leeds United
(Leeds Service Crew
), Middlesbrough FC (Middlesbrough Frontline
), Newcastle United (Gremlins) Nottingham Forst (Forest Executive Crew) Manchester United
(Red Army
), Portsmouth
(6.57 Crew
), Sheffield United
(Blades Business Crew
), Tottenham Hotspur (Yid Army
), Wolverhampton Wanderers
(Subway Army
) and most famously West Ham United
's Inter City Firm
. Lower league clubs also have firms, such as Blackpool's
Rammy Arms Crew
,Coventry City F.C (The Legion) and of course Millwall (Bushwackers
), Sunderland (The Vauxies, Seaburn Casuals), Stoke City (Naughty Forty), Walsall
(Junction 9), Grimsby Town (GHS) Derby County
(Derby Lunatic Fringe
), Two main events in 1973 led to introduction of crowd segregation and fencing at football grounds in England. Manchester United were relegated to the Second Division
, the Red Army caused mayhem at grounds up and down the country, and a Bolton Wanderers
fan stabbed a young Blackpool fan to death behind the Kop at Bloomfield Road
during a Second Division match.
The so-called relegation battle when Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea fans fought on the pitch before Spurs relegated Chelsea in the return fixture in 1975, made national news when shown on the BBC television programme John Craven's Newsround.
In March 1978, a full-scale riot broke out at The Den during an FA Cup quarter-final between Millwall and Ipswich. Fighting began on the terraces, then spilled out on to the pitch and into the narrow streets around the ground. Bottles, knives, iron bars, boots and concrete slabs rained from the sky. Dozens of innocent people were injured. In March 1985, hooligans who had attached themselves to Millwall were involved in large-scale rioting
at Luton
when Millwall played Luton Town
in the quarter final of the FA Cup. Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher
's immediate response was to set up a "War Cabinet" to combat football hooliganism. On 29 May 1985, 39 Juventus
fans were crushed to death during the European Cup Final between Liverpool
and Juventus at Heysel Stadium in Brussels
; an event that became known as the Heysel Stadium disaster
. Just before kick-off, Liverpool fans broke through a line of police officers and ran toward the Juventus supporters in a section of the ground containing both English and Italian fans. When a fence separating them from the Juventus fans was broken through, the English supporters attacked the Italian fans, the majority of whom were families rather than ultras who were situated in the other end of the ground. Many Italians tried to escape the fighting, and a wall collapsed on them. As a result of the Heysel Stadium disaster, English clubs were banned from all European competitions until 1990, with Liverpool banned for an additional year.
On 11 May 1985 a 14-year-old boy died at St Andrews stadium
when fans were pushed onto a wall by Police which subsequently collapsed following crowd violence at a match between Birmingham City and Leeds United. The fighting that day was described by Justice Popplewell
, during the Popplewell Committee investigation into football in 1985 as more like "the Battle of Agincourt than a football match". Because of the other events in 1986 and the growing rise in football hooliganism during the early 1980s, an interim report from the committee stated that "football may not be able to continue in its present form much longer" unless hooliganism was reduced, perhaps by excluding "away" fans.
Margaret Thatcher
, UK Prime Minister
from 1979 to 1990, made a high-profile public call for the country's football hooligans to be given "stiff" prison sentences to act as a deterrent to others in a bid to clamp down on hooliganism. Her minister for sport, Colin Moynihan
, attempted to bring in an ID card scheme for football supporters.
Millwall hooligans were involved in their third high profile incident in decade on January 1988, when in an FA Cup
tie against Arsenal
at Highbury
, 41 people were arrested for rioting after The Herd and The Millwall Bushwackers
clashed.
The government acted after the Hillsborough disaster
in 1989, when 96 fans died, bringing in the Football Spectators Act 1989
in the wake of the Taylor Report
. However, the Hillsborough Justice Campaign states: "the British Judicial system has consistently found that violence or hooliganism played no part whatsoever in the disaster". On 15 February 1995, England
played Ireland
. English fans started to throw items down into the stand below and rip up seats; after battles broke out between police and English fans, 50 people were injured.
English and German fans have a rivalry dating back to the late 1980s.
After England's defeat to Germany in the Euro 96 semi-finals, a large scale riot took place in Trafalgar Square
, with a number of injuries. A Russian youth was also stabbed in Brighton, because his attackers mistook him as being German.
Other occasional clashes have occurred with a few other teams since the mid 1980s. France 98
was marred by violence as English fans clashed with the North African locals of Marseille
, which led to up to 100 fans being arrested.
In the 2000s, English football hooligans often wear either clothing styles that are stereotypically associated with the "[casual]" subculture, such as items made by Shark and Burberry
. Prada and Burberry withdrew certain garments over fears that their brands were becoming linked with hooliganism. English hooligans have begun using Internet forum
s, mobile phone
s and text messages
to set up fight meetings or provoke rival gangs into brawls. Sometimes fight participants post live commentaries on the Internet.
Football violence in British stadiums declined after the introduction of the Football Spectators Act, and in the 2000s much of the trouble occurred away from stadiums or away at major international tournaments. At Euro 2000, the England team was threatened with expulsion from the tournament, due to the poor behaviour of the fans. Following good behaviour in the Korea-Japan 2002
and Portugal 2004
, the English reputation has improved. At the 2006 FIFA World Cup
in Germany, there were limited incidences of violence, with over 200 preventative arrests in Stuttgart
(with only three people being charged with criminal offences) 400 others taken into preventative custody. During that day, Police believe that on average each rioter consumed or threw 17 litres of beer
.
Despite hooliganism declining domestically, death threats by English hooligans have become more common in the 2000s.
Rio Ferdinand
was the target of death threats from Leeds United
fans, as was Peter Ridsdale
.
Swedish referee Anders Frisk
quit his position after receiving death threats from Chelsea F.C.
fans. Reading
players Ibrahima Sonko
and Stephen Hunt also received death threats from Chelsea fans in 2006. Fernando Torres
received death threats from Liverpool fans. Sol Campbell
received death threats from Tottenham fans. A steward died after serious clashes between firms from Aston Villa
and Queens Park Rangers
after a Carling Cup game in September 2004.
After some 20 years of relatively good behaviour among English football fans in general, extreme scenes of rioting and hooliganism made a comeback at Upton Park
on 25 August 2009, during a Football League Cup
second round tie between London rivals West Ham United
and Millwall
. The pitch was invaded several times during the game and rioting in the streets came afterwards, with one incident resulting in a man suffering stab wounds.
There were minor disturbances during and after England's 4-1 defeat to Germany during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. A German flag was burned down amongst a mob of English supporters in Leicester Square in England, as well as damage to a Haagen Daz restaurant within the vicinity. One German fan amongst the crowd was confronted by the mob, but there were no injuries.
On 1 December 2010, supporters of rival West Midlands
clubs Aston Villa
and Birmingham City
clashed at St Andrew's stadium after a Football League Cup
tie, which resulted in 14 people being injured - less than 24 hours before England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup
failed. Missiles were hurled onto the pitch, a rocket flare was released in the stands, and there were also scuffles in nearby streets. By this stage, football hooliganism was rising dramatically, with 103 incidents of hooliganism involving under 19's in the 2009-10 season compared to 38 the season before. Cass Pennant, a former football hooligan, said that the rise in football hooliganism was the result of rising unemployment, poverty, and social discontent in the aftermath of the recent recession
.
in 1948, there has historically been a heated rivalry between Linfield F.C.
and Glentoran F.C.
that has escalated somewhat in recent years, such as the 2005 riot, after former Linfield striker Chris Morgan scored a late winner to help Glentoran clinch the League, Linfield had won the league the year before. The game finished 3-2. and the 2008 Boxing Day riot. Linfield were defeating Glentoran 3-0 and Glentoran fans started ripping out chairs of Windsor Park and throwing them towards Linfield fans. Additionally, in the 1970s, the political Troubles
in Northern Ireland
spilled onto the terraces of the football stadiums, and is seen as a major factor in Derry City
leaving the Irish Football League to join the League of Ireland
.
, Hearts and Rangers that had dominated prior to this were then challenged by casual firms (or 'mobs' as they were more popularly known as in Scotland). Casual firms were attached to clubs such as St.Mirren (Love Street Division), Aberdeen (Aberdeen Soccer Casuals), Dundee and Dundee United (Dundee Utility), Hibernian (Capital City Service), Motherwell (Saturday Service), Partick Thistle (North Glasgow Express), Falkirk (Fear) and Dunfermline (Carnegie Soccer Service). Aberdeen, under the name Aberdeen Soccer Casuals (ASC), becoming the best known.
From the 1980s onwards Aberdeen's ASC and Hibernian's CCS became the most feared casuals in Scotland, the CCS
gaining particular notoriety. From the 2000s Hooliganism has declined in Scotland but Aberdeen, Dundee Utility, Celtic, Hibernian, Hearts, Motherwell, Partick Thistle, Airdrie, St.Mirren and Rangers still have a number of hooligans.
While the Scotland national team's
travelling supporters, the Tartan Army
, are generally not violent these days, hooliganism does occur in other areas of Scottish football
. Pre-arranged fights between firms on match days mostly take place away from the football grounds. Most Scottish football fans are against this behaviour, and authorities have taken several measures to reduce football hooliganism.
During Euro '96 there was an organised and well publicised fight between Scottish and English fans in the Centre of Trafalgar Square. This incident attracted worldwide media attention with footage of both sets of casuals attacking each other and police.
Celtic
and Rangers
are the two biggest teams in Scotland
, and the Old Firm
rivalry is one of the most heated football rivalries in the world. The Old Firm rivalry is largely motivated by religious sectarianism
, and is related to the conflict between Loyalist
s and Republican in Northern Ireland
. Rangers' hooligan element (the ICF) have a strong rivalry with Celtic's CSC and Aberdeen's ASC, with Celtic being their traditional cultural enemy. They have also had major clashes with Motherwell, Hibs, Partick Thistle and Dundee's Utility. At the 2008 Uefa Cup final when Rangers reached the final, Rangers fans and the ICF rioted in Manchester with a huge media spotlight
The oldest rivalry in Scotland is between Hibernian F.C.
and Heart of Midlothian F.C.
and contained a sectarian hatred from the outset as Hibernian were initially an Irish Catholics only club and Hearts represented the Scottish Protestant establishment. At the first ever match between Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian on Christmas Day 1875 the Hibs fans chased the Hearts captain, Tom Purdie after allegations of foul play, and since then the rivalry escalated into more serious crowd trouble at virtually every game between them over the next 15 years. This continued as an issue between the clubs and the fans indefinitely.
In the 1980s and 1990s these Hibernian hooligans had documented clashes across the UK with various mobs including notorious hooligan followers from such teams as Aberdeen, Leeds United, Millwall and Chelsea. In European competition the CCS also had clashes with Belgian hooligans and local residents in 1989 and in 1992, in 2005 in the Ukraine against Dnipro hooligans. The Hibernian CCS story has been told in books such as 'These Colours Don't Run' and 'Hibs Boy', and online by former notable members. In Scotland, the CCS had a particular hatred towards Aberdeen's ASC, Rangers ICF, Hearts CSF and Airdrie's Section B
.
During Euro '96 the CCS
, along with Celtic's CSC, Dundee's Utility, Partick Thistle's NGE, Motherwell's SS, St.Mirren's LSD and Aberdeen's ASC organised a well publicised fight with Chelsea, Millwall, Rangers and Airdrie's Section B
Hooligans in the Centre of Trafalgar Square. This incident attracted worldwide media attention with footage of both sets of casuals attacking each other and police.
In the 2000s Aberdeen Soccer Casuals (ASC) had clashes in England at Bradford and Hartlepool and also in Europe.
's hooligan firm are known as the Soul Crew
and have been involved in full scale riots since the 1970s. In January 2002, Leeds United A.F.C.
and Cardiff City fans, players, and Cardiff chairman Sam Hammam
were hit by missiles during a match, and hundreds of Cardiff fans invaded the pitch after the final whistle to celebrate knocking the then leaders of the Premier League out of the FA Cup. In May 2002, Cardiff City were fined £40,000 by the Football Association of Wales
for the events that day. Hammam was criticised by the head of the English Police Spotting teams for his comment preceding the game, which were deemed to be encouraging hooligans. Hammam had said, "It's better for us to play them at Ninian because the intimidatory factor will be so big... It's a bit like the old Den at Millwall except ten times more." Hammam at first blamed what he called a "racist English media" for exaggerating the trouble at the Leeds game. Hammam also launched "a war on hooliganism." In October 2004 a BBC report stated that Cardiff had more fans banned than any other Football League
club, with 160 banning orders against its fans; showing a clear willingness to stamp out holliganism.
Despite the club's small size, Wrexham F.C.'s football hooligan element is known was the front line, and has gained a reputation as being amongst most fearsome 'firms' in the UK. The front line has been involved in full scale riots with many of the top firms in the UK, perhaps most notably in recent years with arch rivals Chester City F.C.
, Everton, Port Vale, Shrewsbury and Oldham. refEverton
Port Vale
hooliganism at Wrexham
violence was already present from the beginning (late 19th century), the organized groups (barras bravas) appeared in the 1950s (barras bravas of Independiente
, San Lorenzo de Almagro, Lanús
, Rosario Central
, Vélez Sarsfield
, Racing, etc.) and 1960s (barras bravas of Belgrano, Boca Juniors, River Plate, etc.), and continued to grow in the coming decades. Every major and minor football club in Argentina has a corresponding barra brava
, and all are violent. In this country there are the largest and strongest organized supporter groups in the world, and the most powerful of them are the barras bravas of Independiente
, Newell's Old Boys
, Boca Juniors
and River Plate
.
The first murder related with the Argentine football occurred on 2 November 1924 in Montevideo
(Uruguay
), after the final match of the South American Championship of this year between Uruguay and Argentina. In the Colón Hotel (where the Argentina national football team
was staying) broke out a fight of Uruguay supporters and Argentine fans and footballers. Consequentially, a Uruguayan fan died.
On 14 May 1939 at the stadium of Lanús
(in the city of Lanús
, in the Greater Buenos Aires
), the violence claimed its first fatality in Argentine territory. In a match of the minor divisions of Boca Juniors and the local team, after a foul by a player of Lanús, players began to fight. Seeing this, the Boca Juniors fans wanted to tear down the fence and invade the pitch, prompting the police to fire shots to disperse them. But a police officer named Luis Estrella shot into the stands, killing two spectators: Luis López and Oscar Munitoli, a minor
of 9 years.
But this violence was not only among fans, footballers or the police, but also against the referees. On 27 October 1946, during a match between Newell's Old Boys and San Lorenzo de Almagro at Newell's Old Boys stadium (in the city of Rosario
), local fans tried to strangle the referee Osvaldo Cossio. The match was tied on two goals when Cossio annulled a goal of the premises, and the third goal of San Lorenzo de Almagro in the next play made worsen the situation. Averaging 89 minutes of the game, several Newell's Old Boys fans entered the pitch, hit the umpire and tried to hang him with his own belt.
But this phenomenon suffered a major transformation in the late 1950s. The journalist Amílcar Romero sets 1958 as the beginning of the current barras bravas (although some had already existed for several years), with the murder by the police of Mario Alberto Linker (in a Vélez Sársfield
- River Plate match at the José Amalfitani
stadium). Because of the murder of this fan of Vélez Sársfield, in October 1958, the society notes the existence of this organized groups (the barras bravas). The so-called "industrialization of football" was the kickoff for this organization, because needed to control all aspects involved in the game. Before the emergence of these groups, when a team played as a visitor, was pressured by rival fans. This prompted the organization of the barras bravas in response to that pressure:
In this way, each club began having his barra brava, which was funded by the leaders of the institution. These groups were given their tickets and paid trips to the stadium, adding later other forms of financing. But the access to these "benefits" by the barra brava depended of the hierarchy inside her. For have prestige in the barra brava, had to be violent, so they began to increase the number of dead.
After the death of Linker, in Argentine football began a phase marked by "habituation" to the violence of the barras bravas, and an increase in the number of deaths. According to Amílcar Romero, between 1958 and 1985 are produced in Argentina 103 deaths related to football violence, that is, on average one every three months. However, it also clarifies that the origin of such deaths is not always confrontation in the stadium, and go from the premeditated clash between barras bravas outside the sporting venues, police repression against disorder, infighting in a barra brava or "accidents", it analysis tends to show some kind of negligence or violation of safety standards.
In 1964 more than 300 football fans died and another 500 were injured in Lima
(Perú
) in a riot during an Olympic qualifying match between Argentina and Perú in 24 May. On 11 April 1967 in Argentina, before a match between Huracán
and Racing de Avellaneda, a Racing fan of 15 years died murdered by the Huracán barra brava at the Tomás Adolfo Ducó
stadium. Over 70 River Plate people died in 1968 when crowds attending a Superclásico
in Buenos Aires
stampeded after youths threw burning paper onto the terraces.
From the 1980s the nuclei of the biggest barras bravas began to attend the matches of the Argentina national football team in the FIFA World Cup
s. That caused fights against supporters of other countries (sometimes were hooligans or ultras
) and between themselves Argentine barras bravas. Also, in the 1980s and the 1990s were recorded the highest levels of violence in the history of the Argentine football, and there was a new phenomenon: the internal fragmentation of the barras bravas. It was produced by the emergence of sub-groups with own names inside the barras bravas. Sometimes these sub-groups fought among themselves to have the power within the barra brava to which they belonged.
A example of the violence of this years was the Roberto Basile's death. Before the start of a match between Boca Juniors and Racing in 1983 in the Bombonera stadium, this Racing supporter died after being pierced in the neck by a flare thrown from the Boca Juniors stand.
In 1997 a member of La Gardia Imperial (barra brava of Racing de Avellaneda
) was murdered by a Independiente supporter. In 2001, other supporter of Racing was killed, and the barra brava of Independiente was the main suspect. Independiente and Racing (both from the city of Avellaneda
, in the Greater Buenos Aires
) have a huge rivalry (they form the Avellaneda Derby
), the second most important in Argentina but maybe the fiercest (noteworthy that their stadiums are apart only for about 300 meters).
A 2002 investigation into football hooliganism in Argentina
stated that football violence had become a national crisis, with about 40 people murdered at football matches in the preceding ten years. In the 2002 season, there had been five deaths and dozens of knife
and shotgun
casualties. At one point the season was suspended and there was widespread social disorder in the country. The first death in 2002 was at a match between fierce rivals Boca Juniors
and River Plate
. The match was abandoned and one Boca Juniors fan was shot dead. Boca Juniors, one of the largest clubs in Argentina, may have the largest barra brava element in the country (it is similar to the barras bravas of Independiente and River Plate), with their self-styled leader, Rafael Di Zeo, claiming in 2002 that they had over 2000 members (however there are doubts about the reliability of this information).
In 2005, a footballer, Carlos Ezcurra, was shot and seriously wounded by a police officer, when rival fans rioted during a Primera B Nacional
match between local Mendoza
rivals (but not a derby) San Martín de Mendoza
and Godoy Cruz Antonio Tomba
.
During the 2006 FIFA World Cup
in Germany, there was a confrontation between 6 members of the barra brava of Independiente and 16 members of the barras bravas of Boca Juniors and Defensa y Justicia (both were together) in Czech Republic
(country where were housed the three barras bravas). As a result of the fight, a supporter of Boca Juniors had to be hospitalized.
In 2007, during the match of the promotion/relegation playoff of the 2006–2007 season between Nueva Chicago and Tigre
(in the Nueva Chicago's stadium), broke out a fight between the barras bravas of both teams because, when a penalty was sanctionaty for Tigre (who was winning the match 2-1, a result that relegated to Nueva Chicago to the Second division) in the minute 92, the barra brava of Nueva Chicago invaded the pitch and ran on direction to the stand occupied by the supporters of Tigre for attack them. After this, were serious riots near the stadium (not only caused by the barras bravas, but also by ordinary people), and as a result of it, a fan of Tigre died.
On 19 March 2010 in a bar of Rosario, the ex leader of the Newell's Old Boys barra brava (Roberto "Pimpi" Camino) was shot and later died in a hospital of that city. Camino and his sub-group lead the barra brava from 2002 to 2009, year in which were expelled from it to be defeated by another sub-group, who currently dominates La Hinchada Más Popular (name of the Newell's Old Boys barra brava). Some members of the now main sub-group are the suspects of the murder, and the bar's owner are suspected of helping them.
In the early morning of 4 July 2010 (the next day of the match between Argentina and Germany for quarter-finals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup
) in Cape Town
, South Africa
, there was a fight between some integrants of the barras bravas of Independiente and Boca Juniors. During the brawl, one member of the Boca Juniors barra brava lost consciousness after being brutally beating by the Independiente fanatics. He was admitted to a hospital in the city and died there on 5 July.
From 1924 to 2010 there were 249 deaths (250 with the Argentine recently died in South Africa) related to the Argentine football (if aren't counted the 300 dead in Perú in 1964).
) and Mancha Verde (SE Palmeiras
), the alliance between Torcida Indepdendente (São Paulo F.C), Torcida Jovem (C.R Flamengo) and Máfia Azul (Cruzeiro Esporte Clube) and some others alliances. They often schedule fights against rival groups where many are injured and killed . Sometimes different groups of hooligans from the same team clash.
The Mancha Verde (means "Green Stain") is one of the most violent football fan club in Brazil. Its structure is very similar to a hooligan firm.
As well, fans of local rivals TJP - Torcida Jovem Ponte Preta
and TFI -Torcida Furia Independente
clashed and rioted at a match in Campinas
in 2002.
appears to be low key, but there have been some incidents, such as small-scale fighting between fans of Monterrey and Morelia at a Primera División
match in Monterrey
in 2003. In June 1998, one man died and several people were injured when Mexican football fans rioted after the Mexico national football team
lost to Germany
in the World Cup
, a result that eliminated Mexico from the tournament. After the match, hundreds of riot police were brought in to restore order because fans were looting and rioting. Fans then clashed with the police, and many fans were injured or arrested.
between Major League Soccer
side Columbus Crew
and English Premier League club West Ham United
, in Columbus, Ohio
, a fight broke out between rival fans. Police estimated more than 100 people were involved.
That same weekend, a riot was narrowly avoided at a packed Giants Stadium
as members of the New York Red Bulls supporters club, Empire Supporters Club
(ESC), and members of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority
security force clashed over what the ESC claimed was unfair and repeated mistreatment. Clashes also took place in the parking area around the stadium after the game, involving already ejected-for-life North Jersey Firm (NJF) members, and the New Jersey State Police
were called to quell the situation. There were several arrests, mostly of known NJF hooligans.
US national team games are generally non-violent events except when the opponent is Mexico. Mexican fans have a reputation of causing trouble at games and the stadium security is usually incapable of handling most problems or simply do not respond. US fans are frequently outnumbered in their own stadia and visiting supporters frequently take advantage of the situation, often leading to missile showers and brutal beat-downs in parking lots. Further complicating matters, home and away fans at US games end up sitting in close proximity with each other since some supporters may be American citizens and do not have to sit in the visitor's section. US Soccer has responded complaints and concerns by creating a dedicated tip line for all of their games as well as a respect campaign but the Mexican federation has not taken a clear stand.
Firms have begun to popup in MLS with the most notable being the IBC (Ironbound Casuals) who are supporters of the New York Red Bulls. There have been many altercations and this group is making quite a name for themselves amongst MLS circles.
match between Mohammedan Sporting Club and Rahmatganj Sporting Club in the Bangabandhu National Stadium
, Dhaka
. When the referee
disallowed a penalty, Mohammedan fans invaded the pitch, throwing stones at the police, who had to fire tear gas at the fans to try and restore order. Outside the stadium dozens of cars and buses were damaged and set on fire.
, football fans clashed with police who had to use tear gas and water cannon
s to disperse the crowd. Police car windows were smashed as the police tried to stop the fans attacking the match referee, whom they were angry at for a decision made during the match. Eight people were arrested but later released. In March 2002 fans fought with police again as hundreds of football fans rioted at a match in Xi'an, this time between Shaanxi Guoli and Qingdao Yizhong. At the final whistle, and in response to a late penalty to the visiting team, Shaanxi Guoli fans threw missiles at the players and the police before setting fire to the stadium seats. The fans accused the referee of being corrupt and fixing the match. The fans were finally dispersed by riot police with batons and high pressure water hoses. Outside the stadium fighting broke out again, a police van and four police cars were overturned. Two years before this incident following crowd trouble at a match also in Xi'an, the government had demanded more action to stamp out football hooliganism. Football hooliganism continued to rise in China partly due to allegations of corrupt referees.
In June 2002, thousands of football fans rampaged for two hours in the streets of Fuzhou
in Fujian
province, overturning police cars, damaging a bus and tearing street signs down. Order was only restored when one hundred heavily armed paramilitary policemen were called in. The rampage had started when fans were unable to watch the World Cup match between China
and Brazil
at an outside broadcast. On 4 July 2004 fans rioted in Beijing
when China
lost the final of the AFC Asian Cup
to Japan
, 3-1, at the Workers Stadium
. After the match hundreds of Chinese fans threw bottles, confronted riot police, burned Japanese flags and vandalised a Japanese Embassy official's car. The Japanese fans had to be protected by the police, and bussed to safety after they had been given a hostile reception by Chinese fans. The rioting was attributed to ill-feeling toward Japan for atrocities committed before and during the Second World War.
In December 2010, rioting broke out following a game between the rival Wahdat and the Faisaly football club, both based in Amman. About 250 people were injured. According to Al Jazeera, supporters of Wahdat are generally of Palestinian origin, while Faisaly fans are of Jordanian origin. According to Al-Jazeera, The Wahdat fans are known for their bravery and madness. During the fights that occurred in December 2010, 243 out of 250 were Faisaly fans that were injured, according to senior officials from the hospitals.
A similar riot took place in 2009.
in the 2000s, tensions surrounding the Arab-Israeli conflict spilled over into sporadic riots between Jewish and Arab Israeli football fans. In December 2000 it was reported that every club in Israel was on a final warning following escalating violence and intimidation at matches. Beitar Jerusalem were attracting attention because of their fan's behaviours. Earlier that season Beitar were fined when their fans shouted racist abuse at PAOK FC
players during a UEFA Cup
match. Beitar had already been under a suspended sentence following an incident two years previously when Rangers F.C.
player Rod Wallace
was also the subject of racist abuse.
In August 2005 at the start of the domestic season, 7,000 Beitar Jerusalem fans travelled to an opening day away match at Maccabi Tel Aviv. Beitar fans chanted anti Arab chants throughout the match, and later rioted in Tel Aviv
. After a match in Sakhnin
against Bnei Sakhnin a predominantly Arab supported club, Beitar fans rioted. Beitar have a hooligan firm, La Familia, whose members consider Israeli Arabs to be their enemy.
In November 2007 the Israel Football Association (IFA) ordered Beitar to play their game against the Arab club, Bnei Sakhnin behind closed doors after Beitar fans, led by La Familia, broke a minute's silence for former Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin and sang chants in praise of his assassin, Yigal Amir.
After a pitch invasion led by La Familia on 13 April 2008, which forced the abandonment of the match, when Beitar were leading Maccabi Herzliya 1–0 and just four minutes from winning the Israeli Premier League, the IFA gave the points to their opponents, deducted two points and ordered that the clubs remaining home games were to be played behind closed doors. At almost every Beitar Jerusalem game illegal smoke bombs and fire works are shot out to the field and seats. Even some games fights break out between fans
n fans at an international match vs Iran
in North Korea in 2005. It appears that a North Korean player got into an argument with the Syria
n referee, and then things got out of hand.
and Kurdish
supporters of rival Syria
n football clubs at a match in Qamishli
, 450 miles (724.2 km) north east of Damascus
, escalated into full scale riots that left 25 people dead and hundreds injured.
(旭日旗 or 旭日昇天旗) at international football games, especially in which the Japanese national team plays against East Asian national teams. This is highly offensive to the countries of the opposing teams because the flag signifies Japan's military aggression before and during World War II, which resulted in deaths and sufferings of millions of Asian people under Japan's brutal regime. In most East Asian countries, including China, Chinese Taipei, the Philippines and South Korea, public sentiment toward kyokujitsu-ki is analogous to public sentiment in Europe and North America toward Swastika, and displaying the flag in public places is strictly prohibited by law in these countries. Most recent incident in which the Japanese hooligans used the flag was during the FIFA-sanctioned 2011 Qatar AFC Asian Cup, in a match between South Korea and Japan. Many supporters of the Japanese national team, calling themselves as Ultra-Nippon, were seen waving kyokujitsu-ki during the match, and this caused a huge public condemnation in South Korea.
and DC Motema Pembe at the Stade des Martyrs
in Kinshasa
in November 1998. In April 2001, 14 people died following a stampede at a derby match between TP Mazembe
and FC Saint Eloi Lupopo
. When fans invaded the pitch after Mazembe had equalised, and rival fans started throwing missiles at each other, the police fired tear gas, and fans rushed to escape the effects of the tear gas. In the resulting stampede, 14 people died. Fans of the two clubs are alleged to have a history of hatred and violence to each other.
n fans in the Cairo International Stadium
after throwing missiles at the Egypt
ian fans in the tier above them during a match between the Egypt national football team and the Morocco national team
. The Libyan fans had stayed on to watch the match after they had seen Libya
lose 2-1 to Ivory Coast
and had started taunting the home supporters. The Egyptian fans responded by asking them to leave the stadium and verbally attacking them at half time, and when, despite a plea to stop, it continued into the second half, the riot police were called in. The Libyan Football Association were fined $7,000 by the Confederation of African Football
disciplinary Commission.
, Senegal
in June 2003. Gambian supporters hurled missiles towards Senegalese fans and were subsequently charged by soldiers. After the game violent clashes were reported in both Gambia and Senegal. In Gambia several severe beatings of Senegalese citizens occurred which led to over 200 Senegalese seeking shelter at their embassy. Also, there were rumours of a fatal beating of a Senegalese citizen. In Senegal a Gambian BBC
reporter was attacked and robbed by a group of youths. The riots eventually led to the closing of the border between Gambia and Senegal until order was restored.
in 2001. Accra Hearts
were leading 2-1 against Asante Kotoko
— with five minutes left in the match — when some fans began throwing bottles and chairs onto the pitch. Police then fired tear gas into the crowd, creating panic. Fans rushed to escape the gas, and in the ensuing crush, up to 125 people were killed.
Ghana giant Asante Kotoko face ban after Fans assault referee in CAF confederations cup game with Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia.
sentiments being expressed in a Tripoli stadium during a match between Al Ahli and Al Ittihad in December 1996.
and Togo
on 27 March 2005, which Togo won 2-1, Mali fans rioted and went on a spree of destruction and violence. The trouble started when Togo scored the winning goal. Police fired tear gas at Mali fans who had invaded the pitch. The match was abandoned and the result awarded to Togo. The result set off a wave of violence in the capital of Mali, Bamako
. Thousands of Mali fans in Bamako began chanting threats toward the Mali players, cars were set on fire, stores looted, property and monuments destroyed and a building housing the local Olympics committee burnt down.
between the Mauritian League
champions, Scouts Club, and Fire Brigade SC. After the match which Fire Brigade SC won, hundreds of Scouts fans went on a rampage, attacking police vehicles and torching sugar cane fields.
had to apologise for the violent behaviour of Mozambique fans, before, during and after a match between Mozambique team, Clube Ferroviário de Maputo
and Zimbabwe team, Dynamos
on 10 May 1998. Ferroviário fans attacked the Dynamo players and the referee, stoned vehicles and fought running battles with riot police outside the stadium. Fifteen people, including four Red Cross workers, needed hospital treatment.
and South Africa
in Harare
. Police fired tear gas when the crowd started throwing missiles onto the pitch, after South Africa had taken a two goal lead. After Delron Buckley
scored South Africa's second goal bottles began to fly onto the pitch. The police then fired tear gas into the 60,000 crowd, who began running to the exits to escape the effects of the tear gas. The match had to be abandoned as players from both sides felt the effects of the tear gas and had to receive medical treatment. The police were condemned for firing tear gas, calling it a total over-reaction. In July 2002, two fans were shot when police opened fire on rioting fans at a match in Bulawayo
. Seven police officers were injured and five vehicles badly damaged.
The incident with most notoriety in Australian Soccer is the Pratten Park riot in 1985 where hundreds of fans stormed the pitch midway through a Sydney Olympic v Sydney City match.
In February 2011 Victoria Police said they were reluctant to cover Melbourne Victory games because of unacceptable behaviour by fans. Problems included violence, anti-social behaviour and the lighting of flares. One senior policeman branded soccer fans the most violent of any sporting code.
At an international soccer friendly between Australia and Serbia in Melbourne in June 2011, fans lit flares both inside and outside the stadium, and in city streets. Banners supporting Ratko Mladic, the Serbian military leader charged with war crimes by the International Court of Justice, were displayed. A laser light was seen in use. Seating at the stadium was also damaged.
Hooliganism
Hooliganism refers to unruly, destructive, aggressive and bullying behaviour. Such behaviour is commonly associated with sports fans. The term can also apply to general rowdy behaviour and vandalism, often under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs....
can range from shouts and small-scale fistfights and disturbances to huge riots where firms attack each other with deadly weapon
Deadly weapon
A deadly weapon, sometimes dangerous weapon, is a statutory definition listing certain items which can inflict mortal or great bodily harm. In addition, deadly weapon statutes often contain "catch all" provisions which describe abilities used to designate other implements as deadly weapons.Whether...
s such as sports bats, bottles, rocks, knives and pistols. In some cases, stadium brawls have caused fans to flee in panic; some being injured when fences or walls collapsed. In the most extreme cases, hooligans, police, and bystanders have been killed, and riot police have intervened with tear gas, armoured vehicle
Armoured fighting vehicle
An armoured fighting vehicle is a combat vehicle, protected by strong armour and armed with weapons. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked....
s and water cannon
Water cannon
A water cannon is a device that shoots a high-pressure stream of water. Typically, a water cannon can deliver a large volume of water, often over dozens of metres / hundreds of feet. They are used in firefighting and riot control. Most water cannon fall under the category of a fire...
s.
A football firm (also known as a hooligan firm) is a gang
Gang
A gang is a group of people who, through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage, share a common identity. In current usage it typically denotes a criminal organization or else a criminal affiliation. In early usage, the word gang referred to a group of workmen...
formed to oppose and physically attack supporters of other clubs. Some firms exist to promote fringe political causes
Dogma
Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, or a particular group or organization. It is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted, or diverged from, by the practitioners or believers...
, both on the far Left and Right, with the football aspect of the club of minimal importance behind the promotion of their political ideals through violence. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the casual subculture transformed the British football hooliganism scene. Instead of wearing working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
skinhead
Skinhead
A skinhead is a member of a subculture that originated among working class youths in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, and then spread to other parts of the world. Named for their close-cropped or shaven heads, the first skinheads were greatly influenced by West Indian rude boys and British mods,...
-style clothes, which readily identified hooligans to the police, firm members began wearing designer clothes and expensive offhand sportswear.
Football hooliganism has been depicted in films such as I.D.
ID (film)
I.D. is a 1994 British film made by BBC Films about football hooliganism, directed by Philip Davis and starring Reece Dinsdale, Sean Pertwee and Warren Clarke. It is set in the 1980s, in England, mainly London, and also shot at Millmoor and Valley Parade football grounds in Rotherham and Bradford...
, The Firm
The Firm (1988 film)
The Firm is a 1989 British drama film directed by Alan Clarke and written by Al Ashton for the BBC, starring Gary Oldman as Clive 'Bex' or 'Bexy' Bissel. The film is based on the activities of the Inter City Firm, football firm of West Ham United during the 1970s and 1980s although in the film the...
, Cass
Cass (film)
Cass is a 2008 British crime drama film. It stars Nonso Anozie as Cass Pennant and is directed by Jon S. Baird-Plot:Cass is based on the true story of the life of Cass Pennant, adapted from his book. The film tells of how he was adopted by an elderly white couple in 1958 and brought up in Slade...
, The Football Factory, Green Street
Green Street
Green Street is a 2005 British/American independent drama film about football hooliganism in England. It was directed by Lexi Alexander and stars Elijah Wood and Charlie Hunnam. In the United States and Australia, the film is called Green Street Hooligans, while in the United Kingdom it has the...
, Rise of the Footsoldier
Rise of the Footsoldier
Rise of the Footsoldier is a 2007 English crime film released on 7 September, 2007. It is the third film from BAFTA award winning director Julian Gilbey...
and Awaydays
Awaydays
Awaydays is a 2009 British film directed by Pat Holden and stars Stephen Graham. It is based on the novel of the same name by Kevin Sampson, originally published eleven years previously in 1998....
. There are also many books about hooliganism, such as The Football Factory
The Football Factory (novel)
The Football Factory is a novel by John King. The book follows a group of working class English men who support Chelsea F.C. and indulge in football hooliganism. The principal character/narrator is Tommy Johnson, with vignettes from minor characters interspersed throughout the novel...
and Among the Thugs
Among the Thugs
Among the Thugs: The Experience, and the Seduction, of Crowd Violence is a 1990 work of journalism by American writer Bill Buford documenting football hooliganism in the United Kingdom....
. Some critics argue that these media representations glamorise violence and the hooligan lifestyle.
Early history
The first instance of football violence is unknown, but football and violence could be arbitrarily traced back to at least the 14th century in England. In 1314, Edward IIEdward II of England
Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...
banned football (which then was a violent free-for-all involving rival villages fly-hacking a pig's bladder across the local heath) because he believed the disorder surrounding matches might lead to social unrest
Rebellion
Rebellion, uprising or insurrection, is a refusal of obedience or order. It may, therefore, be seen as encompassing a range of behaviors aimed at destroying or replacing an established authority such as a government or a head of state...
or even treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
. The first alleged recorded instances of football hooliganism in the modern game took place in the 1880s in England, a period when gangs of supporters would intimidate neighbourhoods, as well as attack referees and opposing supporters and players. In 1885, after Preston North End
Preston North End F.C.
Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...
beat Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
5-0 in a friendly match, the two teams were pelted with stones; attacked with sticks, punched, kicked and spat at. One Preston player was beaten so severely that he lost consciousness. Press reports of the time described the fans as "howling roughs". The following year, Preston fans fought Queen's Park
Queen's Park F.C.
Queen's Park Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland. The club are currently the only amateur club in the Scottish League; their amateur status is reflected by their motto, Ludere Causa Ludendi – to play for the sake of playing.Queen's Park are the oldest...
fans in a railway station; the first alleged instance of football hooliganism away from a match. In 1905, several Preston fans were tried for hooliganism, including a "drunk and disorderly" 70 year old woman, following their match against Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers F.C.
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....
.
Between the two world wars, there were no recorded instance of football hooliganism, (though for example Millwall
Millwall F.C.
Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...
's ground was reportedly closed in 1920, 1934 and 1950 after crowd disturbances) but it started attracting widespread media attention in the late 1950s due to its re-emergence in Latin America. In the 1955-56 English football season, Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
and Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
fans were involved in a number of incidents. By the 1960s, an average of 25 hooligan incidents were being reported each year in England.
Azerbaijan
Football hooliganism in AzerbaijanAzerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
In Azerbaijan Biggest problems come from fans of PFC Neftchi Baku (Flagman) (Ultra Neftchi) and Khazar Lankaran (Bosman) (12 Player)
Belgium
Hooliganism used to be a problem for the last years in Belgian football. Riots between several major teams as Club BruggeClub Brugge
Club Brugge Koninklijke Voetbalvereniging is a football club from Bruges in Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and is one of the top clubs in Belgium. Its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,472....
, Anderlecht
Anderlecht
Anderlecht is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region.There are several historically and architecturally distinct districts within the Anderlecht municipality.-Pronunciation:* Dutch: * French:...
and Standard de Liège were a common problem. In Belgium, the Flemish
Flemish
Flemish can refer to anything related to Flanders, and may refer directly to the following articles:*Flemish, an informal, though linguistically incorrect, name of any kind of the Dutch language as spoken in Belgium....
firms are mostly right-winged. In Wallonia there are more left-winged groups, due to the political situation in the country.
On June 3, 2011, after the match Belgium - Turkey, several riots occurred in the city center of Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
after the match ended in a 1-1 draw. 30 people were injured. After they won the championship against Standard de Liège, fans of K.R.C. Genk
K.R.C. Genk
Koninklijke Racing Club Genk , usually referred to as Racing Genk or simply Genk, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Genk in Belgian Limburg. Racing Genk plays in the Belgian Pro League and they have won 3 Belgian champion titles in 1998–99, in 2001–02 and in 2010–11 as...
, who were intimidated by the police, attacked the police in the center of the city.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Football hooliganism in Bosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
is a big problem. Biggest problems come from fans of FK Željezničar Sarajevo (The Maniacs), FK Sloboda Tuzla
FK Sloboda Tuzla
FK Sloboda is a football club from the city of Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The English translation of the team's name is Football Club Freedom...
(Fukare), Zrinjski
HŠK Zrinjski Mostar
HŠK Zrinjski Mostar is a football team from the city of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The club plays in the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and has been one of the top teams in the country over the years....
(Ultras Mostar) and FK Sarajevo
FK Sarajevo
FK Sarajevo is a professional football club based in Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia-Herzegovina and is one of the most popular clubs in the country. Founded on October 24, 1946, the club was the most successful club from SR Bosnia and Herzegovina in former Yugoslavia, winning two First League...
(Horde Zla). Also there are many other teams in Bosnia that have hooligans as supporters. FK Borac Banja Luka (Lešinari), NK Čelik Zenica
NK Celik Zenica
NK Čelik is a football club from Bosnia and Herzegovina, playing in the city of Zenica.The name Čelik means "Steel" in Bosnian - it is derived from Turkish çelik...
(Robijaši), FK Velež Mostar
FK Velež Mostar
FK Velež , successor of RŠD Velež, is a football club from Bosnia and Herzegovina, from the city of Mostar, founded on June 22, 1922....
(Red Army), HŠK Zrinjski Mostar
HŠK Zrinjski Mostar
HŠK Zrinjski Mostar is a football team from the city of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The club plays in the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and has been one of the top teams in the country over the years....
(Ultras), NK Široki Brijeg
NK Široki Brijeg
NK Široki Brijeg is a Bosnian-Herzegovinian team from the town of Široki Brijeg that currently plays in the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina....
(Škripari) also have not so polite fans. Riots often happen after the games and in restaurants, bars, etc.
Bosniak oriented groups are fans of FK Željezničar Sarajevo (The Maniacs), NK Čelik Zenica
NK Celik Zenica
NK Čelik is a football club from Bosnia and Herzegovina, playing in the city of Zenica.The name Čelik means "Steel" in Bosnian - it is derived from Turkish çelik...
(Robijaši), FK Velež Mostar
FK Velež Mostar
FK Velež , successor of RŠD Velež, is a football club from Bosnia and Herzegovina, from the city of Mostar, founded on June 22, 1922....
(Red Army), FK Sloboda Tuzla
FK Sloboda Tuzla
FK Sloboda is a football club from the city of Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The English translation of the team's name is Football Club Freedom...
(Fukare) also fans of the FK Sarajevo
FK Sarajevo
FK Sarajevo is a professional football club based in Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia-Herzegovina and is one of the most popular clubs in the country. Founded on October 24, 1946, the club was the most successful club from SR Bosnia and Herzegovina in former Yugoslavia, winning two First League...
(Horde Zla).
Serb oriented groups are fans of FK Borac Banja Luka (Lešinari), FK Slavija, and associated with Serbs are FK Drina Zvornik
FK Drina Zvornik
FK Drina is a football club from the town of Zvornik, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The club competes in the First League of the Republika Srpska.- History :...
(Vukovi). Croat oriented groups are fans of NK Široki Brijeg
NK Široki Brijeg
NK Široki Brijeg is a Bosnian-Herzegovinian team from the town of Široki Brijeg that currently plays in the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina....
(Škripari) and HŠK Zrinjski Mostar
HŠK Zrinjski Mostar
HŠK Zrinjski Mostar is a football team from the city of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The club plays in the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and has been one of the top teams in the country over the years....
(Ultras). Most football fans from Bosnia and Herzegovina are politically right oriented in higher or lesser degree.
Bulgaria
Football hooliganism is common in BulgariaBulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
. Several teams have organised ultras groups and firms, including CSKA Sofia(Ofanziva, 14, Lulin Boys, Torcida Plovdiv, UCSH, SWCR), Levski Sofia(Sofia Zapad, South Division), Botev Plovdiv(Izgrev Boys, Brigada Trakia), Lokomotiv Plovdiv(Lauta Hools, Napoletani), Minyor Pernik(Teva Boys), Beroe Stara Zagora(Zara Boys), etc. Most of the groups express far-right political views, especially against gypsies and Turks. There are several feuds between the ultras groups, with the biggest being between CSKA and Levski Sofia fans and between Botev and Lokomotiv Plovdiv supporters. Numerous occasions of vandalism on the stadiums have occurred, most notably on 26.02.2011 in the derby between Levski and CSKA Sofia played on Georgi Asparuhov Stadium
Georgi Asparuhov Stadium
Georgi Asparuhov Stadium , also known as Gerena , is a football stadium situated in the Suhata reka neighbourhood of the Bulgarian capital Sofia. It has been the home of PFC Levski Sofia since 1963....
.
Croatia
Football hooliganism in CroatiaCroatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
has seen riots over inter-ethnic resentments and the politics that were reignited by the breakup of the Yugoslav federation
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
in the 1990s. Two of the best known hooligan firms are Torcida
Torcida Split
Torcida is a Hajduk Split supporters group, from Croatia, founded on 28 October 1950. The name "Torcida" is the Brazilian Portuguese word for "supporters". Club fans operate from Zrinsko Frankopanska-17, Split...
(Hajduk Split
HNK Hajduk Split
HNK Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split or simply Hajduk, is a Croatian football club founded in 1911 and based in the city of Split. The club's home ground since 1979 is the 35,000-seater Poljud Stadium and the team's traditional home colours are white shirts with blue shorts and...
) and Bad Blue Boys
Bad Blue Boys
Bad Blue Boys are an Ultras group who support the Croatian football club GNK Dinamo Zagreb.-History:Bad Blue Boys were originally founded on 17 March 1986 in Zagreb , with members from different areas of Zagreb...
(Dinamo Zagreb). However, the groups are not just hooligan firms; they are more like the South American Torcida
Torcida
Torcidas organizadas are formal associations of football fans in Brazil in the same vein as Argentine hinchadas and European ultras. The name is based on the verb torcer, which means "to root for" but also "to wring" and "to turn"...
supporters groups and Ultras
Ultras
Ultras are a type of sports fans renowned for their fanatical support and elaborate displays. They are predominantly European followers of football teams...
groups, with organised Tifo
Tifo
Tifo, originally the Italian word for the phenomenon of supporting a sport team, is mostly used as a name for any spectacular choreography displayed by supporters on the terraces of an arena or stadium in connection with a sport event, mostly a football match....
s and so on.
On 13 May 1990 (before the breakup of Yugoslavia) Serbian club Red Star Belgrade
Red Star Belgrade
Red Star Belgrade is a football club from Belgrade, Serbia. The club is a part of the Red Star Sports Society.Red Star Belgrade is the most successful Serbian club, with a record of 25 national championships and 23 national cups in both Serbian and ex-Yugoslav competitions...
was in Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
to play Dinamo Zagreb
Dinamo Zagreb
GNK Dinamo Zagreb, commonly referred to as Dinamo Zagreb , or by their nickname Modri are a Croatian football club based in Zagreb. They play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Croatian football, having won thirteen Croatian championship titles, ten...
at the Maksimir Stadium
Maksimir Stadium
Maksimir Stadium is a stadium in the Croatian capital of Zagreb. It takes its name from the neighbourhood of Maksimir. It is primarily the home of Dinamo Zagreb, the top football team in the country. It is also home to Dinamo Zagreb's farm team NK Lokomotiva....
. Red Star brought over 3,000 fans to the game with the late Željko Ražnatović
Željko Ražnatovic
Željko Ražnatović , widely known as Arkan was a Serbian career criminal and later a paramilitary leader who was notable for organizing and leading a paramilitary force in the Yugoslav Wars...
(known as Arkan) a Serbian paramilitary leader being a prominent member. Before the match a number of small fights broke out. Police reinforcements soon arrived with armoured vehicle
Armoured fighting vehicle
An armoured fighting vehicle is a combat vehicle, protected by strong armour and armed with weapons. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked....
s and water cannon
Water cannon
A water cannon is a device that shoots a high-pressure stream of water. Typically, a water cannon can deliver a large volume of water, often over dozens of metres / hundreds of feet. They are used in firefighting and riot control. Most water cannon fall under the category of a fire...
s, focusing and beating solely Dinamo's fans; the legendary reaction of the Dinamo's player Zvonimir Boban
Zvonimir Boban
Zvonimir Boban is a Croatian former football midfielder who played most of his professional career for Serie A club Milan, with whom he won four Serie A titles and the Champions League. He was a member of the Croatia national team which attained third place at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, with Boban...
is when he kicked the policeman, defending Dinamo's fan beaten by the police. The fighting lasted for over an hour and hundreds of people were injured. Football hooliganism in Croatia is sometimes connected with racism and nationalism, although the racist remarks, if any appear, are pointed solely to opposing club's players, never to own squad.
Ethnic tension between Croats and Serbs has also led to fighting at a football match in Australia. On 13 March 2005, Sydney United (who have a large Croatian following, and were established by Croatian immigrants) and Bonnyrigg White Eagles (who have a large Serbian following and were established by Serbian immigrants) met in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
in the New South Wales Premier League
New South Wales Premier League
The New South Wales Premier League is the highest state-level men's soccer competition in New South Wales, Australia. Nationally, it is considered one grade lower than the A-League...
. About 50 fans clashed, resulting in two police officers getting injured and five fans being arrested. Football NSW held an inquiry into the events. Both clubs denied that the fight was racially motivated or that there was any ethnic rivalry.
Croatian hooligans are also notorious for staging large illegal pyroshows at stadiumsrge incident occurred in 2003 in which signal flares and smoke bombs are hurled into the pitch causing postponement or cancellation of the match. A lain Rome during the Hajduk-Roma match when 900 Torcida fans threw signal flares at Roma fans resulting in various injuries and clashes with the police.
Another incident occurred in Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
in 2007 when masked Torcida fans attacked the police with bricks,bottles and stones.Rioting continued in the stadium when Torcida fans threw chairs into the pitch and made nazi salutes.
A riot occurred in 2006 in Osijek
Osijek
Osijek is the fourth largest city in Croatia with a population of 83,496 in 2011. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja county...
during the Osijek-Dinamo match.Several clashes between the Bad Blue Boys and Kohorta occurred before the match in which one Osijek fan received several stab wounds after which Osijek fans attacked the police and Dinamo fans with signal flares and stones.
A large riot occurred in 2008 in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
prior to the Sparta Prague-Dinamo match. Riots were ignited with the support of Sparta's ultrafans to Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić. Approximately 500 Bad Blue Boys rioted in the city centre breaking shops and attacking police with chairs,signal flares and stones.Approximately 300 Bad Blue Boys were detained and 8 police officer were injured.Prior to the riots some Bad Blue Boys provoked local Romani people by giving nazi salutes.
A large riot occurred in 2010 on 1.May at the Maksimir stadium
Maksimir Stadium
Maksimir Stadium is a stadium in the Croatian capital of Zagreb. It takes its name from the neighbourhood of Maksimir. It is primarily the home of Dinamo Zagreb, the top football team in the country. It is also home to Dinamo Zagreb's farm team NK Lokomotiva....
when the Bad Blue Boys clashed with the police resulting in many arrests and one critically injured police officer.After the match violent clashes continued in which one Dinamo fan was shot by police officers.
A large number of Croatian
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
football supporters are patriots
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
and nationalists and often rally together at political or self organized events to show support for the nation
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...
al idea. In 2008 local Delije
Delije
Delije roughly translated to English as Heroes is an umbrella name referring to the supporters of various sports clubs that compete under Red Star Belgrade Sports Society banner....
attacked a Croatian student home in Vukovar
Vukovar
Vukovar is a city in eastern Croatia, and the biggest river port in Croatia located at the confluence of the Vuka river and the Danube. Vukovar is the center of the Vukovar-Syrmia County...
. After 2 weeks a large rally was organized by hooligan firms. 2500 Croatian
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
football supporters converged on the city in search of Serbian
Serbians
Serbians may refer to people who are identified with the country of Serbia, or people of the Serb ethnic group.However it could also be used as the translation of Serbian word "Србијанци" , especially when distinction is made between the two...
football supporters but a heavy police presence prevented large scale violence. Several weeks after the rally masked Kohorta stormed a Delije
Delije
Delije roughly translated to English as Heroes is an umbrella name referring to the supporters of various sports clubs that compete under Red Star Belgrade Sports Society banner....
fan club meeting in Bobota and attacked the police and Delije with signal flares and baseball bats resulting in several injuries.
A large incident occurred in 2009 prior to the FC Timişoara-Dinamo match. 400 Bad Blue Boys rioted in the city centre and attacked local Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
and Romani people. After the incident Romanian
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
police detained a large number of Dinamo fans but the situation escalated again at the FC Timişoara stadium when 200 Bad Blue Boys tore down the pitch fence and attacked the police with chairs and bats resulting in several injured police officers.During the clash Dinamo fans fired signal missiles at FC Timişoara fans resulting in severe injuries.
Many Croatian
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
hooligan groups have also displayed nazi flags at matches and have neo-nazi skinheads in their ranks. Several incidents occurred when Bad Blue Boys and Torcida made racist chants towards opposing club's football players of black skin
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
descent and hurled bananas in the pitch. In 2010 an Camerun player was attacked in Koprivnica
Koprivnica
Koprivnica is a city in northern Croatia. It is the capital of the Koprivnica-Križevci county. In 2011 the city administrative area had a total population of 30,872, with 23,896 in the city itself.-Population:...
resulting in severe injuries.
In December 2010. 10-15 Tornado (Zadar
Zadar
Zadar is a city in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. It is the centre of Zadar county and the wider northern Dalmatian region. Population of the city is 75,082 citizens...
) hooligans attacked an Partizan
Partizan
Partizan is the Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, and Slovene term for a partisan. It is usually used in those languages to denote a member of the World War II resistance movement, the Yugoslav Partisans, which are always mentioned in those languages without the adjective "Yugoslav", i.e...
traveling coach with stones and bricks resulting in one injured person .
In December 2010 30-40 Bad Blue Boys
Bad Blue Boys
Bad Blue Boys are an Ultras group who support the Croatian football club GNK Dinamo Zagreb.-History:Bad Blue Boys were originally founded on 17 March 1986 in Zagreb , with members from different areas of Zagreb...
attacked an PAOK
PAOK
The Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans , abbreviated P.A.O.K. , is a Macedonian sports club in Thessaloniki, Greece. The club is home to several teams, including football, basketball, volleyball, handball, water polo, swimming, wrestling, hockey and weightlifting. P.A.O.K. was...
traveling coach with stones, bricks and flares setting the traveling coach on fire and inflicting injuries on several passengers.
Denmark
Hooliganism has been a term used in Denmark since the early nineties just one decade after the peaceful roliganRoligan
The Roligan movement are Danish football fans, who are well-mannered, yet cheerful, during the match and before and after. This behavior is the opposite of that exhibited by hooligans. The term roligan is a pun based on the word rolig which means "calm" in Danish.The movement was founded during the...
culture was introduced in Denmark. Hooligans in Denmark are mostly football fans who engaged in violence at football matches. Hooligans in Denmark usually fight in hooligans groups against other hooligans groups from rival football teams. The hooligan in Denmark usually arranges fights with the counterparts before or after the matches, but the fights can also take place far from the stadium or in the stadium during the matches. The Danish man who attacked the referee during a UEFA Euro qualification match in 2008 between Denmark and Sweden later known as the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier fan attack
UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier fan attack
A fan attack occurred at the Euro 2008 qualifying match between the national football teams of Sweden and Denmark, at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen on 2 June 2007...
has however not been classified as a hooligan. In the beginning of the era of hooliganism in Denmark the hooligans operated with a relatively sharp honor code among themselves, which meant that they only fought with like-minded people, and the use of weapons was not permitted. However in recent years there have been examples of this so-called honor code being disregarded by various Danish hooligan groups. Casuals and hooligans operate close with each other in Denmark and the two groups often overlap each other both at the stadium and outside the stadium in this country. The hooligan groups in Denmark are often linked to the radical right-wing like the radical right-wing group Danish Front. Football hooliganism is regarded as a serious problem in Denmark both too the sport itself and too the Danish society in general. In an attempt to control hooliganism in Denmark the Danish parliament introduced a hooligan registry in 2008.
The following hooligan groups have been or are still active hooligan groups in Denmark: White Pride (AGF
AGF
AGF may stand for:* AGF , a French insurance company* AGF Management Limited, a Canadian investment management company* Amaranth Greenpeace Foundation, an international organization* Ajinomoto General Foods, a Japanese foodstuffs company...
) formerly Ultra White Pride was the first real nationalist/ racist hooligan group in Denmark. They have existed since 1994. Aarhus Casuals (AGF) usually has a size of about 50 people. However, this may change depending on the significance of the concrete match. Southside United (Brøndby IF
Brøndby IF
Brøndby IF is a Danish professional football club based in Brøndbyvester, Brøndby, on the western outskirts of Copenhagen and is the biggest football club in Denmark with almost 2000 members. The club is also known as Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening, or Brøndby and BIF for short...
) was the first hooligan group in Denmark. The group started under the name Southside Brigade, but was renamed after several groups joined forces. The group consist of about between 170 and 250 people. Blue Front (Brøndby IF) consists of approx. 80 members between 17 and 22 years. Blue Front serves as the youth group to Southside United. Yellow Blue Crew (Brøndby IF) can assemble up to 70 people at big matches. Yellow Blue Crew is a non political group. It started out as a regular ultras group in 2006 but has had a great member replacement and is now back on track, as a more direct casual group consisting of young people in their early 20s. The group is centered around the town of Herlev
Herlev
Herlev Kommune is a suburban municipality in Region Hovedstaden on the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 12 km², and has a total population of 26,567 . Its mayor is Kjeld Hansen, a member of the Social Democrats political party...
and also known as The Herlev Boys or YBC. Copenhagen Casuals (FC Copenhagen) was founded in the mid-1990s under the name Copenhagen Ultras. The group consists of approximately between 50 and 100 people. Several members are active on the extreme right. Copenhagen Casuals Young Boys (FC Copenhagen) is a group of young people which are active in Copenhagen Casuals. The group was formed in 2003 and serves as a springboard to Copenhagen Casuals. Blue Army (Lyngby BK) counts approximately between 70 and 100 people, several persons from the right wing. The Island Boys (OB
OB
OB may refer to:* OB star, in astronomy, a hot, massive star of spectral types O or B* Ocean Beach, San Diego, a neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States* Odense Boldklub, a Danish football club...
) is a relatively new group at the Danish hooligan scene, which includes supporting forces from the Odense football environment. The group is non-political. Green City Casuals (Næstved BK
Næstved BK
Næstved Boldklub is a Danish football club currently playing in the Danish 1st Division. They play at Næstved Stadion in Næstved on Zealand, which has a capacity of 10,000, of which around 2,000 are seats....
) is a non political group that first appeared on 13 April 2006. Membership is estimated to be approximately 15 people. Horsens Casuals (AC Horsens
AC Horsens
AC Horsens is a professional Danish football team, playing in the Danish Superliga championship. They play on Forum Horsens Stadion in Horsens. The club was founded in 1994, as a superstructure on Horsens fS and the merger of Dagnæs IF and B 1940; FC Horsens.-History:When the new team started in...
) is a violent group of Horsens
Horsens
Horsens is a Danish city in east Jutland. It is the site of the council of Horsens municipality. The city's population is 53,807 and the Horsens municipality's population is 82,835 ....
fans who have not been active since the 2005/06 season. They were best known for their brawl with Odense Casuals, where there were used golf clubs as weapons. It is said that the group had approximately 100 members. HIK Hooligans (HIK
HIK
HIK may refer to:* Hellerup IK, a Danish sports club from Copenhagen* Hobro IK, a Danish sports club from North Jutland* Hangö Idrottsklubb, a sports club from Hanko, Finland* Hikma Pharmaceuticals...
) is a non-political group that emerged in the season of 2005/2006. The group consists of around 25 members and is due to their club's location in the second best Danish league limited to fewer direct confrontations than the hooligan groups supporting the clubs from the best Danish league. The group moves in the environment around Copenhagen Casuals and has a friendly relationship with this group. The HIK Hooligans is also known as 8911. Supra Esbjerg (Esbjerg fB
Esbjerg fB
Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber also referred to as Esbjerg fB or simply EfB is a professional Danish football club from the port city of Esbjerg in West Jutland. The club was formed in 1924, as a merger between Esbjerg Boldklub af 1898 and Esbjerg Amatørklub af 1911. The club has training facilities...
) is a hooligan group from the city of Esbjerg
Esbjerg
Esbjerg Municipality is a municipality in Region of Southern Denmark on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. Its mayor is Johnny Søtrup, from the Venstre political party...
which does not exist anymore. The group contained a hardcore inner group of between 15 and 20 people and a relatively large youth group taking the city's size into consideration. There have been many cases of brawl with other fans, however, the group was best known for their showdown with the group Aalborg Casual Youth.
Besides the official members of this hooligan groups there are also a lot of so-called hangarounds which means people which are not permanently attached to the groups.
France
Football hooliganism in France is often rooted in social conflictSocial conflict
Social conflict is the struggle for agency or power in society.Social conflict or group conflict occurs when two or more actors oppose each other in social interaction,reciprocally exerting social power in an effort to attain scarce or incompatible goals and prevent the opponent from attaining them...
, including racial tension. In the 1990s, fans of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) fought with supporters from Belgium, England( in 1994, Paris Saint-Germain F.C. hooligans fought running battles with English club Arsenal for 3 hours prior to the uefa cup semi-final in Paris. Over 300 Arsenal hooligans "TheHerd" fought against 1000 French hooligans, it was reported as one of the worst incidents of hooliganism in France), Germany, Italy and Scotland. There is a long standing north/south rivalry between the PSG (representing Paris and by extension northern France) and Olympique de Marseille
Olympique de Marseille
Olympique de Marseille is a French association football club based in Marseille. Founded in 1899, the club plays in Ligue 1 and have spent most of its history in the top tier of French football. Marseille have been French champions nine times and have won the Coupe de France a record ten times. In...
(representing the South of France) which has encouraged authorities to be extremely mobilized during games between the two teams. Violent fights and post-game riots including car burning, and store windows smashing have been a regular fixture of PSG-OM games. In 2000, the bitter rivalry turned particularly violent. On 24 May 2001, fifty people were injured when fighting broke out at a match between PSG and Turkish club Galatasaray
Galatasaray S.K. (football team)
Galatasaray Anonim Şirketi is a Turkish football club, part of the Galatasaray S.K. multi-sport club of Istanbul. Galatasaray is a major sports club in Turkey, holding 17 Turkish Super League titles and the highest number of Turkish Cups....
at the Parc des Princes
Parc des Princes
The Parc des Princes is an all-seater football stadium located in the southwest of Paris, France. The venue, with a seating capacity of 48,712 spectators, has been the home of French football club Paris Saint-Germain since 1974. The current Parc des Princes was inaugurated on 4 June 1972, endowed...
stadium. PSG were initially given a record $571,000 fine, but it was reduced on appeal to $114,000. Galatasaray was initially fined $114,000 by UEFA, but it too was eventually reduced to $28,500. In May 2001, six PSG fans from the Supporters Club, were arrested and charged with assault, carrying weapons, throwing items on the pitch and racism. The six were alleged to have deliberately entered a part of the Parc des Princes stadium where French fans of Turkish
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
origin were standing, in order to attack them. The six were banned from all football stadiums for the duration of their trial.
On 24 November 2006 a PSG fan was shot and killed by police and another seriously injured during fighting between PSG fans and the police. The violence occurred after PSG lost 4-2 to Israeli club Hapoel Tel Aviv at the Parc des Prince in a UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
match. PSG fans chased a fan of Hapoel Tel Aviv, shouting racist and anti-semitic slogans. A plainclothes police officer who tried to protect the Hapoel fan was attacked, and in the chaos, one fan was shot dead and another seriously injured. In response, the French Interior Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
held a meeting with the president of the French Football League, Frederic Thiriez to discuss racism and violence in football. The director-general of the French police, Michel Gaudin, insisted that measures against football hooliganism had reduced racist incidents to six that season from nineteen in the previous season. Gaudin also stated that 300 known hooligans could be banned from matches. The fan who was shot, was linked with the Boulogne Boys, a group of fans who modelled themselves on British hooligans in the 1980s. The group's name comes from the Kop of Boulogne
Kop of Boulogne
The Kop of Boulogne is a stand in the Parc des Princes which mainly housed the Boulogne Boys, a supporters group associated with the club. It is known as the "most notorious stand in French football" due to its links with violence and far-right political groups...
(KOB), one of the two main home fan stand at the Parc des Princes. The KOB themselves held a silent memorial march attended by 300 and accused the police office of murdering the fan. They cited bias in the French press who had only given a "one-sided" account of the incident. French President Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
condemned violence that led up to the shooting, stating that he was horrified by the reports of racism and anti-Semitism. French Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
, Dominique de Villepin
Dominique de Villepin
Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin is a French politician who served as the Prime Minister of France from 31 May 2005 to 17 May 2007....
called for new, tougher measures to deal with football hooligans. Prosecutors opened an inquiry into the incident, to determine whether the officer involved should face criminal charges.
Before a home match against Sochaux
FC Sochaux-Montbéliard
Football Club Sochaux-Montbéliard is a French association football club based in the city of Montbéliard. The club was founded in 1928 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football. Sochaux plays its home matches at the Stade Auguste Bonal located within the city...
on 4 January 2006, two Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
youths were punched and kicked by white
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
fans outside the entrance to the KOB. During the match racist insults were aimed at black players and a PSG player of Indian
Demographics of India
The demographics of India are inclusive of the second most populous country in the world, with over 1.21 billion people , more than a sixth of the world's population. Already containing 17.5% of the world's population, India is projected to be the world's most populous country by 2025, surpassing...
origin, Vikash Dhorasoo was told to "go sell peanuts in the metro". On 7 March 2006, three PSG supporters were convicted for unfurling a racist banner at a match in February 2005, that was being held as part of an anti-racism campaign. The fans were banned from the stadium for three years, and fined between US$90 and $1,200.
In the recent years, following UK's example, France's legislation has changed, including more and more banning of violent fans from stadiums. The threat of dissolution of fan groups has also tempered the outward rivalry and violence of a number of fans. Known violent fans under ban sentences are to report to the nearest Police station on nights of game, to prove they are not anywhere in proximity to the stadium.
Germany
Some football hooliganism in Germany has been linked to neo-NazismNeo-Nazism
Neo-Nazism consists of post-World War II social or political movements seeking to revive Nazism or some variant thereof.The term neo-Nazism can also refer to the ideology of these movements....
and far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
groups In June 1998, after a FIFA World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
match in France between Germany
Germany national football team
The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....
and Croatia a French policeman was beaten to the point of brain damage by German fans. Following the incident, German police contacted many of the known 2,000+ German hooligans to warn them they would be arrested if they travelled to upcoming matches in France. A German fan was arrested in 1998 and charged with attempted murder and in 1999, four more Germans were convicted in the attack In 2001, Markus Warnecke, the German fan who was accused of leading the attack, was found guilty and jailed for five years and banned from France for ten years, and from all sports facilities for five years.
In March 2005, German football fans fought with police and rival fans at a friendly match
Exhibition game
An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...
between Germany and Slovenia
Slovenia national football team
The Slovenia national football team is the national football team of Slovenia and is controlled by the Football Association of Slovenia. The team played their first match in 1992 after the split of Yugoslavia in 1991....
in Celje
Celje
Celje is a typical Central European town and the third largest town in Slovenia. It is a regional center of Lower Styria and the administrative seat of the Urban Municipality of Celje . The town of Celje is located under Upper Celje Castle at the confluence of the Savinja, Ložnica, and Voglajna...
, Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
, damaging cars and shops, and shouting racist
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
slogans. The German Football Association
German Football Association
The German Football Association is the governing body of football in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB organises the German football leagues, including the national league, the Bundesliga, and the men's and women's national teams. The DFB is based in Frankfurt and is...
(DFB) apologised for the behaviour. As a result, 52 people were arrested; 40 Germans and 12 Slovenians. Following a 2-0 defeat to Slovakia
Slovakia national football team
The Slovakia national football team represents Slovakia in association football and is controlled by the Slovak Football Association , the governing body for football in Slovakia. Slovakia's home stadium is Štadión Pasienky and their head coach is Vladimír Weiss...
in Bratislava
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...
, Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
, German hooligans fought with the local police, and six people were injured and two were taken into custody. The DFB again apologised for fans who chanted racist slogans.
In June 2006, Germany beat Poland
Poland national football team
The Poland national football team represents Poland in association football and is controlled by the Polish Football Association, the governing body for football in Poland...
in a World Cup Finals match in Dortmund
Dortmund
Dortmund is a city in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 585,045 makes it the 7th largest city in Germany and the 34th largest in the European Union....
, which led to violent clashes. The police detained over 300 people in Dortmund and German fans threw chairs, bottles and fireworks
Fireworks
Fireworks are a class of explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. The most common use of a firework is as part of a fireworks display. A fireworks event is a display of the effects produced by firework devices...
at the police. Of the 300 arrested, 120 were known hooligans. In October 2006, a task force was established to deal with violence and racism in German football stadiums. The worst incident took place at a Third division (North)
Regionalliga (football)
The Fußball-Regionalliga is the fourth tier of football in the German football league system. Until 1974, it was the second tier of the league system before being disbanded. The Regionalliga was then re-introduced as the third tier of the system in 1994...
match between the Hertha BSC Berlin B-team and Dynamo Dresden
Dynamo Dresden
SG Dynamo Dresden are a German association football club, based in Dresden, Saxony. They were founded in 1950, as a club affiliated with the East German police, and became one of the most popular and successful clubs in East German football, winning eight league titles...
, in which 23 policemen were injured. In February 2007 in Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
, all German lower league matches, from the fifth division downward were cancelled after about 800 fans attacked 300 police officers (injuring 39 of them) after a match between Lokomotive Leipzig and Erzgebirge Aue
FC Erzgebirge Aue
FC Erzgebirge Aue is a German football club based in Aue, Saxony. The former East German side was a charter member of the 3. Liga in 2008–09, after being relegated from the 2. Bundesliga in 2007–08. The city of Aue has a population of about 18,000 making it one of the smallest cities to ever...
II.
There were minor disturbances after the Germany and England match during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. An England flag was burned down amongst a mob of German supporters in Duisburg-Hamborn in Germany.
Greece
In April 2007 all sports stadiums were closed down in Greece for two weeks following the death of a fan in a pre-arranged fight between hooligans in AthensAthens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
on 29 March. The fight involved 500 fans of rival Super League Greece
Super League Greece
The Superleague Greece is the highest professional football league in Greece. It was formed on July 16, 2006 and replaced Alpha Ethniki at the top of the Greek football league system. The league consists of 16 teams and runs from August to May, with teams playing 30 games each...
clubs Panathinaikos, which is based in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, and Olympiacos, which is based in nearby Piraeus
Piraeus
Piraeus is a city in the region of Attica, Greece. Piraeus is located within the Athens Urban Area, 12 km southwest from its city center , and lies along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf....
. The Greek government
Politics of Greece
The Politics of Greece takes place in a large parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Greece is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Hellenic Parliament...
immediately suspended all team sports in Greece and severed the ties between teams and their supporter's organizations.
On a Third Division match between Panetolikos and Ilioupoli was stopped for thirty minutes when players and fans clashed following a Panetolikos disallowed goal. Two players and a coach were sent to the hospital.
On 18 April rival fans clashed with each other and riot police in Ioannina
Ioannina
Ioannina , often called Jannena within Greece, is the largest city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a population of 70,203 . It lies at an elevation of approximately 500 meters above sea level, on the western shore of lake Pamvotis . It is located within the Ioannina municipality, and is the...
during and after a Greek Cup
Greek football Cup
The Greek Football Cup , commonly known as the Greek Cup or for sponsorship reasons the Football Cup OPAP, is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation....
semi final match between local rivals PAS Giannena and Larissa
AEL 1964
AEL 1964 F.C., fully the Athletic Union of Larissa 1964 , is a Greek association football club based in the city of Larissa, capital of Greece's Thessaly region. The club is also known, unofficially, as Larissa. It is the only FC outside the two big Greek cities, Athens and Thessaloniki, to have...
. There was trouble during the game in which Larissa won 2-0. Fans set fire to rubbish bins
Waste container
A waste container is a container for temporarily storing refuse and waste. Different terms are in use, depending on the language area, the design and material and the respective site .The most general terms are waste receptacle and container bin.Common terms include dustbin ,...
and smashed shop windows, while police tried to disperse them by firing tear gas.
On 10 October 2009, a group of about 30 hooligans disrupted an "Under 17" match between local rivals PAOK and ARIS. Among the injured were a group of ARIS players and their coach, a veteran PAOK player and another official.
On October 7, 2011, a group of Greek supporters firebombed the away section of a Euro 2012 qualifying match against Croatia in Athens resulting in several injuries.
Hungary
There are three big regional derbies in Hungary year by year. The most famous and the oldest derby is in the capital city, Budapest between Hungary's two most well-known clubs; Ferencvárosi Torna Club (FTC, Fradi) from the IX. district and Újpesti Torna Egylet (UTE) from the IV. district. If anyone knows any of these team they should know that riots are more than guarrenteed when they meet in Hungarian First Division. there are lots of injuries, arrests, petards and trouble every time between the greens (FTC) and purples (UTE) fans. Ferencváros fans are also well-known about their behavior and fanatism all around Europe.The Eastern-Hungarian derby is diveded by three clubs: Debreceni VSC (from Debrecen), Diósgyőri VTK (from Miskolc) and Nyíregyházi Spartacus (from Nyíregyháza, whois in the second division at the moment.) thousand of fans are supporting their team in a hellish atmosphere.
Western-Hungary's derby is between Zalaegerszegi TE (ZTE, Man U fans must remember them) and Haladás VSE (from Szombathely.) a hellish atmosphere also guarranted at their games.
One thing is common between these hooligans; they hate their biggest rival's fans and they want to show them, who is the strongest.
Italy
In February 2001, AS Roma fans fought with police and with Liverpool fans, and five English supporters were stabbed.In December 2001, police tear gassed brawlers at a Champions League match between AS Roma and Liverpool, in which four Liverpool fans were stabbed. In March 2006 three fans of English club Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...
were stabbed before the club's UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
clash against A.S. Roma
A.S. Roma
Associazione Sportiva Roma, commonly referred to as simply Roma, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma have participated in the top-tier of Italian football for all of their existence but one season in the early 50s...
in Rome in an attack blamed on Roman ultras.
After a weekend of violence in January 2007, the president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) threatened to halt all league football. An official of amateur club Sammartinese died when he was caught up in a fight between players and fans in Luzzi
Luzzi
Luzzi is a town and comune in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy....
and in Florence, a Livorno fan needed 20 stitches in his head after being attacked by Fiorentina fans. About 100 Atalanta fans tried to attack coaches carrying Catania fans and fought with police and at a Serie D game, a linesman was hit by a metal drum thrown from the stands. In February 2007 the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) suspended all football matches after a policeman was killed at the Serie A match between Catania
Catania
Catania is an Italian city on the east coast of Sicily facing the Ionian Sea, between Messina and Syracuse. It is the capital of the homonymous province, and with 298,957 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in Sicily and the tenth in Italy.Catania is known to have a seismic history and...
and Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
. The policeman, Officer Filippo Raciti, died when he was struck in the face by a small explosive as the police were trying to deal with the fighting outside the ground. On 4 April 2007 AS Roma and Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
fans fought during UEFA Champions League match. A Manchester United fan was stabbed and eleven fans taken to hospital. Two Roma fans also received hospital treatment. The head of Rome police, Achille Serra, claimed that the police action was justified and that there would be no inquiry.
Ireland
The only established Hooligan Firm in Ireland are the Bohs Soccer Casuals, fans of BohemiansBohemian F.C.
Bohemian F.C. , more commonly referred to as Bohemians, is a professional football club from Dublin, Ireland. Bohemians compete in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland and are the third most successful club in League of Ireland football history, having won the League of Ireland title 11...
in Dublin. Although The Bohs Soccer Casuals are the only estbalished firm in the League of Ireland
League of Ireland
The League of Ireland is the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. Founded in 1921, as a league of eight clubs, it has expanded over time into a two-tiered league of 22 clubs. It is currently split into the League of Ireland Premier Division and the League of Ireland...
there have been riots at matches between the Bohs Soccer Casuals and hooligan supporters of Shamrock Rovers
Shamrock Rovers F.C.
Shamrock Rovers Football Club are a professional football club from Dublin, Ireland. They compete in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland and are the most successful club in Irish football history. The club have won the League of Ireland title a record 17 times and the FAI Cup a record 24...
. The Rivalry between Bohemians & Shamrock Rovers
Bohemians vs Shamrock Rovers
Bohemians–Shamrock Rovers is an Irish football rivalry involving two of the most successful clubs in the League of Ireland. It is also a local derby, one of many involving Dublin clubs...
is the most intense in the country with a large police presence at all games between the two clubs.
Netherlands
Football hooliganism in the Netherlands began after rioting between supporters of Feyenoord and English club Tottenham HotspurTottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
at the 1974 UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
Final. Since then, several Dutch clubs have been associated with hooliganism, Ajax, Feyenoord, FC Utrecht, FC Groningen, Twente Enschede and ADO Den Haag
ADO Den Haag
Alles Door Oefening Den Haag , commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag , is a Dutch football club from the city of The Hague. The club was for a time known as FC Den Haag , with ADO representing the amateur branch of the club...
. The most violent rivalry is between Ajax and Feyenoord. On 16 June 1990, English fans were arrested for brawling in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
before a friendly match. The bloodiest football hooligan encounter has been the Battle of Beverwijk between Feyenoord and Ajax hooligans on 23 March 1997, in which several people were seriously injured and Carlo Picornie was killed. On 26 April 1999, 80 football fans were arrested when Feyenoord supporters rioted after a cup match with NAC Breda
NAC Breda
NAC Breda , simply often known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Dutch Eredivisie and are known by the fierce and fanatic support of...
. The 2002-03 season was marked by continued fighting between fans of Ajax and FC Utrecht, and between fans of Ajax and Feyenoord. In 2006, a riot broke out between Feyenoord fans and French police in Nancy.
Norway
Hooliganism has escalated in Norway in recent years, though the activity still can not be compared to that in neighboring countries such as Sweden and Denmark. The little that exists of hooligans and casuals in Norway are usually smaller fractions of the supporter clubs of the bigger football teams. Clubs such as Brann, Lillestrøm, Vålerenga, IK Start and Rosenborg are all known for having supporter groups and firms which are involved with arranged fighting, vandalism and rioting.Poland
Arranged football hooligan fights in Poland are known as ustawka. They became common in Poland in the late 1990s.. On 30 March 2003, it was reported that Polish police arrested 120 people because rival football supporters fought during a match between Śląsk Wrocław and Arka GdyniaArka Gdynia
Morski Związkowy Klub Sportowy Arka Gdynia is a Polish professional football club, based in Gdynia, Poland, that plays in the Polish 1 Liga. The club was founded as Klub Sportowy Gdynia in 1929. Its activities were interrupted between 1939–1945 due to the German occupation of Poland...
. During the riot, hooligans
Hooliganism
Hooliganism refers to unruly, destructive, aggressive and bullying behaviour. Such behaviour is commonly associated with sports fans. The term can also apply to general rowdy behaviour and vandalism, often under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs....
pelted police officers with stones and fought a running battle with knives and axes. One victim was found lying seriously injured at the scene, and later died in hospital. During the 1998-99 UEFA Cup, Italian footballer Dino Baggio
Dino Baggio
Dino Baggio is a retired Italian football defensive midfielder. He has 60 caps at international level for the Italian national team.-Clubs and achievements:...
, from Parma F.C.
Parma F.C.
Parma Football Club , commonly referred to as just Parma, is an Italian professional football club based in Parma, Emilia–Romagna that will compete in Serie A for the 2011–12 season, having finished in twelfth position last season. Founded as Verdi Foot Ball Club in July 1913, the club changed its...
was stabbed in the head by Wisła Kraków supporters. The knife was thrown at him from the part of the terraces occupied by the Poles.
Portugal
The violence of football hooliganism in Portugal has increased in the past several years. Groups of hooligans identified with bigger teams can be violent when their team's reputation is at stake. Firms identify with teams such as F.C. Porto, S.L. Benfica, Sporting Clube de Portugal. F.C. Porto have the official firm the Super Dragões. Various illegal firms support Porto as well, being known as some of the most violent in northern Portugal, giving F.C. Porto fans a bad reputation amongst rival firms. SL Benfica have also the two firms, one official the Diabos Vermelhos and other non-official called No Name Boys, a criminal based firm. Sporting CP have three firms and of the three major teams of Portugal Juve Leo or Juventude Leonina along with Directivo Ultras XXI and Torcida Verde. Juventude Leonina is also the eldest Firm in Portugal (1976).Recent violence
Violence
Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
in Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
football included fans throwing objects at players on the pitch and staff. Super Dragoes threw golf balls towards Benfica Goalkeeper Roberto during a FC Porto vs Benfica game, and got into various fist fights with the Benficas fans, proceeding afterwards to a massive riot. During a high policed rivalry between S.C. Braga and Vitória Guimarães incidents have occurred outside the pitch. Incidents of golf ball chucking and seats torn apart in each others stadium are very common, especially by the well-known Vitória Guimarães firm White Angels.
During a high profile UEFA Europa League game on 18 March 2010, sporting fans hurled rocks and flares towards Atlético Madrid away fans outside the stadium, whilst some Atletico fans threw glass bottles back. A strong police presence around the stadium helped stop the violence between the two sets of fans.
Russia
Football hooliganism has become prevalent in Russia since the beginning of the 80s, growing from almost nothing into some of the most feared hooligans in the world. The most ruthless firms in Russia are very often linked to the Moscow teams, such as FC Spartak MoscowFC Spartak Moscow
FC Spartak Moscow is a Russian football club from Moscow. Having won 12 Soviet championships and 9 of 19 Russian championships they are one of the country's most successful clubs. They have also won the Soviet Cup 10 times and the Russian Cup 3 times...
(Gladiators, Union), FC Lokomotiv Moscow
FC Lokomotiv Moscow
The following years were rather successful as Lokomotiv were consistent in the national championships. However, performances after World War II suffered and actually in the space of five year Lokomotiv were relegated to the Soviet First League twice. In 1951, Lokomotiv came second and eventually...
(Red-Green's, Vikings, BHZ, Trains Team), PFC CSKA Moscow (RBW, Gallant Steeds, Yaroslavka, Einfach Jugend), FC Dynamo Moscow
FC Dynamo Moscow
Dynamo Moscow is a Russian football club based in Moscow, currently playing in the Russian Premier League. Dynamo's traditional kit colours are blue and white...
(Capitals, 9-ka) and FC Torpedo Moscow
FC Torpedo Moscow
FC Torpedo Moscow is an association football club, based in Moscow, Russia. The club was founded in 1930. On March 19, 2009 it was denied membership of the Professional Football League and did not play in the professional competitions in 2009...
(Tubes, TroubleMakers), but faces tough competition from the internationally feared firms of FC Zenit Saint Petersburg
FC Zenit Saint Petersburg
Football Club Zenit is a Russian football club from the city of Saint-Petersburg. Founded in 1925 , the club plays in the Russian Premier League...
(Music Hall, Coalition, Snakes Firm) from the second biggest city of Russia, Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
. Russian hooligans often have an underlying resentment towards Russia's perceived political rivals.
Serbia
The most prominent groups of hooligans are associated with BelgradeBelgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
and Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
's two main clubs, FK Partizan
FK Partizan
Fudbalski klub Partizan is a professional football club based in Belgrade, Serbia. In its long history, FK Partizan won as many as 37 trophies. The club is the holder of 23 national championships, 12 national cups and 1 national supercup, and has also won the Mitropa Cup in 1978...
and Red Star Belgrade
Red Star Belgrade
Red Star Belgrade is a football club from Belgrade, Serbia. The club is a part of the Red Star Sports Society.Red Star Belgrade is the most successful Serbian club, with a record of 25 national championships and 23 national cups in both Serbian and ex-Yugoslav competitions...
. They are known as the Grobari
Grobari
Grobari are supporters of the Belgrade football club Partizan Belgrade. They are one of two major football fan groups in Serbia...
(Gravediggers) and Delije
Delije
Delije roughly translated to English as Heroes is an umbrella name referring to the supporters of various sports clubs that compete under Red Star Belgrade Sports Society banner....
(the name means heroes), respectively. FK Rad
FK Rad
FK Rad is a football club from Belgrade, Serbia. It plays at Stadion Kralj Petar I, which is located in the southern part of the city's Banjica neighbourhood....
is a less-successful Belgrade club, whose associated hooligans, known locally as "United Force", have notoriously been involved in many violent incidents.
On 2 December 2007, a plainclothes police officer was seriously injured when he was attacked during a Serbian Superliga
Serbian Superliga
Serbian SuperLiga is a Serbian professional league for football clubs. At the top of the Serbian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 16 clubs, operating a system of promotion and relegation with the Serbian First League...
match between Red Star Belgrade
Red Star Belgrade
Red Star Belgrade is a football club from Belgrade, Serbia. The club is a part of the Red Star Sports Society.Red Star Belgrade is the most successful Serbian club, with a record of 25 national championships and 23 national cups in both Serbian and ex-Yugoslav competitions...
and Hajduk Kula. On 14 April 2008 a football fan was killed near Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....
after clashes between FK Partizan
FK Partizan
Fudbalski klub Partizan is a professional football club based in Belgrade, Serbia. In its long history, FK Partizan won as many as 37 trophies. The club is the holder of 23 national championships, 12 national cups and 1 national supercup, and has also won the Mitropa Cup in 1978...
's Grobari
Grobari
Grobari are supporters of the Belgrade football club Partizan Belgrade. They are one of two major football fan groups in Serbia...
and fans of FK Vojvodina
FK Vojvodina
FK Vojvodina is a football club from Novi Sad, Serbia. The club currently competes in the Serbian SuperLiga. FK Vojvodina is the third oldest football club in Serbia's SuperLiga, after OFK Beograd which was founded in 1911 and FK Javor which was founded in 1912.-History:FK Vojvodina was founded...
. That same week, after a Red Star Belgrade-Partizan cup match, three people were injured and a bus destroyed by hooligans.
On 19 September 2008 a Serbian football hooligan was sentenced to ten years in jail for an attack against a police officer at a Red Star Belgrade
Red Star Belgrade
Red Star Belgrade is a football club from Belgrade, Serbia. The club is a part of the Red Star Sports Society.Red Star Belgrade is the most successful Serbian club, with a record of 25 national championships and 23 national cups in both Serbian and ex-Yugoslav competitions...
–Hajduk Kula game.
On 12 October 2010 Serbia's Euro 2012 Qualifying clash with Italy was abandoned after only 6 minutes after several Serbian fans threw flares and fireworks onto the pitch and caused severe trouble in and out of the ground.
Partizan Belgrade were disqualified from the UEFA Cup, after crowd trouble in Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina. Grobari threw flares and stones and fought with supporters of Zrinjski Mostar and police.
Fourteen Grobari were convicted for the murder of Toulouse fan Brice Taton in Belgrade. They attacked them with baseball bats and flares while wearing surgical masks. The hooligans received up to 35 years in prison.
Sweden
Hooliganism began in Sweden at the turn of the 20th century as fans of AIKAIK Fotboll
AIK, , an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben, , when needed internationally AIK Stockholm, is a Swedish football club based at Råsunda stadium in Solna, a municipality in Stockholm County bordering to Stockholm City Centre...
and Djurgårdens IF have been reported fighting after games in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
. Modern hooliganism began in 1970 when fans of IFK Göteborg
IFK Göteborg
IFK Göteborg is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, the club has won 18 national championship titles, five national cup titles, and two UEFA Cups....
invaded the pitch, destroyed the goalposts and fought the police at the end of a match that relegated Göteborg from the Allsvenskan
Allsvenskan
Allsvenskan is a Swedish professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Swedish football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Superettan...
, although Hooliganism in Sweden became a growing problem in the 1980s, but pitch invasion
Pitch invasion
A pitch invasion or field invasion, known as rushing the field in the United States, occurs when a crowd of people who are watching a sports game run onto the field, to celebrate or protest about an incident...
s and violence at football grounds decreased in the late 1990s; when hooligan firms started pre-arranging their fights away from the grounds and the regular supporters. Five clubs that have large organised hooligans firms are AIK
AIK Fotboll
AIK, , an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben, , when needed internationally AIK Stockholm, is a Swedish football club based at Råsunda stadium in Solna, a municipality in Stockholm County bordering to Stockholm City Centre...
(Firman Boys), IFK Göteborg
IFK Göteborg
IFK Göteborg is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, the club has won 18 national championship titles, five national cup titles, and two UEFA Cups....
(Wisemen) Djurgårdens IF (DFG) Hammarby IF
Hammarby IF
Hammarby Fotboll is a Swedish football club based in Johanneshov - just south of Södermalm, the southernmost district of Stockholm city centre...
(KGB) and Helsingborgs IF
Helsingborgs IF
Helsingborgs IF , commonly referred to as Helsingborg and locally HIF, is a Swedish football club located in Helsingborg. They are currently playing in the highest Swedish league, Allsvenskan...
(Frontline). But several other football, bandy and ice hockey clubs have active hooligan followings. In July 2002, a member of the Wisemen was killed after a pre-arranged fight against Firman Boys. In November 2002, 12 members of the Wisemen stood trial for inflicting life-threatening injuries on a Hammarby
Hammarby IF
Hammarby Fotboll is a Swedish football club based in Johanneshov - just south of Södermalm, the southernmost district of Stockholm city centre...
fan in 2001.
Spain
Football hooliganismHooliganism
Hooliganism refers to unruly, destructive, aggressive and bullying behaviour. Such behaviour is commonly associated with sports fans. The term can also apply to general rowdy behaviour and vandalism, often under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs....
in Spain arises from three main sources. The first is racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, as some black
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
players have been victims of ethnic slurs. Samuel Eto'o
Samuel Eto'o
Samuel Eto'o Fils is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Russian team Anzhi Makhachkala. He is also the current captain of the Cameroon national team.Eto'o trained at Kadji Sports Academy...
, a former FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
player from Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
, has denounced the problem. The second source is the strong rivalry
Major football rivalries
This list deals with association football rivalries around the world. This includes local derbies as well as matches between teams further apart. Footballing rivalries manifest themselves in many ways...
between Real Madrid
Real Madrid C.F.
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
and Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
. After transferring from Barcelona to Real Madrid, Luís Figo
Luís Figo
Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo, OIH, is a Portuguese former international footballer. He played as a midfielder for Sporting CP, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Internazionale, during a career which spanned over a period of 20 years. He retired from football on 31 May 2009...
's appearance in Barcelona's Nou Camp
Camp Nou
Camp Nou , sometimes called "the Nou Camp" in English, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The stadium, located in the west of the city, has been the home of FC Barcelona since its construction in 1957....
Stadium triggered a strong reaction. The crowd threw bottles, mobile phones and other things (including a pig's head). Although nobody was injured the match was followed by a large discussion on fan violence in the Spanish Primera División
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...
. Hooliganism is also rooted in deep political divisions arising from the General Franco fascist regime days (some Real Madrid
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
, Atlético Madrid, Espanyol, Real Betis Balompie or Valencia CF
Valencia CF
Valencia Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football club based in Valencia, Spain. They play in La Liga and are one of the most successful and biggest clubs in Spanish Football and European Football. Valencia have won six La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey trophies, two Fairs Cups which was the...
ultras are linked to franquista groups), the communist ones, (such as Deportivo La Coruña
Deportivo de La Coruña
Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña is a professional football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia; founded in 1906 and currently playing in Segunda División...
, Sevilla FC
Sevilla FC
Sevilla Fútbol Club S.A.D. is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, Spain that plays in the Spanish La Liga championship.They are one of the most successful clubs in Spanish football having won a 1 La Liga title, 5 Spanish "Copa del Rey" Cups, 1 Spanish Super Cup and 2 UEFA...
or Rayo Vallecano
Rayo Vallecano
Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D., often abbreviated to Rayo, is a Spanish football team based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas...
) and the independentist movements in Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
(like FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
) and the Basque region. In Spain, organized hooligan groups are popularly called grupos ultra.
In 1998, Aitor Zabaleta, a supporter of Real Sociedad
Real Sociedad
Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 September 1909...
was killed by an Atlético Madrid hooligan who was linked to a neo-Nazi group (Bastión), just before a match between these two teams. In 2003, a supporter of Deportivo La Coruña
Deportivo de La Coruña
Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña is a professional football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia; founded in 1906 and currently playing in Segunda División...
was killed in riots by Deportivo hooligans, when he tried to protect a supporter of the opposing team, SD Compostela
SD Compostela
Sociedade Deportiva Compostela also known as Compostela is a Spanish football team based in Santiago de Compostela, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded on 26 June 1962, it currently plays in Preferente Autonómica.-History:...
. Since then, authorities have made attempts to bring hooliganism more under control. In 2007, there were acts of hooliganism before a match between Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid, with several cars being destroyed and policemen injured by flares and bottles which were thrown at them. Many black foreign players have been racially abused, such as at a recent friendly match between Spain and England, in which black England players such as Shaun Wright-Phillips
Shaun Wright-Phillips
Shaun Cameron Wright-Phillips is an English footballer who plays for Queens Park Rangers and the England national team. He is the adopted son of former England international, Ian Wright and the half-brother of fellow professional football player Bradley Wright-Phillips...
and Ashley Cole
Ashley Cole
Ashley Cole is an Barbadian-English professional footballer who plays for Chelsea and the England national team. He plays as a left-back and has been named one of the best in the world....
endured monkey chants from Spain supporters. There also have been local disputes between rival teams, for example between Cádiz Club de Fútbol and Xerez CD
Xerez CD
Xerez Club Deportivo, S.A.D., usually just Xerez, is a Spanish football team based in Jerez de la Frontera, Province of Cádiz, in the autonomous community of Andalusia...
or Real Betis Balompie and Sevilla FC
Sevilla FC
Sevilla Fútbol Club S.A.D. is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, Spain that plays in the Spanish La Liga championship.They are one of the most successful clubs in Spanish football having won a 1 La Liga title, 5 Spanish "Copa del Rey" Cups, 1 Spanish Super Cup and 2 UEFA...
. In 2008, after a hooligan incident versus Espanyol, FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
very publicly took a stand on violence, saying it hoped to stamp out violence for good.
In 2007 Atlético Madrid hooligans clashed with Aberdeen FC hooligans prior to a UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
match.
Switzerland
Football hooliganism is relatively new in Switzerland. One incident, dubbed the 2006 Basel Hooligan Incident2006 Basel Hooligan Incident
The 2006 Basel Hooligan Incident occurred on May 13, 2006 in Basel, Switzerland. On that day hooligans supporting the Swiss football club FC Basel 1893 stormed the field of the St. Jakob-Park after a championship-deciding match against the club FC Zürich...
, 13 May 2006, occurred on the last day of the 2005-06 season, when FC Zürich defeated FC Basel
FC Basel
Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel is a Swiss football club based in Basel. They are one of the most successful clubs in Swiss football, having won the Swiss Super League 14 times, the third most for any Swiss club. They were most successful in the late 1960s and 1970s, winning the...
at St. Jakob Park to win the Swiss championship with a last-minute goal. After the final whistle, angry Basel hooligans stormed the field and attacked Zürich players. The Zürich team were forced to celebrate in the upper deck of the stands while the fighting continued. There was similar fighting in the streets that night.
Turkey
According to the Turkish Daily NewsTurkish Daily News
The Hürriyet Daily News, formerly Hürriyet Daily News and Economic Review, is the oldest current English-language daily in Turkey....
, hooligan groups are well organised, have their own "leaders", and often consist of organised street fighters
Street fighting
Street fighting is a colloquial term used to denote unsanctioned, illegal in some countries, hand-to-hand fighting in public places, between individuals or groups of people....
. These groups have a "racon" (code of conduct), which states that the intention must be to injure
Injury
-By cause:*Traumatic injury, a body wound or shock produced by sudden physical injury, as from violence or accident*Other injuries from external physical causes, such as radiation injury, burn injury or frostbite*Injury from infection...
rather than kill
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
and that a stab must be made below the waist. Other hooligans have fired firearms into the air to celebrate their team's victory, which has been known to accidentally kill innocent people watching the celebrations on their balconies.
Trouble has arisen during matches between Istanbul rivals Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe. However, the Turkish Football Federation
Turkish Football Federation
The Turkish Football Federation , also called the Turkish Football Association, is the governing body of football in Turkey. It was formed on 23 April 1923. It organizes the Turkish national teams and the Turkish football league. By 2004, there were 4,956 football clubs organized in Turkey, and a...
has tightened security to try and contain the hooliganism. During the 2005 Turkish cup final between Galatasaray
Galatasaray S.K. (football team)
Galatasaray Anonim Şirketi is a Turkish football club, part of the Galatasaray S.K. multi-sport club of Istanbul. Galatasaray is a major sports club in Turkey, holding 17 Turkish Super League titles and the highest number of Turkish Cups....
and Fenerbahçe, 8,000 police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
, stewards and officials were employed to prevent violence. In 2006, the Turkish Football Federation introduced new measures to combat the threat of hooliganism and have made new regulations that allow the Professional Football Disciplinary Board to fine clubs up to YTL 250,000 for their fans behavior. Repeat offenders could be fined up to YTL 500,000. Despite reports from the Turkish Football Federation, the Turkish police believe that football hooliganism is not a major threat and are "isolated incidents".
Before Galatasaray's semi-final UEFA Cup match with Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...
in 2000, two Leeds fans, Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight, were innocently stabbed to death in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
following street fights between Turkish and British hooligans. UEFA allowed the game to proceed and Galatasaray won 2-0. Leeds complained because home fans jeered while a message of condolence was read for the victims. Galatasaray's players refused to wear black arm bands. The Leeds chairman at the time, Peter Ridsdale
Peter Ridsdale
Peter Ridsdale is an English businessman who is currently the Chairman of Football Operations at League Two club Plymouth Argyle. Ridsdale was previously the chairman of Leeds United, Barnsley and Cardiff City.-History:...
, accused Galatasaray of "showing a lack of respect". He also revealed that his teams' players had received death threats before the match.
Ali Umit Demir was arrested and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for the stabbing, but the sentence was reduced to 5 years on the basis of heavy provocation, while five others were given lesser sentences of under four months. The families of those accused of attacking with knives are reported to have defended their actions and approved of their children punishing the "rude British people". Galatasaray fans were banned from traveling to the return match to try and avoid further clashes between fans, although there were reports of attacks by Leeds fans on Turkish television crews and the police. However the Assistant Chief Constable in charge of policing the game believed that the number of arrests was "no worse than a normal high category game". Hakan Şükür
Hakan Sükür
Hakan Şükür is a retired Turkish footballer who played as a striker. He spent the majority of his professional career with Galatasaray, being a three-time Gol Kralı , representing the club in three different spells and winning a total of 14 major titles.Şükür represented Turkey a...
was hit with projectiles from Leeds United supporters and the Galatasaray team bus was stoned after driving through an underpass. The game saw Emre Belözoğlu
Emre Belözoglu
Emre Belözoğlu is a Turkish football midfielder who plays for Fenerbahçe.Having also played for clubs Galatasaray, Internazionale, and Newcastle United, Emre has been a part of the Turkey national team at the 2002 World Cup and at Euro 2008 among other tournaments...
and Harry Kewell
Harry Kewell
Harold "Harry" Kewell is an Australian professional football midfielder who plays for Melbourne Victory in the A-League. Internationally he has received 55 caps, and scored 16 goals, while playing for the Australian national team...
sent off and Galatasaray sealed their way to the final with a 2-2 score.
Violence also occurred between Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
fans (mainly from The Herd) and Galatasaray fans before the 2000 UEFA Cup final in Copenhagen in which a Galatasary fan, an Arsenal fan and a Dane were said to have been stabbed. Galatasaray later won the match after a penalty shoot-out.
Hooliganism in Turkey is also a problem in Ankara
Ankara
Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
, İzmir
Izmir
Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
, Eskişehir
Eskisehir
Eskişehir is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. According to the 2009 census, the population of the city is 631,905. The city is located on the banks of the Porsuk River, 792 m above sea level, where it overlooks the fertile Phrygian Valley. In the nearby...
, Bursa, Samsun
Samsun
Samsun is a city of about half a million people on the north coast of Turkey. It is the provincial capital of Samsun Province and a major Black Sea port.-Name:...
and Adana
Adana
Adana is a city in southern Turkey and a major agricultural and commercial center. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, 30 kilometres inland from the Mediterranean, in south-central Anatolia...
. During the 2003–2004 season, a Second League Category A, match between Karşıyaka and Göztepe
Göztepe A.S.
Göztepe SK are a Turkish sports club in Güzelyalı, İzmir.They were founded in 1925 as a breakaway club from Altay. Their colours are red-yellow. They merged with İzmirspor and were renamed as Doğanspor in 1937. Some supporters of İzmirspor opposed the merger and founded Ateşspor in 1938. Doğanspor...
on 8 February 2004, involved rival Karşıyaka and Göztepe supporters clashing and the match was subsequently stopped for 33 minutes. This was due to Karşıyaka leading 5-2 after coming back from a 2-0 deficit. After the match, Göztepe fans clashed with the police, seven police officers were wounded and fifteen Göztepe fans were arrested.
Bursaspor fans clashed with policemen at a match against Samsunspor match in the Turkcell Super League
Turkcell Super League
The Süper Lig is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system. It is one of the top leagues in the UEFA confederation and the winner of the competition automatically qualifies for the UEFA Champions League...
in Adapazarı
Adapazari
Adapazarı is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of Sakarya Province. The province itself was originally named Adapazarı as well. Adapazarı is a part of the densely populated region of the country, known as the Marmara Region. As of 2010, the city has a population of 560,876 ...
at the end of the 2003-04 season. The match was played in Adapazarı due to events at a previous match between Bursaspor and Çaykur Rizespor. Bursaspor were playing to avoid relegation. Bursaspor won 1–0 the but were relegated to Category A after rivals won. After the match, Bursaspor fans ripped out and threw seats at the Sakarya Atatürk Stadium They also fought with craftsmen of Gölcük during their journey to Adapazarı. The Bursaspor-Diyarbakırspor game in March 2010 was suspended in the 17th minute after Diyarbakırspor supporters threw objects on the field. One object struck and knocked down an assistant referee.
On 7 May 2011, Bursaspor supporters clashed with the police ahead of the team's match with rival Beşiktaş. 25 police officers and 9 fans were injured in the violence.
United Kingdom
Beginning in at least the 1960s, the UK had a reputation worldwide for football hooliganism; the phenomenon was often dubbed the English Disease. However, since the 1980s and well into the 1990s the UK government has led a widescale crackdown on football related violence. While football hooliganism has been a growing concern in some other European countries in recent years, British football fans now tend to have a better reputation abroad. Although reports of British football hooliganism still surface, the instances now tend to occur at pre-arranged locations rather than at the matches themselves.England
Football hooliganism in England dates back to the 1880s, when what were termed as roughs caused trouble at football matches. Local derbyLocal derby
In many countries the term local derby, or simply just derby means a sporting fixture between two, generally local, rivals, particularly in association football...
matches would usually have the worst trouble, but in an era when travelling fans were not common, roughs would sometimes attack the referees and the away team's players. In the early 1980s, many British hooligans started wearing expensive European designer clothing, to avoid attracting the attention of authorities. This led to the development of the casual subculture.
During the 1970s, organised hooligan firms started to emerge with clubs such as Everton F.C.
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
(County Road Cutters) Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
(Gooners, The Herd) Aston Villa (Villa Youth, C-Crew, Aston Villa Hardcore (Villa Hardcore)) Birmingham City (Zulus, Zulu's Warriors, Zulu's Army, The Zulu
Birmingham Zulus
The Birmingham Zulus are a football hooligan firm associated with English football club, Birmingham City. The Zulus first appeared in the late 1970s to early 1980s and the name came from a chant of "Zulu, Zulu" which was aimed at Manchester City fans in 1982...
), Derby County
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...
(Derby Lunatic Fringe
Derby Lunatic Fringe
The Derby Lunatic Fringe , a hooligan firm associated with English football club Derby County since the early 1970s .Most of the DLF have now been banned which means the Casual firm of Derby County is DYC...
), Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
(Headhunters
Chelsea Headhunters
The Chelsea Headhunters are an English football hooligan firm linked to the London football club Chelsea.-Background:The Headhunters have rivalries with counterparts who follow other London teams, such as Arsenal, Millwall, Queens Park Rangers, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham.There was widespread...
), Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
(The Urchins), Leeds United
Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...
(Leeds Service Crew
Leeds United Service Crew
The Leeds United Service Crew are a football hooligan firm linked to the English Football League team, Leeds United A.F.C. The Service Crew were formed in 1974, and named after the ordinary public service trains that the hooligans would travel on to away matches, rather than the, heavily policed,...
), Middlesbrough FC (Middlesbrough Frontline
Middlesbrough Frontline
The Frontline is a football hooligan firm associated with Middlesbrough F.C..-Members:A notable member was Teesville man Paul Debrick who became a member of the firm as a teenager during the early 1980s. In 1984, at the age of 19, he was jailed for two years for fighting Barnsley fans...
), Newcastle United (Gremlins) Nottingham Forst (Forest Executive Crew) Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
(Red Army
Red Army (football)
The Red Army is a hooligan firm who follow English football club Manchester United. Although today the term Red Army is used mostly to refer to fans of the club in general, the hooligan firm have been one of the largest and most feared firms in British football...
), Portsmouth
Portsmouth F.C.
Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...
(6.57 Crew
6.57 Crew
The 6.57 Crew is a football hooligan firm linked to the English Npower Championship team, Portsmouth F.C.. The name, 6.57 Crew is taken from the time that the Portsmouth to London Waterloo train left Portsmouth and Southsea station...
), Sheffield United
Sheffield United F.C.
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional English football club based in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire.They were the first sporting team to use the name 'United' and are nicknamed 'The Blades', thanks to Sheffield's worldwide reputation for steel production...
(Blades Business Crew
Blades Business Crew
Blades Business Crew is a football hooligan firm linked to the English Football League club, Sheffield United F.C.-Background:A notable former member of the Blades Business Crew is former Housemartins and Beautiful South front man, Paul Heaton....
), Tottenham Hotspur (Yid Army
Yid Army
This article is about the Yid Army hooligan firm. For the general supporters, see Tottenham Hotspur Yid Army.The Yid Army is the name of a football hooligan firm associated with English football club Tottenham Hotspur...
), Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...
(Subway Army
Subway Army
The Subway Army were a Hooligan firm associated with Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. during the 1970s and 1980s. The firm rose to fame during the 1970s by ambushing rival fans in subways leading to Wolves home ground, Molineux, a tactic which earned them their Subway Army tag...
) and most famously West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
's Inter City Firm
Inter City Firm
The Inter City Firm is an English football hooligan firm mainly active in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, associated with West Ham United. The name came from the use of InterCity trains used to travel to away games...
. Lower league clubs also have firms, such as Blackpool's
Blackpool F.C.
Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...
Rammy Arms Crew
The Muckers
The Muckers are a football hooligan firm linked to the football club Blackpool F.C. They take their name from the word mucker, a colloquialism meaning good friend....
,Coventry City F.C (The Legion) and of course Millwall (Bushwackers
Millwall Bushwackers
The Millwall Bushwackers are a hooligan firm associated with Millwall F.C..-Background:The original firm associated with Millwall was known as F-Troop....
), Sunderland (The Vauxies, Seaburn Casuals), Stoke City (Naughty Forty), Walsall
Walsall F.C.
Walsall Football Club are an English association football club based in Walsall, West Midlands. They currently play in League One. The club was founded in 1888 as Walsall Town Swifts, an amalgamation of Walsall Town F.C. and Walsall Swifts F.C. The club was one of the founder members of the Second...
(Junction 9), Grimsby Town (GHS) Derby County
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...
(Derby Lunatic Fringe
Derby Lunatic Fringe
The Derby Lunatic Fringe , a hooligan firm associated with English football club Derby County since the early 1970s .Most of the DLF have now been banned which means the Casual firm of Derby County is DYC...
), Two main events in 1973 led to introduction of crowd segregation and fencing at football grounds in England. Manchester United were relegated to the Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
, the Red Army caused mayhem at grounds up and down the country, and a Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....
fan stabbed a young Blackpool fan to death behind the Kop at Bloomfield Road
Bloomfield Road
Bloomfield Road is an all-seater football stadium in the English town of Blackpool, Lancashire. It has been the permanent home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901 and is named after the road on which the stadium's main entrance used to stand. The stadium has been in a process of redevelopment since 2000...
during a Second Division match.
The so-called relegation battle when Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea fans fought on the pitch before Spurs relegated Chelsea in the return fixture in 1975, made national news when shown on the BBC television programme John Craven's Newsround.
In March 1978, a full-scale riot broke out at The Den during an FA Cup quarter-final between Millwall and Ipswich. Fighting began on the terraces, then spilled out on to the pitch and into the narrow streets around the ground. Bottles, knives, iron bars, boots and concrete slabs rained from the sky. Dozens of innocent people were injured. In March 1985, hooligans who had attached themselves to Millwall were involved in large-scale rioting
1985 Kenilworth Road riot
The 1985 Kenilworth Road riot occurred at Luton Town's Kenilworth Road ground before, during and after an FA Cup sixth-round match between Luton Town and Millwall on 13 March 1985. It was one of the worst incidents of football hooliganism during the 1980s, and led to a ban on away supporters by...
at Luton
Luton
Luton is a large town and unitary authority of Bedfordshire, England, 30 miles north of London. Luton and its near neighbours, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area with a population of about 250,000....
when Millwall played Luton Town
Luton Town F.C.
Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...
in the quarter final of the FA Cup. Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
's immediate response was to set up a "War Cabinet" to combat football hooliganism. On 29 May 1985, 39 Juventus
Juventus F.C.
Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...
fans were crushed to death during the European Cup Final between Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
and Juventus at Heysel Stadium in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
; an event that became known as the Heysel Stadium disaster
Heysel Stadium disaster
The Heysel Stadium disaster occurred on 29 May 1985 when escaping fans were pressed against a wall in the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, as a result of rioting before the start of the 1985 European Cup Final between Liverpool of England and Juventus of Italy...
. Just before kick-off, Liverpool fans broke through a line of police officers and ran toward the Juventus supporters in a section of the ground containing both English and Italian fans. When a fence separating them from the Juventus fans was broken through, the English supporters attacked the Italian fans, the majority of whom were families rather than ultras who were situated in the other end of the ground. Many Italians tried to escape the fighting, and a wall collapsed on them. As a result of the Heysel Stadium disaster, English clubs were banned from all European competitions until 1990, with Liverpool banned for an additional year.
On 11 May 1985 a 14-year-old boy died at St Andrews stadium
St Andrews (stadium)
St Andrew's is an association football stadium in the Bordesley district of Birmingham, England. It has been the home ground of Birmingham City Football Club for more than a century....
when fans were pushed onto a wall by Police which subsequently collapsed following crowd violence at a match between Birmingham City and Leeds United. The fighting that day was described by Justice Popplewell
Oliver Popplewell
The Honourable Sir Oliver Bury Popplewell is a former British judge. He chaired the inquiry into the Bradford City stadium fire, presided over the libel case brought by Jonathan Aitken MP against The Guardian newspaper which eventually led to Aitkin's imprisonment for perjury, and was widely...
, during the Popplewell Committee investigation into football in 1985 as more like "the Battle of Agincourt than a football match". Because of the other events in 1986 and the growing rise in football hooliganism during the early 1980s, an interim report from the committee stated that "football may not be able to continue in its present form much longer" unless hooliganism was reduced, perhaps by excluding "away" fans.
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
, UK Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
from 1979 to 1990, made a high-profile public call for the country's football hooligans to be given "stiff" prison sentences to act as a deterrent to others in a bid to clamp down on hooliganism. Her minister for sport, Colin Moynihan
Colin Moynihan
Colin Berkeley Moynihan, 4th Baron Moynihan PC is a former Olympic coxswain who became a businessman, politician and sports administrator.-Early life:...
, attempted to bring in an ID card scheme for football supporters.
Millwall hooligans were involved in their third high profile incident in decade on January 1988, when in an FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
tie against Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
at Highbury
Arsenal Stadium
Arsenal Stadium was a football stadium in Highbury, North London, which was the home ground of Arsenal Football Club between 6 September 1913 and 7 May 2006...
, 41 people were arrested for rioting after The Herd and The Millwall Bushwackers
Millwall Bushwackers
The Millwall Bushwackers are a hooligan firm associated with Millwall F.C..-Background:The original firm associated with Millwall was known as F-Troop....
clashed.
The government acted after the Hillsborough disaster
Hillsborough disaster
The Hillsborough disaster was a human crush that occurred on 15 April 1989 at Hillsborough, a football stadium, the home of Sheffield Wednesday F.C. in Sheffield, England, resulting in the deaths of 96 people, and 766 being injured, all fans of Liverpool F.C....
in 1989, when 96 fans died, bringing in the Football Spectators Act 1989
Football Spectators Act 1989
The Football Spectators Act 1989 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom enacted during the premiership of Margaret Thatcher. Its provisions apply primarily to football matches played in England and Wales...
in the wake of the Taylor Report
Taylor Report
The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report, better known as the Taylor Report is a document, whose development was overseen by Lord Taylor of Gosforth, concerning the aftermath and causes of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. An interim report was published in August 1989, and the final...
. However, the Hillsborough Justice Campaign states: "the British Judicial system has consistently found that violence or hooliganism played no part whatsoever in the disaster". On 15 February 1995, England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
played Ireland
Republic of Ireland national football team
The Republic of Ireland national football team represents Ireland in association football. It is run by the Football Association of Ireland and currently plays home fixtures at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, which opened in May 2010....
. English fans started to throw items down into the stand below and rip up seats; after battles broke out between police and English fans, 50 people were injured.
English and German fans have a rivalry dating back to the late 1980s.
After England's defeat to Germany in the Euro 96 semi-finals, a large scale riot took place in Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...
, with a number of injuries. A Russian youth was also stabbed in Brighton, because his attackers mistook him as being German.
Other occasional clashes have occurred with a few other teams since the mid 1980s. France 98
1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...
was marred by violence as English fans clashed with the North African locals of Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
, which led to up to 100 fans being arrested.
In the 2000s, English football hooligans often wear either clothing styles that are stereotypically associated with the "[casual]" subculture, such as items made by Shark and Burberry
Burberry
Burberry Group plc is a British luxury fashion house, manufacturing clothing, fragrance, and fashion accessories. Its distinctive tartan pattern has become one of its most widely copied trademarks. Burberry is most famous for its iconic trench coat, which was invented by founder Thomas Burberry...
. Prada and Burberry withdrew certain garments over fears that their brands were becoming linked with hooliganism. English hooligans have begun using Internet forum
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
s, mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
s and text messages
Short message service
Short Message Service is a text messaging service component of phone, web, or mobile communication systems, using standardized communications protocols that allow the exchange of short text messages between fixed line or mobile phone devices...
to set up fight meetings or provoke rival gangs into brawls. Sometimes fight participants post live commentaries on the Internet.
Football violence in British stadiums declined after the introduction of the Football Spectators Act, and in the 2000s much of the trouble occurred away from stadiums or away at major international tournaments. At Euro 2000, the England team was threatened with expulsion from the tournament, due to the poor behaviour of the fans. Following good behaviour in the Korea-Japan 2002
2002 FIFA World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup was the 17th staging of the FIFA World Cup, held in South Korea and Japan from 31 May to 30 June. It was also the first World Cup held in Asia, and the last in which the golden goal rule was implemented. Brazil won the tournament for a record fifth time, beating Germany 2–0...
and Portugal 2004
2004 UEFA European Football Championship
The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, better known as Euro 2004, was the 12th European Football Championship, a quadrennial football tournament for European national teams. It was hosted in Portugal, for the first time, between 12 June and 4 July 2004, following its selection by UEFA, in...
, the English reputation has improved. At the 2006 FIFA World Cup
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...
in Germany, there were limited incidences of violence, with over 200 preventative arrests in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
(with only three people being charged with criminal offences) 400 others taken into preventative custody. During that day, Police believe that on average each rioter consumed or threw 17 litres of beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
.
Despite hooliganism declining domestically, death threats by English hooligans have become more common in the 2000s.
Rio Ferdinand
Rio Ferdinand
Rio Gavin Ferdinand is an English footballer. He plays at centre back for Manchester United in the Premier League and for the England national football team...
was the target of death threats from Leeds United
Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...
fans, as was Peter Ridsdale
Peter Ridsdale
Peter Ridsdale is an English businessman who is currently the Chairman of Football Operations at League Two club Plymouth Argyle. Ridsdale was previously the chairman of Leeds United, Barnsley and Cardiff City.-History:...
.
Swedish referee Anders Frisk
Anders Frisk
Anders Frisk is an insurance agent by trade and a former football referee. Frisk chose to go into early retirement from refereeing due to pressure from death threats made against him and his family. These death threats were made by Chelsea fans because Frisk sent off Didier Drogba in the first...
quit his position after receiving death threats from Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
fans. Reading
Reading F.C.
Reading Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Reading, Berkshire who currently play in the Championship...
players Ibrahima Sonko
Ibrahima Sonko
Ibrahima Sonko is a Senegalese international professional footballer who currently plays for Ipswich Town.-Reading:...
and Stephen Hunt also received death threats from Chelsea fans in 2006. Fernando Torres
Fernando Torres
Fernando José Torres Sanz , nicknamed , is a Spanish footballer who plays for Chelsea and the Spain national team as a striker....
received death threats from Liverpool fans. Sol Campbell
Sol Campbell
Sulzeer Jeremiah "Sol" Campbell is an English footballer who is currently a free agent. A central defender, Campbell has played for Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Portsmouth, Notts County and Newcastle United, as well as the English national team.Born in East London to Jamaican parents, Campbell's...
received death threats from Tottenham fans. A steward died after serious clashes between firms from Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
and Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers F.C.
Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...
after a Carling Cup game in September 2004.
After some 20 years of relatively good behaviour among English football fans in general, extreme scenes of rioting and hooliganism made a comeback at Upton Park
Boleyn Ground
The Boleyn Ground, more commonly referred to as Upton Park due to its location in Upton Park, London is the football stadium of West Ham United.-History:...
on 25 August 2009, during a Football League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
second round tie between London rivals West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
and Millwall
Millwall F.C.
Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...
. The pitch was invaded several times during the game and rioting in the streets came afterwards, with one incident resulting in a man suffering stab wounds.
There were minor disturbances during and after England's 4-1 defeat to Germany during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. A German flag was burned down amongst a mob of English supporters in Leicester Square in England, as well as damage to a Haagen Daz restaurant within the vicinity. One German fan amongst the crowd was confronted by the mob, but there were no injuries.
On 1 December 2010, supporters of rival West Midlands
West Midlands (region)
The West Midlands is an official region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It contains the second most populous British city, Birmingham, and the larger West Midlands conurbation, which includes the city of Wolverhampton and large towns of Dudley,...
clubs Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
and Birmingham City
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...
clashed at St Andrew's stadium after a Football League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
tie, which resulted in 14 people being injured - less than 24 hours before England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup
2018 FIFA World Cup
The bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups was the process by which the locations for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups were selected. The process began officially in March 2009; eleven bids from thirteen countries were received, including one which was withdrawn and one that was...
failed. Missiles were hurled onto the pitch, a rocket flare was released in the stands, and there were also scuffles in nearby streets. By this stage, football hooliganism was rising dramatically, with 103 incidents of hooliganism involving under 19's in the 2009-10 season compared to 38 the season before. Cass Pennant, a former football hooligan, said that the rise in football hooliganism was the result of rising unemployment, poverty, and social discontent in the aftermath of the recent recession
Late 2000s recession
The late-2000s recession, sometimes referred to as the Great Recession or Lesser Depression or Long Recession, is a severe ongoing global economic problem that began in December 2007 and took a particularly sharp downward turn in September 2008. The Great Recession has affected the entire world...
.
Northern Ireland
Northern Irish football has suffered from hooliganism. While riots have occurred in the past such as that between Belfast Celtic and LinfieldLinfield F.C.
Linfield F.C. , is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club, whose home ground is Windsor Park in Belfast, which is also the home of the Northern Ireland international team....
in 1948, there has historically been a heated rivalry between Linfield F.C.
Linfield F.C.
Linfield F.C. , is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club, whose home ground is Windsor Park in Belfast, which is also the home of the Northern Ireland international team....
and Glentoran F.C.
Glentoran F.C.
Glentoran F.C. is a semi-professional, football club in Northern Ireland. The club was founded in 1882 and plays its home games at the Oval in east Belfast. Club colours are green, red, and black.Glentoran's biggest rivals are Linfield...
that has escalated somewhat in recent years, such as the 2005 riot, after former Linfield striker Chris Morgan scored a late winner to help Glentoran clinch the League, Linfield had won the league the year before. The game finished 3-2. and the 2008 Boxing Day riot. Linfield were defeating Glentoran 3-0 and Glentoran fans started ripping out chairs of Windsor Park and throwing them towards Linfield fans. Additionally, in the 1970s, the political Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
spilled onto the terraces of the football stadiums, and is seen as a major factor in Derry City
Derry City F.C.
Derry City Football Club is a professional football club based in Derry, Northern Ireland. It plays in the League of Ireland Premier Division...
leaving the Irish Football League to join the League of Ireland
League of Ireland
The League of Ireland is the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. Founded in 1921, as a league of eight clubs, it has expanded over time into a two-tiered league of 22 clubs. It is currently split into the League of Ireland Premier Division and the League of Ireland...
.
Scotland
By the 1980s the Casual manifestation of football hooliganism was adopted by fans of many clubs in Scotland with Aberdeen being the first club with a "casual" following and the established skinhead/punk hooligan elements from AirdrieSection B
Section B are a group of football fans and supporters who have followed Airdrieonians F.C. and more recently Airdrie United F.C., in Scottish football. Formed in 1977, the group have been well known throughout Scottish football for their boisterous, voiciferous and often violent behaviour for...
, Hearts and Rangers that had dominated prior to this were then challenged by casual firms (or 'mobs' as they were more popularly known as in Scotland). Casual firms were attached to clubs such as St.Mirren (Love Street Division), Aberdeen (Aberdeen Soccer Casuals), Dundee and Dundee United (Dundee Utility), Hibernian (Capital City Service), Motherwell (Saturday Service), Partick Thistle (North Glasgow Express), Falkirk (Fear) and Dunfermline (Carnegie Soccer Service). Aberdeen, under the name Aberdeen Soccer Casuals (ASC), becoming the best known.
From the 1980s onwards Aberdeen's ASC and Hibernian's CCS became the most feared casuals in Scotland, the CCS
Capital City Service
The Capital City Service is a Scottish football hooligan firm associated with Hibernian and active from 1984 when the casual hooligan subculture took off in Scotland. Their roots were in the previous incarnations of hooligans attached to the club and also the wider Edinburgh and surrounding areas...
gaining particular notoriety. From the 2000s Hooliganism has declined in Scotland but Aberdeen, Dundee Utility, Celtic, Hibernian, Hearts, Motherwell, Partick Thistle, Airdrie, St.Mirren and Rangers still have a number of hooligans.
While the Scotland national team's
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
travelling supporters, the Tartan Army
Tartan Army
The Tartan Army is a name given to fans of the Scotland national football team. They have won awards from several organisations for their friendly behaviour and charitable work...
, are generally not violent these days, hooliganism does occur in other areas of Scottish football
Football in Scotland
Association football is the national sport in Scotland and highly popular throughout the country. There is a long tradition of "football" games in Orkney, Lewis and southern Scotland, especially the Scottish Borders, although many of these include carrying the ball and passing by hand, and despite...
. Pre-arranged fights between firms on match days mostly take place away from the football grounds. Most Scottish football fans are against this behaviour, and authorities have taken several measures to reduce football hooliganism.
During Euro '96 there was an organised and well publicised fight between Scottish and English fans in the Centre of Trafalgar Square. This incident attracted worldwide media attention with footage of both sets of casuals attacking each other and police.
Celtic
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
and Rangers
Rangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...
are the two biggest teams in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, and the Old Firm
Old Firm
The Old Firm is a common collective name for the association football clubs Celtic and Rangers, both based in Glasgow, Scotland.The origin of the term is unclear. One theory has it that the expression derives from Celtic's first game in 1888, which was played against Rangers. However, author,...
rivalry is one of the most heated football rivalries in the world. The Old Firm rivalry is largely motivated by religious sectarianism
Sectarianism
Sectarianism, according to one definition, is bigotry, discrimination or hatred arising from attaching importance to perceived differences between subdivisions within a group, such as between different denominations of a religion, class, regional or factions of a political movement.The ideological...
, and is related to the conflict between Loyalist
Ulster loyalism
Ulster loyalism is an ideology that is opposed to a united Ireland. It can mean either support for upholding Northern Ireland's status as a constituent part of the United Kingdom , support for Northern Ireland independence, or support for loyalist paramilitaries...
s and Republican in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. Rangers' hooligan element (the ICF) have a strong rivalry with Celtic's CSC and Aberdeen's ASC, with Celtic being their traditional cultural enemy. They have also had major clashes with Motherwell, Hibs, Partick Thistle and Dundee's Utility. At the 2008 Uefa Cup final when Rangers reached the final, Rangers fans and the ICF rioted in Manchester with a huge media spotlight
The oldest rivalry in Scotland is between Hibernian F.C.
Hibernian F.C.
Hibernian Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Leith, in the north of Edinburgh. They are one of two Scottish Premier League clubs in the city, the other being their Edinburgh derby rivals, Hearts...
and Heart of Midlothian F.C.
Heart of Midlothian F.C.
Heart of Midlothian Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Gorgie, in the west of Edinburgh. They currently play in the Scottish Premier League and are one of the two principal clubs in the city, the other being Hibernian...
and contained a sectarian hatred from the outset as Hibernian were initially an Irish Catholics only club and Hearts represented the Scottish Protestant establishment. At the first ever match between Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian on Christmas Day 1875 the Hibs fans chased the Hearts captain, Tom Purdie after allegations of foul play, and since then the rivalry escalated into more serious crowd trouble at virtually every game between them over the next 15 years. This continued as an issue between the clubs and the fans indefinitely.
In the 1980s and 1990s these Hibernian hooligans had documented clashes across the UK with various mobs including notorious hooligan followers from such teams as Aberdeen, Leeds United, Millwall and Chelsea. In European competition the CCS also had clashes with Belgian hooligans and local residents in 1989 and in 1992, in 2005 in the Ukraine against Dnipro hooligans. The Hibernian CCS story has been told in books such as 'These Colours Don't Run' and 'Hibs Boy', and online by former notable members. In Scotland, the CCS had a particular hatred towards Aberdeen's ASC, Rangers ICF, Hearts CSF and Airdrie's Section B
Section B
Section B are a group of football fans and supporters who have followed Airdrieonians F.C. and more recently Airdrie United F.C., in Scottish football. Formed in 1977, the group have been well known throughout Scottish football for their boisterous, voiciferous and often violent behaviour for...
.
During Euro '96 the CCS
Capital City Service
The Capital City Service is a Scottish football hooligan firm associated with Hibernian and active from 1984 when the casual hooligan subculture took off in Scotland. Their roots were in the previous incarnations of hooligans attached to the club and also the wider Edinburgh and surrounding areas...
, along with Celtic's CSC, Dundee's Utility, Partick Thistle's NGE, Motherwell's SS, St.Mirren's LSD and Aberdeen's ASC organised a well publicised fight with Chelsea, Millwall, Rangers and Airdrie's Section B
Section B
Section B are a group of football fans and supporters who have followed Airdrieonians F.C. and more recently Airdrie United F.C., in Scottish football. Formed in 1977, the group have been well known throughout Scottish football for their boisterous, voiciferous and often violent behaviour for...
Hooligans in the Centre of Trafalgar Square. This incident attracted worldwide media attention with footage of both sets of casuals attacking each other and police.
In the 2000s Aberdeen Soccer Casuals (ASC) had clashes in England at Bradford and Hartlepool and also in Europe.
Wales
Cardiff City F.C.Cardiff City F.C.
Cardiff City Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club competes in the English football pyramid and is currently playing in the Football League Championship. Cardiff City is the best supported football club in Wales, averaging approximately 22,500 for...
's hooligan firm are known as the Soul Crew
Soul Crew
The Cardiff City Soul Crew are a notorious football hooligan firm associated with the Welsh football club, Cardiff City. Over the past decade the Soul Crew have become one of the biggest and most active football firms in the United Kingdom.-Background:The Soul Crew name was adopted by hooligan...
and have been involved in full scale riots since the 1970s. In January 2002, Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...
and Cardiff City fans, players, and Cardiff chairman Sam Hammam
Sam Hammam
Samir "Sam" Hammam is a Lebanese business man, most notable for his high profile involvement in British football clubs.-Career:...
were hit by missiles during a match, and hundreds of Cardiff fans invaded the pitch after the final whistle to celebrate knocking the then leaders of the Premier League out of the FA Cup. In May 2002, Cardiff City were fined £40,000 by the Football Association of Wales
Football Association of Wales
The Football Association of Wales is the governing body of association football in Wales. It is a member of FIFA, UEFA and the IFAB.Established in 1876 , it is the third-oldest national association in the world, and is one of the four associations The Football Association of Wales (FAW) is the...
for the events that day. Hammam was criticised by the head of the English Police Spotting teams for his comment preceding the game, which were deemed to be encouraging hooligans. Hammam had said, "It's better for us to play them at Ninian because the intimidatory factor will be so big... It's a bit like the old Den at Millwall except ten times more." Hammam at first blamed what he called a "racist English media" for exaggerating the trouble at the Leeds game. Hammam also launched "a war on hooliganism." In October 2004 a BBC report stated that Cardiff had more fans banned than any other Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
club, with 160 banning orders against its fans; showing a clear willingness to stamp out holliganism.
Despite the club's small size, Wrexham F.C.'s football hooligan element is known was the front line, and has gained a reputation as being amongst most fearsome 'firms' in the UK. The front line has been involved in full scale riots with many of the top firms in the UK, perhaps most notably in recent years with arch rivals Chester City F.C.
Chester City F.C.
Chester City Football Club was an English football team from Chester. The club was founded as Chester F.C., and joined the Football League in 1931, spending most of their time in the lower divisions. They changed their name to Chester City in 1983. Chester won their first league title in 2004, the...
, Everton, Port Vale, Shrewsbury and Oldham. refEverton
Port Vale
hooliganism at Wrexham
Argentina
Although in Argentine footballFootball in Argentina
Football in Argentina is the most popular sport, the one with the most players and is the most popular recreational sport, played from childhood into old age...
violence was already present from the beginning (late 19th century), the organized groups (barras bravas) appeared in the 1950s (barras bravas of Independiente
Club Atlético Independiente
Club Atlético Independiente is an Argentine athletic, sports and social club, which has its headquarters and stadium in the city of Avellaneda, Buenos Aires Province. The club is best known for its football team, that plays in the Argentine Primera División....
, San Lorenzo de Almagro, Lanús
Club Atlético Lanús
Club Atlético Lanús is a sports club from Lanús, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Founded on 3 January 1915, the club's main sports are football and basketball. In both sports, Lanús plays in Argentina's top divisions: Primera División and Liga Nacional de Básquet...
, Rosario Central
Rosario Central
Club Atlético Rosario Central is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina. Its football team currently plays in the Primera B Nacional, the second tier of the Argentine football league system, after being relegated in the 2009-10 season....
, Vélez Sarsfield
Club Atlético Vélez Sársfield
Club Atlético Vélez Sársfield is a sports club based in the Liniers neighborhood of western Buenos Aires, Argentina. Vélez is best known for its football team, that plays in the Argentine Primera División, the top level of the Argentine league system...
, Racing, etc.) and 1960s (barras bravas of Belgrano, Boca Juniors, River Plate, etc.), and continued to grow in the coming decades. Every major and minor football club in Argentina has a corresponding barra brava
Barra Brava
Barra brava is a name for organized supporter groups of football teams in Latin America. This style of supporting is very similar to European ultras. It includes standing throughout the match, singing and other enthusiastic behavior. Some barras bravas have developed reputations for hooliganism...
, and all are violent. In this country there are the largest and strongest organized supporter groups in the world, and the most powerful of them are the barras bravas of Independiente
Club Atlético Independiente
Club Atlético Independiente is an Argentine athletic, sports and social club, which has its headquarters and stadium in the city of Avellaneda, Buenos Aires Province. The club is best known for its football team, that plays in the Argentine Primera División....
, Newell's Old Boys
Newell's Old Boys
Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario. The club was founded on November 3, 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell, one of the pioneers of Argentine football...
, Boca Juniors
Boca Juniors
Club Atlético Boca Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Boca neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Primera División....
and River Plate
Club Atlético River Plate
Club Atlético River Plate is an Argentine sports club based in the Nuñez neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its professional football team, which currently competes in Nacional B, the second tier of Argentine football....
.
The first murder related with the Argentine football occurred on 2 November 1924 in Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
(Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
), after the final match of the South American Championship of this year between Uruguay and Argentina. In the Colón Hotel (where the Argentina national football team
Argentina national football team
The Argentina national football team represents Argentina in association football and is controlled by the Argentine Football Association , the governing body for football in Argentina. Argentina's home stadium is Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti and their head coach is Alejandro...
was staying) broke out a fight of Uruguay supporters and Argentine fans and footballers. Consequentially, a Uruguayan fan died.
On 14 May 1939 at the stadium of Lanús
Club Atlético Lanús
Club Atlético Lanús is a sports club from Lanús, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Founded on 3 January 1915, the club's main sports are football and basketball. In both sports, Lanús plays in Argentina's top divisions: Primera División and Liga Nacional de Básquet...
(in the city of Lanús
Lanús
Lanús is the capital of Lanús Partido, Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It lies just south of the capital city Buenos Aires, in the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area. The city has a population of 212,152 , and the Partido de Lanús has a total population of 453,500.A major industrial centre,...
, in the Greater Buenos Aires
Greater Buenos Aires
Greater Buenos Aires is the generic denomination to refer to the megalopolis comprising the autonomous city of Buenos Aires and the conurbation around it, over the province of Buenos Aires—namely the adjacent 24 partidos or municipalities—which nonetheless do not constitute a single administrative...
), the violence claimed its first fatality in Argentine territory. In a match of the minor divisions of Boca Juniors and the local team, after a foul by a player of Lanús, players began to fight. Seeing this, the Boca Juniors fans wanted to tear down the fence and invade the pitch, prompting the police to fire shots to disperse them. But a police officer named Luis Estrella shot into the stands, killing two spectators: Luis López and Oscar Munitoli, a minor
Minor (law)
In law, a minor is a person under a certain age — the age of majority — which legally demarcates childhood from adulthood; the age depends upon jurisdiction and application, but is typically 18...
of 9 years.
But this violence was not only among fans, footballers or the police, but also against the referees. On 27 October 1946, during a match between Newell's Old Boys and San Lorenzo de Almagro at Newell's Old Boys stadium (in the city of Rosario
Rosario
Rosario is the largest city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the western shore of the Paraná River and has 1,159,004 residents as of the ....
), local fans tried to strangle the referee Osvaldo Cossio. The match was tied on two goals when Cossio annulled a goal of the premises, and the third goal of San Lorenzo de Almagro in the next play made worsen the situation. Averaging 89 minutes of the game, several Newell's Old Boys fans entered the pitch, hit the umpire and tried to hang him with his own belt.
But this phenomenon suffered a major transformation in the late 1950s. The journalist Amílcar Romero sets 1958 as the beginning of the current barras bravas (although some had already existed for several years), with the murder by the police of Mario Alberto Linker (in a Vélez Sársfield
Club Atlético Vélez Sársfield
Club Atlético Vélez Sársfield is a sports club based in the Liniers neighborhood of western Buenos Aires, Argentina. Vélez is best known for its football team, that plays in the Argentine Primera División, the top level of the Argentine league system...
- River Plate match at the José Amalfitani
Estadio José Amalfitani
The Estadio José Amalfitani is a stadium located in the Liniers neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The venue is mainly used for football matches and is the home of the Argentine Primera División club Vélez Sársfield. The stadium is nicknamed El Fortín or El Fortín de Liniers...
stadium). Because of the murder of this fan of Vélez Sársfield, in October 1958, the society notes the existence of this organized groups (the barras bravas). The so-called "industrialization of football" was the kickoff for this organization, because needed to control all aspects involved in the game. Before the emergence of these groups, when a team played as a visitor, was pressured by rival fans. This prompted the organization of the barras bravas in response to that pressure:
In Argentinian football, it was well established that if you played as the visiting team, you were inexorably in a tight spot. Although they were not barras bravas as we know them today, local fans would pressure you, and the police, when not looking the other way, would pressure you as well. That had to be offset by a doctrine that in the next decade became common currency: the only means by which to neutralize any effectual group with a reputation and capacity for violence, is with another, closer-knit group with as great, or greater, reputation for violence.Amílcar Romero
In this way, each club began having his barra brava, which was funded by the leaders of the institution. These groups were given their tickets and paid trips to the stadium, adding later other forms of financing. But the access to these "benefits" by the barra brava depended of the hierarchy inside her. For have prestige in the barra brava, had to be violent, so they began to increase the number of dead.
After the death of Linker, in Argentine football began a phase marked by "habituation" to the violence of the barras bravas, and an increase in the number of deaths. According to Amílcar Romero, between 1958 and 1985 are produced in Argentina 103 deaths related to football violence, that is, on average one every three months. However, it also clarifies that the origin of such deaths is not always confrontation in the stadium, and go from the premeditated clash between barras bravas outside the sporting venues, police repression against disorder, infighting in a barra brava or "accidents", it analysis tends to show some kind of negligence or violation of safety standards.
In 1964 more than 300 football fans died and another 500 were injured in Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
(Perú
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
) in a riot during an Olympic qualifying match between Argentina and Perú in 24 May. On 11 April 1967 in Argentina, before a match between Huracán
Club Atlético Huracán
Club Atlético Huracán is a sports club from the Parque Patricios neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The football team currently plays in the Primera B Nacional, the second level of the Argentine football league system. Huracán home stadium is the Estadio Tomás Adolfo Ducó.Huracán was...
and Racing de Avellaneda, a Racing fan of 15 years died murdered by the Huracán barra brava at the Tomás Adolfo Ducó
Estadio Tomás Adolfo Ducó
Estadio Tomás Adolfo Ducó is a stadium in Argentina. It is located in the Parque Patricios neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Argentine football club Huracán owns this stadium, which was built thanks to the support of the Argentinian Army, especially due to the efforts of Tomás Ducó....
stadium. Over 70 River Plate people died in 1968 when crowds attending a Superclásico
Superclásico
Superclásico is the name used to describe the football match in Argentina between Buenos Aires rivals Boca Juniors and River Plate. It derives from the Spanish usage of "clásico" to mean derby, with the prefix "super" used as the two clubs are the most popular and successful clubs in Argentine...
in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
stampeded after youths threw burning paper onto the terraces.
From the 1980s the nuclei of the biggest barras bravas began to attend the matches of the Argentina national football team in the FIFA World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
s. That caused fights against supporters of other countries (sometimes were hooligans or ultras
Ultras
Ultras are a type of sports fans renowned for their fanatical support and elaborate displays. They are predominantly European followers of football teams...
) and between themselves Argentine barras bravas. Also, in the 1980s and the 1990s were recorded the highest levels of violence in the history of the Argentine football, and there was a new phenomenon: the internal fragmentation of the barras bravas. It was produced by the emergence of sub-groups with own names inside the barras bravas. Sometimes these sub-groups fought among themselves to have the power within the barra brava to which they belonged.
A example of the violence of this years was the Roberto Basile's death. Before the start of a match between Boca Juniors and Racing in 1983 in the Bombonera stadium, this Racing supporter died after being pierced in the neck by a flare thrown from the Boca Juniors stand.
In 1997 a member of La Gardia Imperial (barra brava of Racing de Avellaneda
Racing Club de Avellaneda
Racing Club is an Argentine professional football club from Avellaneda, a suburb of Greater Buenos Aires. Founded in 1903, Racing has been historically considered one of the "big five" clubs of Argentine football...
) was murdered by a Independiente supporter. In 2001, other supporter of Racing was killed, and the barra brava of Independiente was the main suspect. Independiente and Racing (both from the city of Avellaneda
Avellaneda
Avellaneda is a port city in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the seat of the Avellaneda Partido, whose population was 328,980 as per the ....
, in the Greater Buenos Aires
Greater Buenos Aires
Greater Buenos Aires is the generic denomination to refer to the megalopolis comprising the autonomous city of Buenos Aires and the conurbation around it, over the province of Buenos Aires—namely the adjacent 24 partidos or municipalities—which nonetheless do not constitute a single administrative...
) have a huge rivalry (they form the Avellaneda Derby
Avellaneda derby
The Avellaneda derby is the second most important rivalry in Argentine football. It is contested between Club Atlético Independiente and Racing Club, the 3rd and 4th most successful teams in terms of the total number of league championships won...
), the second most important in Argentina but maybe the fiercest (noteworthy that their stadiums are apart only for about 300 meters).
A 2002 investigation into football hooliganism in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
stated that football violence had become a national crisis, with about 40 people murdered at football matches in the preceding ten years. In the 2002 season, there had been five deaths and dozens of knife
Knife
A knife is a cutting tool with an exposed cutting edge or blade, hand-held or otherwise, with or without a handle. Knives were used at least two-and-a-half million years ago, as evidenced by the Oldowan tools...
and shotgun
Shotgun
A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...
casualties. At one point the season was suspended and there was widespread social disorder in the country. The first death in 2002 was at a match between fierce rivals Boca Juniors
Boca Juniors
Club Atlético Boca Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Boca neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Primera División....
and River Plate
Club Atlético River Plate
Club Atlético River Plate is an Argentine sports club based in the Nuñez neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its professional football team, which currently competes in Nacional B, the second tier of Argentine football....
. The match was abandoned and one Boca Juniors fan was shot dead. Boca Juniors, one of the largest clubs in Argentina, may have the largest barra brava element in the country (it is similar to the barras bravas of Independiente and River Plate), with their self-styled leader, Rafael Di Zeo, claiming in 2002 that they had over 2000 members (however there are doubts about the reliability of this information).
In 2005, a footballer, Carlos Ezcurra, was shot and seriously wounded by a police officer, when rival fans rioted during a Primera B Nacional
Primera B Nacional Argentina
Primera B Nacional is the second most important category of Argentine football organized by the Argentine Football Association.It is played by teams from all over the country...
match between local Mendoza
Mendoza, Argentina
Mendoza is the capital city of Mendoza Province, in Argentina. It is located in the northern-central part of the province, in a region of foothills and high plains, on the eastern side of the Andes. As of the , Mendoza's population was 110,993...
rivals (but not a derby) San Martín de Mendoza
San Martín de Mendoza
Atlético Club San Martín is a football club from the city of San Martín in Mendoza Province, Argentina...
and Godoy Cruz Antonio Tomba
Godoy Cruz Antonio Tomba
Club Deportivo Godoy Cruz Antonio Tomba, known simply as Godoy Cruz, is a sports club from Godoy Cruz, Mendoza Province, Argentina. The club is best known for their football team, that plays in the Primera División, the top level of the Argentine football league system.-History:The club was founded...
.
During the 2006 FIFA World Cup
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...
in Germany, there was a confrontation between 6 members of the barra brava of Independiente and 16 members of the barras bravas of Boca Juniors and Defensa y Justicia (both were together) in Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
(country where were housed the three barras bravas). As a result of the fight, a supporter of Boca Juniors had to be hospitalized.
In 2007, during the match of the promotion/relegation playoff of the 2006–2007 season between Nueva Chicago and Tigre
Club Atlético Tigre
Club Atlético Tigre is a football club from Victoria, San Fernando Partido, Buenos Aires, Argentina. At the end of the 2006-2007 season the club was promoted to the Primera Division Argentina...
(in the Nueva Chicago's stadium), broke out a fight between the barras bravas of both teams because, when a penalty was sanctionaty for Tigre (who was winning the match 2-1, a result that relegated to Nueva Chicago to the Second division) in the minute 92, the barra brava of Nueva Chicago invaded the pitch and ran on direction to the stand occupied by the supporters of Tigre for attack them. After this, were serious riots near the stadium (not only caused by the barras bravas, but also by ordinary people), and as a result of it, a fan of Tigre died.
On 19 March 2010 in a bar of Rosario, the ex leader of the Newell's Old Boys barra brava (Roberto "Pimpi" Camino) was shot and later died in a hospital of that city. Camino and his sub-group lead the barra brava from 2002 to 2009, year in which were expelled from it to be defeated by another sub-group, who currently dominates La Hinchada Más Popular (name of the Newell's Old Boys barra brava). Some members of the now main sub-group are the suspects of the murder, and the bar's owner are suspected of helping them.
In the early morning of 4 July 2010 (the next day of the match between Argentina and Germany for quarter-finals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup
2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...
) in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, there was a fight between some integrants of the barras bravas of Independiente and Boca Juniors. During the brawl, one member of the Boca Juniors barra brava lost consciousness after being brutally beating by the Independiente fanatics. He was admitted to a hospital in the city and died there on 5 July.
From 1924 to 2010 there were 249 deaths (250 with the Argentine recently died in South Africa) related to the Argentine football (if aren't counted the 300 dead in Perú in 1964).
Brazil
Fans in Brazil join in organized groups often considered criminal organizations that differ in many aspects from European hooligans. They act as the main supporters of each club and often sell products and even tickets. They have up to 50 members and are often involved in criminal activities other than fights such as drug dealing and threats to players. These fans establish alliances with other "torcidas organizadas" as they are called such as the alliance between Força Jovem Vasco (CR Vasco da Gama), Galoucura (C Atlético MineiroClube Atlético Mineiro
Clube Atlético Mineiro , are a Brazilian football club based in Belo Horizonte, the oldest in the city. Founded in 1908, they play in the Campeonato Mineiro and Campeonato Brasileiro Série A or Brasileirão. Atlético Mineiro have been Brazilian champions once, state winners a record 40 times and...
) and Mancha Verde (SE Palmeiras
Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras
Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras is a Brazilian football club from São Paulo. The club was founded on August 26, 1914, as Palestra Italia but changed to the current name on September 14, 1942...
), the alliance between Torcida Indepdendente (São Paulo F.C), Torcida Jovem (C.R Flamengo) and Máfia Azul (Cruzeiro Esporte Clube) and some others alliances. They often schedule fights against rival groups where many are injured and killed . Sometimes different groups of hooligans from the same team clash.
The Mancha Verde (means "Green Stain") is one of the most violent football fan club in Brazil. Its structure is very similar to a hooligan firm.
As well, fans of local rivals TJP - Torcida Jovem Ponte Preta
Associação Atlética Ponte Preta
Ponte Preta is a Brazilian football club located in Campinas, São Paulo. Ponte Preta is also known as Macaca. Ponte Preta's biggest rival is from the same city: Guarani. The games between Ponte Preta and Guarani are known as derby . They are known as "pontepretanos"...
and TFI -Torcida Furia Independente
Guarani Futebol Clube
Guarani Futebol Clube is a Brazilian football club located in Campinas, São Paulo. Guarani is also known as Bugre, a popular term for an Indigenous Brazilian...
clashed and rioted at a match in Campinas
Campinas
Campinas is a city and municipality located in the coastal interior of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. is the administrative center of the meso-region of the same name, with 3,783,597 inhabitants as of the 2010 Census, consisting of 49 cities....
in 2002.
Mexico
Football hooliganism in MexicoMexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
appears to be low key, but there have been some incidents, such as small-scale fighting between fans of Monterrey and Morelia at a Primera División
Primera División de México
The Primera División Profesional , known simply as the Primera División, is the top level of the Mexican football league system and is administered by the Mexican Football Federation. It was established in 1943 and as of 2011 has 18 clubs. Up to June 2011, it was divided into three groups competing...
match in Monterrey
Monterrey
Monterrey , is the capital city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León in the country of Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the...
in 2003. In June 1998, one man died and several people were injured when Mexican football fans rioted after the Mexico national football team
Mexico national football team
The Mexican national football team represents Mexico in association football and is governed by the Mexican Football Federation , the governing body for football in Mexico. Mexico's home stadium is the Estadio Azteca and their head coach is José Manuel de la Torre...
lost to Germany
Germany national football team
The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....
in the World Cup
1998 World Cup
1998 World Cup may refer to:*1998 IAAF World Cup*1998 Men's Hockey World Cup*1998 Women's Hockey World Cup*1998 FIFA World Cup*1998 Alpine Skiing World Cup...
, a result that eliminated Mexico from the tournament. After the match, hundreds of riot police were brought in to restore order because fans were looting and rioting. Fans then clashed with the police, and many fans were injured or arrested.
United States and Canada
While football (called soccer in the United States and Canada) is traditionally viewed as a family-friendly event, violence does occur. On July 20, 2008, in a friendly matchExhibition game
An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...
between Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...
side Columbus Crew
Columbus Crew
The Columbus Crew is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada...
and English Premier League club West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
, in Columbus, Ohio
Columbus Crew Stadium
Columbus Crew Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium in Columbus, Ohio and the home stadium of Major League Soccer club, Columbus Crew. Built in 1999, Crew Stadium was the first soccer-specific stadium built for a professional soccer team in the second pro era of American soccer...
, a fight broke out between rival fans. Police estimated more than 100 people were involved.
That same weekend, a riot was narrowly avoided at a packed Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Maximum seating capacity was 80,242. The building itself was 230.5 m long, 180.5 m wide and 44 m high from service level to the top of the seating bowl and 54 m high to...
as members of the New York Red Bulls supporters club, Empire Supporters Club
Empire Supporters Club
The Empire Supporters Club, or ESC, is the oldest supporters club in Major League Soccer and the largest supporters club dedicated to the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer.-History:...
(ESC), and members of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority
New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority
The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority is an independent authority established by the State of New Jersey in 1971 to oversee the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Originally consisting of Giants Stadium and the Meadowlands Racetrack in 1976, Brendan Byrne Arena was added to the complex in...
security force clashed over what the ESC claimed was unfair and repeated mistreatment. Clashes also took place in the parking area around the stadium after the game, involving already ejected-for-life North Jersey Firm (NJF) members, and the New Jersey State Police
New Jersey State Police
The New Jersey State Police is the state police force for the state of New Jersey. It is a general-powers police agency with state wide jurisdiction when requested by the Governor, designated by Troop Sectors.-History:...
were called to quell the situation. There were several arrests, mostly of known NJF hooligans.
US national team games are generally non-violent events except when the opponent is Mexico. Mexican fans have a reputation of causing trouble at games and the stadium security is usually incapable of handling most problems or simply do not respond. US fans are frequently outnumbered in their own stadia and visiting supporters frequently take advantage of the situation, often leading to missile showers and brutal beat-downs in parking lots. Further complicating matters, home and away fans at US games end up sitting in close proximity with each other since some supporters may be American citizens and do not have to sit in the visitor's section. US Soccer has responded complaints and concerns by creating a dedicated tip line for all of their games as well as a respect campaign but the Mexican federation has not taken a clear stand.
Firms have begun to popup in MLS with the most notable being the IBC (Ironbound Casuals) who are supporters of the New York Red Bulls. There have been many altercations and this group is making quite a name for themselves amongst MLS circles.
Bangladesh
Football hooliganism in Bangladesh does not appear to be a major problem. However, in August 2001, 100 people were injured when thousands of football fans rampaged at a B-LeagueBangladesh Professional Football League
-Topscorers:-External links:* at fifa.com*...
match between Mohammedan Sporting Club and Rahmatganj Sporting Club in the Bangabandhu National Stadium
Bangabandhu National Stadium
Bangabandhu National Stadium, also known as Dhaka Stadium, and formerly known as Dacca Stadium is the national stadium and a multipurpose sports arena in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is located in the Motijheel area in the heart of the city...
, Dhaka
Dhaka
Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city...
. When the referee
Referee
A referee is the person of authority, in a variety of sports, who is responsible for presiding over the game from a neutral point of view and making on the fly decisions that enforce the rules of the sport...
disallowed a penalty, Mohammedan fans invaded the pitch, throwing stones at the police, who had to fire tear gas at the fans to try and restore order. Outside the stadium dozens of cars and buses were damaged and set on fire.
China
Football hooliganism in China is often linked to accusations of corrupt refereeing, with Chinese football being plagued by allegations of match fixing in the early 2000s. After a match in 2000 between Shaanxi Guoli and Chengdu Wuniu in Xi'anXi'an
Xi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi province, and a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty...
, football fans clashed with police who had to use tear gas and water cannon
Water cannon
A water cannon is a device that shoots a high-pressure stream of water. Typically, a water cannon can deliver a large volume of water, often over dozens of metres / hundreds of feet. They are used in firefighting and riot control. Most water cannon fall under the category of a fire...
s to disperse the crowd. Police car windows were smashed as the police tried to stop the fans attacking the match referee, whom they were angry at for a decision made during the match. Eight people were arrested but later released. In March 2002 fans fought with police again as hundreds of football fans rioted at a match in Xi'an, this time between Shaanxi Guoli and Qingdao Yizhong. At the final whistle, and in response to a late penalty to the visiting team, Shaanxi Guoli fans threw missiles at the players and the police before setting fire to the stadium seats. The fans accused the referee of being corrupt and fixing the match. The fans were finally dispersed by riot police with batons and high pressure water hoses. Outside the stadium fighting broke out again, a police van and four police cars were overturned. Two years before this incident following crowd trouble at a match also in Xi'an, the government had demanded more action to stamp out football hooliganism. Football hooliganism continued to rise in China partly due to allegations of corrupt referees.
In June 2002, thousands of football fans rampaged for two hours in the streets of Fuzhou
Fuzhou
Fuzhou is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute the Mindong linguistic and cultural area....
in Fujian
Fujian
' , formerly romanised as Fukien or Huguing or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...
province, overturning police cars, damaging a bus and tearing street signs down. Order was only restored when one hundred heavily armed paramilitary policemen were called in. The rampage had started when fans were unable to watch the World Cup match between China
China national football team
The China PR national football team is the national association football team of the People's Republic of China and is governed by the Chinese Football Association...
and Brazil
Brazil national football team
The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international men's football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation , the governing body for football in Brazil. They are a member of the International Federation of Association Football since 1923 and also a member of the...
at an outside broadcast. On 4 July 2004 fans rioted in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
when China
China national football team
The China PR national football team is the national association football team of the People's Republic of China and is governed by the Chinese Football Association...
lost the final of the AFC Asian Cup
AFC Asian Cup
The AFC Asian Cup is an international association football tournament run by the Asian Football Confederation . It is the second oldest continental football championship in the world after Copa América. The winning team becomes the champion of Asia and automatically qualifies for the FIFA...
to Japan
Japan national football team
The Japan national football team represents Japan in association football and is operated by the Japan Football Association, the governing body for association football in Japan...
, 3-1, at the Workers Stadium
Workers Stadium
The Workers Stadium , often called Gongti or Gong Ti, is a multi-purpose stadium in the Chaoyang District of north-eastern Beijing, China. It is mostly used for football matches...
. After the match hundreds of Chinese fans threw bottles, confronted riot police, burned Japanese flags and vandalised a Japanese Embassy official's car. The Japanese fans had to be protected by the police, and bussed to safety after they had been given a hostile reception by Chinese fans. The rioting was attributed to ill-feeling toward Japan for atrocities committed before and during the Second World War.
Jordanian Kingdom
Football riots in Jordan are generally regarded as an expression of tension between the country's Palestinian ethnic group and the other racial groups that live in the kingdom, two groups of roughly equal size.In December 2010, rioting broke out following a game between the rival Wahdat and the Faisaly football club, both based in Amman. About 250 people were injured. According to Al Jazeera, supporters of Wahdat are generally of Palestinian origin, while Faisaly fans are of Jordanian origin. According to Al-Jazeera, The Wahdat fans are known for their bravery and madness. During the fights that occurred in December 2010, 243 out of 250 were Faisaly fans that were injured, according to senior officials from the hospitals.
A similar riot took place in 2009.
Israel
In IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
in the 2000s, tensions surrounding the Arab-Israeli conflict spilled over into sporadic riots between Jewish and Arab Israeli football fans. In December 2000 it was reported that every club in Israel was on a final warning following escalating violence and intimidation at matches. Beitar Jerusalem were attracting attention because of their fan's behaviours. Earlier that season Beitar were fined when their fans shouted racist abuse at PAOK FC
PAOK FC
P.A.O.K. F.C. is a Greek association football club based in Thessaloniki, Greece. It is the largest supported football club in Macedonia.PAOK FC is the football department of Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans , a multi-sport club. Since its formation in 1926 the football club...
players during a UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
match. Beitar had already been under a suspended sentence following an incident two years previously when Rangers F.C.
Rangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...
player Rod Wallace
Rod Wallace
Rodney Seymour "Rod" Wallace is a retired English footballer.Wallace played predominantly as a striker or part of an attacking forward line. He started his career at Southampton in 1988 playing 128 league games scoring 45 goals. This form earned him a transfer to Leeds where he won the first...
was also the subject of racist abuse.
In August 2005 at the start of the domestic season, 7,000 Beitar Jerusalem fans travelled to an opening day away match at Maccabi Tel Aviv. Beitar fans chanted anti Arab chants throughout the match, and later rioted in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
. After a match in Sakhnin
Sakhnin
Sakhnin is a city in Israel's North District. It is located in the Lower Galilee, about east of Acre. Sakhnin was declared a city in 1995. Its population of 25,100 is Arab, mostly Muslim with a sizable Christian minority. It is located on the site of the ancient Jewish town Sikhnin, which...
against Bnei Sakhnin a predominantly Arab supported club, Beitar fans rioted. Beitar have a hooligan firm, La Familia, whose members consider Israeli Arabs to be their enemy.
In November 2007 the Israel Football Association (IFA) ordered Beitar to play their game against the Arab club, Bnei Sakhnin behind closed doors after Beitar fans, led by La Familia, broke a minute's silence for former Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin and sang chants in praise of his assassin, Yigal Amir.
After a pitch invasion led by La Familia on 13 April 2008, which forced the abandonment of the match, when Beitar were leading Maccabi Herzliya 1–0 and just four minutes from winning the Israeli Premier League, the IFA gave the points to their opponents, deducted two points and ordered that the clubs remaining home games were to be played behind closed doors. At almost every Beitar Jerusalem game illegal smoke bombs and fire works are shot out to the field and seats. Even some games fights break out between fans
North Korea
There was brief unrest from North KoreaNorth Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
n fans at an international match vs Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
in North Korea in 2005. It appears that a North Korean player got into an argument with the Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n referee, and then things got out of hand.
Syria
On March 12, 2004 a fight between ArabArab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
and Kurdish
Kurdish Football
The Kurdistan Football Association is the football governing body in Kurdistan.-Official Kurdistan FA Emblem:The Kurdistan FA emblem was designed by Kurdish artist Rawand Sirwan Nawroly based in London-UK in the year 2005. The emblem represents the Kurdistan flag colours, where the red represents...
supporters of rival Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n football clubs at a match in Qamishli
Qamishli
Qamishli is a city in north eastern Syria on the border with Turkey, adjoining the Turkish city of Nusaybin, and close to Iraq. It is part of the Al-Hasakah Governorate, and is the administrative capital of the Al Qamishli District within the governorate....
, 450 miles (724.2 km) north east of Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
, escalated into full scale riots that left 25 people dead and hundreds injured.
Japan
Japanese extreme right-wing groups, known for their financial and political connection with Japanese corporations and Japanese organized crime syndicates, are also associated with supporters of various sports events including international football matches. Japanese hooligans often use the country's military flag called kyokujitsu-kiRising Sun Flag
The is the military flag of Japan. It was used as the war flag of the Imperial Japanese Army and the ensign of the Imperial Japanese Navy until the end of World War II...
(旭日旗 or 旭日昇天旗) at international football games, especially in which the Japanese national team plays against East Asian national teams. This is highly offensive to the countries of the opposing teams because the flag signifies Japan's military aggression before and during World War II, which resulted in deaths and sufferings of millions of Asian people under Japan's brutal regime. In most East Asian countries, including China, Chinese Taipei, the Philippines and South Korea, public sentiment toward kyokujitsu-ki is analogous to public sentiment in Europe and North America toward Swastika, and displaying the flag in public places is strictly prohibited by law in these countries. Most recent incident in which the Japanese hooligans used the flag was during the FIFA-sanctioned 2011 Qatar AFC Asian Cup, in a match between South Korea and Japan. Many supporters of the Japanese national team, calling themselves as Ultra-Nippon, were seen waving kyokujitsu-ki during the match, and this caused a huge public condemnation in South Korea.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Four died when troops opened fire at a derby match between AS Vita ClubAS Vita Club
AS Vita Club is a Congolese football club based in Kinshasa.-Honours:*African Cup of Champions Clubs: 0**Winner : 1973**Finalist : 1981*Linafoot: 12**Champion : 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1988, 1993, 1997, 2003, 2010...
and DC Motema Pembe at the Stade des Martyrs
Stade des Martyrs
Stade des Martyrs of Pentecost, also known as simply Stade des Martyrs and formerly known as Stade Kamanyola is a national stadium located in the town of Lingwala in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
in Kinshasa
Kinshasa
Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....
in November 1998. In April 2001, 14 people died following a stampede at a derby match between TP Mazembe
TP Mazembe
Tout Puissant Mazembe, formerly known as Englebert, are a Congolese football club based in Lubumbashi. Their home games are played at Stade Municipal de Lubumbashi. Its nickname is Les corbeaux despite having a crocodile with a ball in its mouth on the team crest...
and FC Saint Eloi Lupopo
FC Saint Eloi Lupopo
FC Saint Eloi Lupopo is a Congolese football club based in Lubumbashi. Their home games are played at Stade de la Victoire.-Achievements:*Linafoot: 6*Coupe du Congo: 1*Katanga Provincial League : 2...
. When fans invaded the pitch after Mazembe had equalised, and rival fans started throwing missiles at each other, the police fired tear gas, and fans rushed to escape the effects of the tear gas. In the resulting stampede, 14 people died. Fans of the two clubs are alleged to have a history of hatred and violence to each other.
Egypt
In January 2006 riot police had to attack LibyaLibya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
n fans in the Cairo International Stadium
Cairo International Stadium
Cairo International Stadium or "Stad El-Qahira El-Dawly", is an Olympic-standard, multi-use stadium with an all-seated capacity of 75,000. It is the Arab World's second largest . It is the foremost Olympic-standard facility befitting the role of Cairo, Egypt as the center of events in the region...
after throwing missiles at the Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian fans in the tier above them during a match between the Egypt national football team and the Morocco national team
Morocco national football team
The Morocco national football team , nicknamed أسود الأطلس , is the national team of Morocco and is managed by Eric Gerets. Winners of the African Nations Cup in 1976, they were the first African team to win a group at the World Cup, which they did in 1986, finishing ahead of Portugal, Poland, and...
. The Libyan fans had stayed on to watch the match after they had seen Libya
Libya national football team
The Libya national football team is the national association football team of Libya and is controlled by the Libyan Football Federation. The team has never qualified for the senior FIFA World Cup. They have qualified for three Africa Cup of Nations, one in 1982 where they finished runners-up and...
lose 2-1 to Ivory Coast
Côte d'Ivoire national football team
The Côte d'Ivoire National Football Team or Ivory Coast National Football Team, nicknamed Les Éléphants , represents Côte d'Ivoire in international football and is controlled by the Fédération Ivoirienne de Football...
and had started taunting the home supporters. The Egyptian fans responded by asking them to leave the stadium and verbally attacking them at half time, and when, despite a plea to stop, it continued into the second half, the riot police were called in. The Libyan Football Association were fined $7,000 by the Confederation of African Football
Confederation of African Football
The Confederation of African Football is the administrative and controlling body for African association football.CAF represents the national football associations of Africa, runs continental, national, and club competitions, and controls the prize money, regulations and media rights to those...
disciplinary Commission.
Gambia
Massive riots occurred during and after a Cup of African Nations qualifying game between rival neighbours Senegal and Gambia at the Leopold Sedar Senghor Stadium in DakarDakar
Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...
, Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
in June 2003. Gambian supporters hurled missiles towards Senegalese fans and were subsequently charged by soldiers. After the game violent clashes were reported in both Gambia and Senegal. In Gambia several severe beatings of Senegalese citizens occurred which led to over 200 Senegalese seeking shelter at their embassy. Also, there were rumours of a fatal beating of a Senegalese citizen. In Senegal a Gambian BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
reporter was attacked and robbed by a group of youths. The riots eventually led to the closing of the border between Gambia and Senegal until order was restored.
Ghana
Up to 125 people died and hundreds were injured when football fans stampeded at a match in AccraAccra
Accra is the capital and largest city of Ghana, with an urban population of 1,658,937 according to the 2000 census. Accra is also the capital of the Greater Accra Region and of the Accra Metropolitan District, with which it is coterminous...
in 2001. Accra Hearts
Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club
Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club, commonly referred to as Hearts of Oak or just Hearts, is an association football club based in Accra, Ghana.- History :...
were leading 2-1 against Asante Kotoko
Asante Kotoko
Asante Kotoko Football Club, also known as Asante Kotoko, is one of the biggest and most successful football clubs in Ghana as well as being one of the more successful teams in Africa, having won twenty national league titles. They have also twice been champions of Africa. The club's home ground is...
— with five minutes left in the match — when some fans began throwing bottles and chairs onto the pitch. Police then fired tear gas into the crowd, creating panic. Fans rushed to escape the gas, and in the ensuing crush, up to 125 people were killed.
Ghana giant Asante Kotoko face ban after Fans assault referee in CAF confederations cup game with Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia.
Ivory Coast
Fighting among fans at a match claimed one life on 6 May 2001 and injured 39 people.Libya
Eight fans died and 39 were injured as troops opened fire to stop both pro and anti Libyan leader Muammar al-GaddafiMuammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
sentiments being expressed in a Tripoli stadium during a match between Al Ahli and Al Ittihad in December 1996.
Mali
After a World Cup qualifying match between MaliMali national football team
The Mali national football team, nicknamed Les Aigles , is the national team of Mali and is controlled by the Fédération Malienne de Football. They have never qualified for the World Cup finals.-History:...
and Togo
Togo national football team
The Togo national football team, nicknamed Les Eperviers The Togo national football team, nicknamed Les Eperviers The Togo national football team, nicknamed Les Eperviers (The Sparrow Hawks, is controlled by the Fédération Togolaise de Football.They played at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Their team bus...
on 27 March 2005, which Togo won 2-1, Mali fans rioted and went on a spree of destruction and violence. The trouble started when Togo scored the winning goal. Police fired tear gas at Mali fans who had invaded the pitch. The match was abandoned and the result awarded to Togo. The result set off a wave of violence in the capital of Mali, Bamako
Bamako
Bamako is the capital of Mali and its largest city with a population of 1.8 million . Currently, it is estimated to be the fastest growing city in Africa and sixth fastest in the world...
. Thousands of Mali fans in Bamako began chanting threats toward the Mali players, cars were set on fire, stores looted, property and monuments destroyed and a building housing the local Olympics committee burnt down.
Mauritius
In May 1999, seven people died when rioting football fans threw petrol bombs into a casino, following a match in Port LouisPort Louis
-Economy:The economy is dominated by its port, which handles Mauritius' international trade. The port was founded by the French who preferred Port Louis as the City is shielded by the Port Louis/Moka mountain range. It is the largest container handling facility in the Indian Ocean and can...
between the Mauritian League
Mauritian League
Mauritian League is the top division of football in Mauritius, governed by the Mauritius Football Association since its establishment in 1935.-Barclays League - 2011 Clubs:* AS de Vacoas-Phoenix...
champions, Scouts Club, and Fire Brigade SC. After the match which Fire Brigade SC won, hundreds of Scouts fans went on a rampage, attacking police vehicles and torching sugar cane fields.
Mozambique
The government of MozambiqueMozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
had to apologise for the violent behaviour of Mozambique fans, before, during and after a match between Mozambique team, Clube Ferroviário de Maputo
Clube Ferroviário de Maputo
Ferroviário de Maputo, or simply Ferroviário, is a Mozambique football club from Maputo.-History:The club was founded in 1924, as Clube Ferroviário de Lourenço-Marques. In 1976, the club was renamed to Clube Ferroviário de Maputo. In 1982, the club won its first two titles, the Cup of Mozambique,...
and Zimbabwe team, Dynamos
Dynamos (Zimbabwe)
Dynamos Football Club is a Zimbabwean professional football club based since 1963 at Rufaro Stadium, Mbare, Harare. The team is contesting Zimbabwe's top-tier Premier Soccer League during the 2010 season...
on 10 May 1998. Ferroviário fans attacked the Dynamo players and the referee, stoned vehicles and fought running battles with riot police outside the stadium. Fifteen people, including four Red Cross workers, needed hospital treatment.
South Africa
In Johannesburg, South Africa, on 14 January 1991, forty people died when fans surged toward a jammed exit to escape rival brawling fans at a match southwest of Johannesburg.Zimbabwe
In July 2000 twelve people died following a stampede, when they were crushed, at a World Cup qualifying match between ZimbabweZimbabwe national football team
The Zimbabwe national football team, nicknamed The Warriors, is the national team of Zimbabwe and is controlled by the Zimbabwe Football Association. They were known as the Southern Rhodesia national football team from 1939–1964, then the Rhodesia national football team until 1980, when Rhodesia...
and South Africa
South Africa national football team
The South Africa national football team represents South Africa in association football and is controlled by the South African Football Association, the governing body for football in South Africa. South Africa's home ground is Soccer City, known as FNB Stadium due to a naming rights deal, in...
in Harare
Harare
Harare before 1982 known as Salisbury) is the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,600,000, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area . Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province. It is Zimbabwe's largest city and its...
. Police fired tear gas when the crowd started throwing missiles onto the pitch, after South Africa had taken a two goal lead. After Delron Buckley
Delron Buckley
Delron Sebastian Buckley is a South African footballer playing for Karlsruher SC.-Club career:Buckley's soccer career began with his local team Butcherfille Rovers Durban, but when he was 17 years old he was signed by German club VfL Bochum...
scored South Africa's second goal bottles began to fly onto the pitch. The police then fired tear gas into the 60,000 crowd, who began running to the exits to escape the effects of the tear gas. The match had to be abandoned as players from both sides felt the effects of the tear gas and had to receive medical treatment. The police were condemned for firing tear gas, calling it a total over-reaction. In July 2002, two fans were shot when police opened fire on rioting fans at a match in Bulawayo
Bulawayo
Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe after the capital Harare, with an estimated population in 2010 of 2,000,000. It is located in Matabeleland, 439 km southwest of Harare, and is now treated as a separate provincial area from Matabeleland...
. Seven police officers were injured and five vehicles badly damaged.
Australia
Soccer rivalries in Australia have continued to grow, particularly between Sydney SC, Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United supporters. However, to date there have been no major clashes in Australia's fledgling A-League competition. Unlike in Europe, there is no crowd segregation at the games.The incident with most notoriety in Australian Soccer is the Pratten Park riot in 1985 where hundreds of fans stormed the pitch midway through a Sydney Olympic v Sydney City match.
In February 2011 Victoria Police said they were reluctant to cover Melbourne Victory games because of unacceptable behaviour by fans. Problems included violence, anti-social behaviour and the lighting of flares. One senior policeman branded soccer fans the most violent of any sporting code.
At an international soccer friendly between Australia and Serbia in Melbourne in June 2011, fans lit flares both inside and outside the stadium, and in city streets. Banners supporting Ratko Mladic, the Serbian military leader charged with war crimes by the International Court of Justice, were displayed. A laser light was seen in use. Seating at the stadium was also damaged.
External links
- Crimestoppers appeal for help in identifying football hooligans
- Emotional Hooligan: Post-Subcultural Research and the Histories of Britain’s Football Gangs
- Football Hooligans An Online Football and Hooligan Resource Center
- Chinese Nation on Alert over Soccer Riots, People's Daily Online, 4 June 2001
- Chinese football fans riot over penalty, BBC, 25 March 2002
- Chinese riot after Japan victory, BBC, 7 August 2004
- Rockets, riots and rivalry, Observer Sport MonthlyThe ObserverThe Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
, 26 November 2006. Article about football hooliganism in Israel - Football Industry Group Hooliganism Fact Sheet