Wyższa Szkoła Języków Obcych

im. Samuela Bogumiła Lindego

Katedra Języka Angielskiego

Teresa Trypuć

English football hooliganism and the

media

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Poznań 2009

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Table of Contents

Introduction

4

Chapter One

The nature of football hooliganism

5

1.1. "English Disease"

6

1.2. Forms and causes

6

1.3. Short historical review

7

1.4. How are the hooligans?

8

1.5. Sociological phenomenon

9

1.5.1. Taylor's approach

9

1.5.2. The ethogenic approach

10

1.5.3. The Leicester School

11

1.5.4. Compensation approaches

11

Chapter Two

Represantation of the problem in films

13

2.1. Stories in the films

13

2.2. Football films without football

14

2.3. Violence in the past and now

16

2.4. Daily life

16

2.5. Appearance of the thugs

17

2.6. Hierarchy within a group

17

2.7. Controversy over the films

17

Chapter Three

The media's interest

20

Conclusion

25

3

References

26

Introduction

Many people all over the world consider football to be a beautiful game. Thousands of

devoted fans gather on different occasions on the football terraces to view this exciting

sport and experience its beauty. Nevertheless, there is another crucial aspect of the game,

which should be considered. Hooliganism is the darker side of football. The majority of

people around the world think that hooliganism is an inherent element of this sport. It is a

wide-spread problem, which has been present in many countries not only in Europe for the

years. Behaviour of the hooligan groups particularly affect the terraces of Eastern Europe,

Germany, Italy or Belgium, but it is also very noticeable in the countries of South America

or sub-Saharan Africa. However, it is said that the scale of the problem is considerably

larger in England than in any other country in the world. Calling the problem the 'English

Disease' may be a significant reflection of the situation in the country from which football

comes.

This bachelor thesis tries to briefly present the problem of football hooliganism in

England. The first chapter discusses the nature of the problem. It forms the basic definition

of football hooligan behaviour, description of the member of a hooligan group and presents

socio-historical background of the problem in England. The second chapter analyses and

compares different images of the hooligans in the English society in three films The Firm

(1988) directed by Alan Clarke, The Football Factory (2004) directed by Nick Love and

Green Street (2005) directed by Lexi Alexander. Films have been chosen so that they

present the firms from different points of view and in different historical background. Final

chapter deals with the coverage of the problem of hooliganism in the media. It shows the

scale of their interest in the topic, their different approaches and practices concerning

hooliganism.

The aim of the work is to establish the nature of the problem and briefly present its

dangers and importance in the contemporary world. The analysis shows that the problem is

omnipresent and many different publications about the hooligans may be found, either

academic works or just the products of the entertainment business like books or films. It

can be seen that disorderly acts of behaviour on the football terraces concern many

different areas of peoples' lives and have diverse influence on them.

4

Chapter One

The nature of football hooliganism

Cambridge on-line dictionary of English (Cambridge Dictionaries Online - Cambridge

University Press. 2008-12-27) describes a hooligan as "a person who acts in a violent way

without thinking and causes damage". According to Peter Marsh et al. (1996) "the term

Hooligan was coined in 1890s as an alternative to "street arab" or "ruffian". Now readily

applied to the 'wild and unruly' football fan". John H. Kerr (1994: 5) in his book

Understanding Soccer Hooliganism explains that terms such as 'soccer' or 'football' were

added to the term 'hooligan' because mostly acts of violence committed by the hooligans

have "taken place in and around English soccer matches" (Kerr 1994: 5). Furthermore, the

term 'hooligan' is said to be of the British origin but its derivations, which denote specific

type of a football spectator, are used all over the world (Giulianotti 1994: 11).

These hooligans take part in acts of hooliganism which can be understood and

defined in two ways. According to Geoff Pearson (2008), first type of disorder that can be

called hooliganism can be described as "spontaneous and usually low level disorder caused

by fans at or around football matches (the type that typically occurs at England matches)".

Second type is described by Pearson as "deliberate and intentional violence involving

organised gangs (or 'firms') who attach themselves to football clubs and fight firms from

other clubs, sometimes a long way in time and space from a match" (Pearson 2008). In

addition, when hooliganism is talked about it is often "accompanied by adjectives such as

"mindless", "meaningless" and "senseless". The implication,of course, is that these actions

have no logic, and cannot be understood" (Clarke 1978: 54). Although many people

connect hooliganism with football, some scholars claim that disorderly behaviour has little

to do with the actual activity of watching football (Clarke 1978) (Kerr 1994). Moreover,

the place where football hooliganism takes place is arguable. It does not happen only

within the stadium. Two definitions mentioned above contain a phrase 'in and around', John

H. Kerr contends that "the hooligan acts often have little to do with what is going on

during the game and frequently occur outside or well away from the soccer stadium" (Kerr

1994: 5). Similar statement by Newman can be found in Ann Levin's article from The San

Diego Union - Tribune (1989). It says: "a small, but highly visible, minority of fans is little

interested in what is happening on the field, preferring to pick fights with the supporters of

5

rival teams" (Levin 1989).

1.1."English disease"

Football hooliganism has gained a label of an English disease. In fact it is a serious

problem in the country which created this game and everywhere English fans travel to

watch their teams. English fans are not welcome on the international terraces. Waddington

even said: "the country which had developed and then exported the game found itself

ostracised and reviled in the world's football fraternity" (Waddington 1992: 118).

Football hooliganism is deeply rooted in the British society. There are two senses of

the way in which it can be perceived: firstly, by taking into account the long history of

hooliganism in the United Kingdom. Such behaviour has been observed in Great Britain

since the introduction of the professional football in the end of the 19th century. Secondly,

contemporary football hooligans are strongly devoted to their clubs. They are persistently

attached to their club and can do a lot in order to fight for a good name of their beloved

team, despite the fact that the authorities took various measures to stop hooliganism

(Murphy et al. 1990).

1.2. Forms and causes

The aggression which occurs on the stadium is said to be a part of fans' participation in the

game (Clarke 1978: 55). Disorderly behaviour of football hooligans may take plenty of

different forms. Waddington (1992: 118) quotes after Melnick "The forms of misbehaviour

commonly associated with football hooliganism include physical assaults on opposing fans

and police, pitch invasions, throwing missiles, verbal abuse, vandalism, drunkenness, theft

and possession of an offensive weapon".

However, the Report on Public Disorder and Sporting Events created during Joint

Panel of the Sports Council and the Social Science Research Council divides types of

possible hooligan behaviour into five main groups which worry the public. First on the list

is fighting. Football fans can fight between groups, individuals or even with the police.

These fights may be organised and prepared with the use of offensive weapon or just hand

fighting. Second is throwing missiles, the targets of which are commonly similar to those

of the fights. Thirdly, the use of bad language to offend opposite group of hooligans.

Fourthly, damaging the stadium, transport and the city where the match takes place. Fifthly,

football fans often invade the pitch not letting the game to be continued (Sports Council

1978: 1).

6

An inseparable element of football hooligans' behaviour is chanting. Chanting often

takes form of abusive slogans and songs pointed at opposing fans and their team. However,

they are created to support and encourage the team to play better (Clarke 1978: 54).

Another aspect which is worth mentioning are the causes of the disorderly

behaviour among fans. On the one hand Clarke

claims that hooliganism is believed to have

rather weak connections with real football and it is only an incidental choice of the place

for hooligan actions. But he also claims that what contributes most to the violence on the

football terraces may be the match, the players' behaviour or the referee's decisions (Clarke

1978: 37).

Causes and factors influencing hooligans' behaviour listed in the Report on Public

Disorder and Sporting Events (Sports Council 1978: 2) slightly differ from those proposed

by Clarke (1978). This list of causes, prepared on the basis of a survey conducted among

the members of the National Federation of Supporters' Clubs, contains: " 'lack of parental

control and discipline' (23%), followed by 'alcohol' (15%), 'effects of media' (13%), 'player

misbehaviour' (12%), 'boredom and frustration of young people' (10%)" (Sports Council

1978: 2).

However, Waddington (1992: 120) denies drinking alcohol as one of the causes of

soccer hooliganism. He claims that "many hooligans seldom drink prior to the match to

keep a 'clear head' for any aggression which might take place." But, he agrees with the fact

that the game itself may be the cause of the fans' violence.

Hooligans' aggression occurs in different forms and has different causes. Moreover,

it affects different areas of people's lives. Disorderly behaviour of the hooligans affects not

only the game and the football industry. The reputation of the country, the police and local

population are also affected. Travelling fans' and their vandalism abroad bring disgrace for

the country. The police have more work and the local communities have to cover the costs

of vandalism (Sports Council 1978: 3).

However, Clarke (1978) contends that although local communities suffer from the

hooligans' acts there is also a good side of this phenomenon. According to him "football

has drawn on, cemented, and given a physical and symbolic expression to these local

identities and rivalries" (Clarke 1978: 41).

Furthermore, the football clubs are not an exception. Supporters' violence also

affects them. Hooliganism causes the decline in attendance to football matches and as a

result less money for the club. Bans for the spectators and other punishments for the fans'

behaviour are also unavoidable.

7

1.3. Short historical review

Football, as well as violence connected with this sport, has a long history. Modern football

is derived from medieval folk games which were differently called e.g. 'campball', 'hurling'

and 'knappan'. In the 13th century the game was even more violent than one can imagine.

The youth battled with the other youths from a neighbouring village or town on Holy Days,

mainly on Shrove Tuesday. Drinking and feasting on that occasion resulted in a very

violent variety of the game. But, at that time nobody considered it as something

inappropriate. It was just a good opportunity for the men to show their strength (Clarke

1978) (Murphy et al. 1990) (Marsh et al. 1992).

Although the game has its origins in the medieval times, there is little evidence of

hooligan acts until late 19th century. It is said that this kind of disorder started being

reported after the professional football emerged i.e. after the 1870s (Murphy et al. 1990).

The pre-war period is the time in Great Britain when the highest number of the disorderly

behaviour of the football fans was noticed. Though fighting of the opposite fan groups was

something rather rare, some cases of the attacks on the players or the club officials were

recorded.

Between the wars hooliganism was in decline. The frequency of disorderly

behaviour significantly fell down due to the measures taken by the officials to prevent

dissemination of the problem. After the Second World War football again suffered from a

decline in popularity. This may have been caused by "three factors, changing styles of play,

rising admission charges and hooliganism" (Sports Council 1978: 3). Post-war families

were changing their lifestyle and started looking for other entertainment options. Together

with the decline of football the hooligans became less violent and one could less frequently

hear of their actions.

But these calm times unfortunately came to an end. After 1960s there never came

such a time on the terraces when violence was only occasional. From then on it became a

serious national problem. 1980s is a period of many appalling tragedies strictly connected

with football hooliganism. The events like the Bradford City fire, the tragedy at Brussels'

Heysel Stadium in 1985 or hundreds of trampled fans at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield

in 1989 are considered to be the most tragic in the football history. After that time many

regular riots have been breaking out during or after matches and they can still be observed.

1.4. Who are the hooligans?

8

Members of the hooligan groups in England are mainly white men and are said to mostly

come from the working class. Most of them are under 35, and attending Saturday matches

the way to entertain after a hard week at work (Sports Council 1978) (Waddington 1992).

As football is considered to be English 'national game' there is clear connection of

the game with the working-class. Clarke (1978) explains that the connection is not any

coincidence. From the introduction of professional football it has caught the attention

mostly of the men from working-class. The rules of the game and the players' performance

throughout the years have mirrored those men's lives. The commitment of the audience to

the game and life of the club has been part of the English national culture for years.

Working-class men are said to be tough and believe that man has to be a man in

every situation. This idea of masculinity is another reason which is meant to be attracting

this particular group of men:

For the working class supporter of the game, this toughness was a
much needed quality in his daily life. He had to stand up to the
rigours and demands imposed by the pressures of factory work, and
keep returning to the factory to experience more of the same. The
worker, as breadwinner, could not afford to wilt under this pressure,
any more than the footballer could afford to give in to physical
challenges on the field. Both in football, and in male working class
life, this idea of toughness sanctioned certain types as normal - "a
man's got to be able to look after himself" (Clarke 1978: 40).

As far as the appearance is concerned the hooligans tend to follow the latest fashion and

dress carefully paying great attention to how they look in order not to draw police's eyes to

them (Waddington 1992).

1.5 Sociological phenomenon

Football hooliganism can be explained with the use of number of academic theories, but all

of these approaches can be grouped into four different categories. First of all, there is the

early Marxist approach of Ian Taylor, who claims that aggression on the football terraces is

the result of working-class desire to bring back their control over the game. Secondly, the

ethogenic approach of Peter Marsh and his colleagues which involves aggression as

expression of spectators' masculinity. Thirdly, explanations of the so-called Leicester

School i.e. Eric Dunning's and his colleagues, who tried to engage gang structures and

socialisation into understanding motives of the aggression. Finally, the group of

approaches treating football violence as a way of compensation for the tightening of the

bonds inside the community (Waddington 1992).

9

1.5.1. Taylor's approach

"Taylor's Marxist approach sees contemporary spectator violence as a consequence of the

increasing loss of control experienced by working-class football supporters over a game

which their previously regarded as theirs" (Waddington 1992: 128). As supporters think

that the clubs are their possession, they try to maintain an illusion that they are still

included in the club's affairs. Many of the teams were funded by the occupational groups

coming from working-class.

It changed over the years and caused a lot of violence, which was not observable

for example in 1930s. "The main reason why working-class youths did not invade the pitch

in 1930s was because the ground was theirs and the playing area was sacred" (Waddington

1992: 128).

However, modern times have introduced to the game two new terms

'bourgeoisification' and ' internationalisation' which, according to Taylor, are responsible

for the damage of the fans' image that they participate in the game.

By bourgeoisification, Taylor is referring to the increasing
emphasis within the game on comfort and entertainment manifested
in such developments as the reconstruction of grounds as
commercial stadia (with covered stands, seats and floodlights), the
payment of large transfer fees and freedom of contract for players
which enabled them to command large salaries. Internationalistion
refers to incursion of English soccer into European competitions.
Set against these developments, soccer hooliganism may be
interpreted as 'attempts by certain sections of the class to assert
some inarticulate, but keenly experienced sense of control over the
game that was theirs' (Waddington 1992: 128).

Taylor also argued that football hooliganism of "the Thatcherised working-class" is a result

of the characteristics they posses i.e. "a certain residual solidarity born of neighbourhood

and gender, but ... generally individualistic, chauvinistic and sometimes racist" (Williams

2002: 47).

1.5.2. The ethogenic approach

The ideas of the ethogenic approach, mainly created by Peter Marsh, accounted that

football hooliganism is a "ritualised expression of aggression, resulting from a need to

demonstrate dominance and masculinity" (Waddington 1992: 129).

Marsh conducted his research more directly on the hooligans through participating

in their activities. He travelled with them, questioned them and where necessary fought at

their side. The model of the idea proposed was based on the view of the hooligans about

themselves rather than just pure observations from outside.

1

Results of this research showed that disorder observed at matches and after them is

in fact highly ordered and ritualised. "Disorder was ... highly orderly, and social action on

the terraces was guided and constrained by tacit rules" (Marsh et al: 1996). The set of rules

created by fans' enabled young men, whose only way of showing their superiority and

greatness was through aggression, to feel more worthy and masculine in the eyes of their

peers. For them football terraces were a place resembling professional career, which they

had little chance to build. They could move up the career ladder of hooliganism and gain at

least a bit of respect through it (Marsh et al: 1996).

This set of rules also constituted when and in what form aggression was legitimate,

as well as the limitations on aggression, as Waddington writes:

Aggro is likely to be considered appropriate in situations where
opposing fans attempt a territorial invasion of their rivals 'end';
where one hooligan fan stares at, or adopts a threatening posture
towards an opponent, or calls him a demasculatory name, such as
'cunt', 'wanker' or 'poofa' ... A different set of rules then operate to
impose limitations on the expression of aggro. Generally speaking,
such rules specify that violence should cease when honour has been
satisfied. A 'smack in the mouth' will usually be sufficient,
especially if the opponent then backs down or buttons his lip
(Waddington 1992: 129-130).

1.5.3. The Leicester School

The Leicester School researchers, such as Eric Dunning and John Williams, in their work

emphasised that aggression in football is connected with lower working-class behaviour.

Their assumptions focused "on the idea that masculine gang structures, based on age-

grading, sex segregation and territorial identification, are a particular characteristic of

lower-working-class communities. Though keen rivals, such gangs have a propensity to

combine against a common enemy" (Waddington 1992: 131).

Dunning claimed that aggression of the young men from the working-class is a part

of 'socialisation process' and they derive models of behaviour from parents, for whom

aggression is nothing wrong. Similarly to the ethogenic approach the youth have to be able

to take care of themselves, and the aggression is the way in which they can prove their

strength (Waddington 1992).

1.5.4 Compensation approaches

The next group of theories explains football violence as the way of compensation for the

loosening of bonds in local communities in post-war working-class societies. Together

with the industrial development and the development of society relationships between

11

certain members of the working-class society became less tight. Together with the

sociological change of the society into consumption model people started to seek for new

way of entertainment. Families no longer attended matches on Saturday afternoon. The

youth were left on their own. Football terraces became their place of meeting, the place

where they again could show their toughness and masculinity. Moreover, these were the

places with no control of adults.

Although some changes have been introduced to the game like professionalisation,

commercialisation and spectacularisation, they still tried to maintain their relationship with

the game. They were again united with a community they missed. "Young working-class

fans brought with them traditional soccer/shop-floor values, such as partisanship,

toughness, masculinity and collectivism. The working-class youth had inherited a

traditional way of watching a match" (Waddington 1992: 135).

To understand football hooliganism exploring the complexity of its nature seems to

be essential. Deep examination of its forms, causes and history may let one find the

importance of the problem and the ways of preventing its development. As all the

researches and theories which describe football hooliganism show this phenomenon is not

just a simple problem without any further effects on the society and knowing all the details

about it may explain why it is so popular with such a great number of people.

1

Chapter Two

Representation of the problem in films

Football hooliganism is not only a subject of numerous researches on the nature of the

problem. The 'English Disease' has also found its place in the world cinematography. As

the stories of some firms, their structure and members, occur to be quite interesting and

complex, many films depicting their life and nature have been made. Probably the most

popular ones which tell the stories of the British football hooliganism are The Firm (1988)

directed by Alan Clarke, The Football Factory (2004) directed by Nick Love and Green

Street (2005) directed by Lexi Alexander.

Although all the stories told in the films mentioned above are pure fiction, real

situations in the firms presumably do not differ from reality so much. What makes those

films quite authentic is the fact that all the academic theories and aspects of football

hooliganism from the first chapter can be easily applied to the analysis of these three films.

The Firm, The Football Factory and Green Street present the same topic of the

inside relations of the British football hooligans' firms, similar people and their concerns.

However, as the action of The Firm is set in different times than the other two films, some

differences and changes are visible.

2.1 Stories in the films

First excellent example is Alan Clarke's The Firm from the late 80's with a great cast of

Gary Oldman, Lesley Manville, Phil Davis, Andrew Wilde and Charles Lawson. It

provides an insight in the life of the leader of the East London hooligan firm Inter City

Crew, Clive 'Bex' Bissel, as well as into the life of his firm. An intelligent working-class

man, Bex leads a double life. During the week the life of a calm estate agent and the life of

a violent leader of the gang of hooligans on the match days. Bex's firm called the ICC

supports West Ham United. The action of the film starts before the forthcoming European

Championships in Germany when all the English firms fight for the leadership on the

national terraces. However, Bex thinks that all the enemy gangs should unite in order to set

up one national team to fight in Germany. After refusal of the rivals they continue to fight

against one another. They demolish cars, burgle residences and mug the members of the

enemy firms. Nothing is able to bring this war to the end. Even a dramatic incident that

happened to Bex's son in which he almost lost his life cannot make him quit his beloved

firm. All these situations lead to a tragic end of the story. Bex is finally being shot dead by

1

his worst enemy in one of the battles.

Another example of such film is Nick Love's The Football Factory, the action of

which takes place in the first decade of the 21st century. The script of the film was written

on the basis of John King's novel under the same title. It tells the story of a Chelsea fan

Tommy Johnson (Danny Dyer), a twenty something bored man with a good job whose

main entertainment in life are casual sex, beer, drugs and fights. The film shows the life of

all the members of the firm and their struggle to survive in numerous clashes with other

firms. However, after having nightmares in which he has been beaten up to death Tommy

starts to consider his present life. These dreams even make him start to think over moving

to Australia together with his grandfather Bill. Later it turns out to be only a temporary

period of weakness. Finally Tommy stays in England and continues doing what he loves

most - leading a life of a football hooligan.

Finally, the third film, Lexi Alexander's Green Street also known as Hooligans is a

story of an American boy, Matt (Elijah Wood) who after being expelled from Harvard,

where he majored in journalism, comes to London to his older sister Shannon. There he

becomes involved in the life of GSE - Green Street Elite, a group supporting the West Ham

team. Matt is introduced to the life of firm by Shannon's brother-in-law Pete (Charlie

Hunnam), who is at the same time the head of GSE. Previously weak, unable to fight Matt

after some time and a range of battles becomes a keen member of the group but he does not

know that his journalistic past will shortly change everything. When Bovver, Pete's right

hand in the firm, discovers Matt's secret he accuses him of spying on the firm for the sake

of writing an article. Bovver insists on kicking Matt out from GSE. Pete refuses to expel

the American from the firm. This leads to Bovver's betrayal and plotting against GSE with

Millwall. He reveals GSE's worst enemy the current place of stay of the former famous

leader of the firm. This provokes a fierce battle in which the former leader Steve,

Shannon's husband is severely injured and the lives of his family are in danger. In the final

battle in wharfs, when the GSE decides to take revenge on Millwall, Pete dies. After Pete's

death Matt and his sister, Shannon, move back to the United States.

2.2. Football films without football.

Seemingly all the films described above are about football. However, watching them one

may have an impression that it is not about what it is supposed to be. After further analysis

it may become obvious that despite the football subject of the films, actual game is

scarcely noticeable.

1

In spite of the widely spread beliefs that football is a beautiful game and the fact

that "supporters claim football as 'the beautiful game'; according to one best selling T-shirt

'Football is life - the rest is just details'. It's a sport that brings out the best in people; a

global language, uniting nations across the globe in their love of the same sport" (Rowe

2001: 54). Neil Smith in his review of The Football Factory for BBC claims "the beautiful

game is nowhere to be seen" (Smith 2004) in the film. This statement can also be applied

to the other two pictures, where the real game is shown only for a few minutes during the

whole film. One can see it when in The Firm characters from the ICC play football on their

own or in Green Street when some short extracts of the games watched by Matt are shown.

All in all, the characters from all the films speak in one voice that the essence of

their activity is not football. They all agree that what makes them happy is fighting. In The

Firm when the whole ICC watch a documentary on football hooliganism, a member of the

group clearly states "Why don't he just tell them that we like hitting people?". In The

Football Factory Johnny narrating says "Truth is I just love to fight".

On the contrary, firms do not fight aimlessly. They claim to be fighting for their

reputation and excitement. In Green Street Pete makes his point perfectly clear when he

explains to Matt what their life is all about: "See, we might be into fighting and all that but

it's all about reputation. We had a laugh, a few pints, cheered on the mighty Hammers. We

was completely outnumbered but we stood our ground no matter what. What's what it's all

about".

According to scholars the attitude presented in the films is nothing unusual. They

all agree that all the hooligans seek on the football terraces is a state of pleasurable

excitement. "Football hooliganism is an issueless form of activity, pursued primarily for

pleasure and excitement, and to achieve the status and respect of one's peers" (Waddington

1992: 138). The environment in which football hooligans tend to live "provides a rich

source of varied experience for those who wish to pursue and enjoy the feelings of pleasant

high arousal associated with excitement" (Kerr 1994: 47). Moreover, Finn (1994) contends

that the cause of aggressive behaviour may be the fact that the spectators are a little bored

during the game. When nothing interesting happens they spend most of their time on the

stadium on "identifying opposing casual groups and gesticulating aggressively in their

direction or talking in groups among themselves" (Finn 1994: 118). Additionally, during

his research Finn found a hooligan which claimed that "he found football to be so boring,

that now he only met up with the casuals for pre-match battles in the town centre; when the

rest continued on the match, he returned home" (Finn 1994: 118).

1

In The Firm, The Football Factory and Green Street one can notice that what

concerns the hooligans most is making their enemies' lives miserable. They try to master in

organising well planned attacks on them, travel to their places to humiliate them, meet

opponents on railway stations and make up different chants and slogans to offend them

deeply. In all the films "a struggle to gain mastery over .. hooligan opponents ... in any

confrontation that might take place" (Kerr 1994: 77) is visible.

2.3. Violence in the past and now

A lot of aggression and violence, either physical or psychological, can be observed in each

of the films discussed. However, this violence appears in all the films in different

quantities. The Firm shot in the 1988 contains a lot of scenes with blood, shows many

aggressive fights and goes into finest details in depicting them. The main character is even

at some point called 'an animal' which he becomes because of his unbearable desire to

destroy his enemy. The characters of The Firm behave more violently and madly than the

characters of The Football Factory and Green Street. In these two films fans seem to be

more calm and less determined to undertake drastic measures.

The level of aggression, either of the spectator or the players (which has an extreme

influence on the supporters), has also been changing not only in the films but also in

reality. Murphy contends that "in short, even though, in England at least, the levels of

violence and indiscipline in soccer appear to have increased over the last two decades - and

this applies as much, if not more, to the non-professional levels of football" (Murphy at al

1990: 34).

2.4. Daily life

The picture of the hooligans from the films also matches with the picture described in the

first chapter. According to Sports Council (1978) and Waddington (1992) hooligans are

mainly white men and are said to mostly come from the working class. Most of them are

under 35, and attending Saturday matches is the way to entertain themselves after a hard

week at work.

Almost all the characters have a well-paid job and families. On the surface they

seem to be exemplary fathers, husbands, grandsons or brothers. But all these things

unfortunately are not able to stop them from committing to the firm. In the end, in almost

all the cases, fighting in the name of the firm is above all. Hatred and negative feelings of

Shannon towards Pete or Bex's wife ordering him to move out cannot stop them. Matt

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attends a final battle to help his comrades from GSE, even though shortly before it he

chose to protect her sister and his nephew.

2.5. Appearance of the thugs

In the 1980s "football hooliganism adopted a new style, which emphasized smart dress-

sense. Ideally designer-label casual wear was worn, even when group members displayed

their other most obvious characteristic, fighting" (Finn 1994: 114). The characters from all

the films also followed contemporary fashion. Aggressive people, lovers of fighting in the

streets almost always have brought into mind a picture of filthy, big man dressed in a

tracksuit. However, "contrary to the popular stereotype, they take care to dress smartly,

according to current youth fashions" (Waddington 1992: 120). Bex, Johnny and Pete are

also nicely dressed in fashionable clothes, not recognisable as hooligans' looks without

knowing what these people do.

2.6. Hierarchy within a group

In addition in ICC, Chelsea Firm and GSE a certain hierarchy within a group can be seen.

A certain structure of such group can be observed. There must be a leader, somebody older

from the others, highly esteemed and able to manage the group - Bex, Harris, Pete. Leaders

are followed by 'fighters', just a common members of firms, counterparts of soldiers in the

army - like Yousef, Johhny, Rod, Bovver. Besides the leader and soldiers, there are also

young boys who are on the lower level of the firm's hierarchy.

2.7 Controversy over the films

The Firm, The Football Factory and Green Street touch very sensitive area of violence.

The last two, as released one after another in rather short period of time, have been accused

of praising violence and raised an intense discussion about their influence on the fans.

Although The Firm is considered to be very violent, some writers claim it is

genuine and show the real environment of the hooligans without any glorification of

aggression. Neil Smith in his review of Green Street states:

Director Lexi Alexander punctuates her film with extended fight
sequences that boast a brusing, muscular authenticity. Sadly,
nothing else rings true in an often comical drama that, like Nick
Love's The Football Factory before it, obscenely glamorises
sensless violence. There's a great movie about hooliganism and its
place in working-class male culture. It's called The Firm, and Alan
Clarke made it in 1988 (Smith 2005).

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In contrast, Poulton (2007) in her essay on football hooliganism 'Fantasy football

hooliganism' in popular media points that all three films evoked a kind of panic. According

to her "each of these films [The Firm, The Football Factory, Green Street] has prompted

invective and condemnatory reviews: 'moral panics have regularly been constructed upon

the release of celluloid hooliganism, with critics and reviewers in the media attempting to

persuade the public of an exigent threat to the 'moral order' of society" (Poulton 2007:

156).

In a number of reviews one can also read that The Football Factory and Green

Street glamorise violence. Furthermore, it resulted in worries that they may provoke

violent behaviour among the viewers. There were claims "that the films glorified football-

related disorder, so running an alleged risk of inspiring it in real life" (Poulton 2007: 157).

Unfortunately, the release of The Football Factory coincided "with the climax to the

domestic season and the prelude to England's participation in Euro 2004 [in Portugal]"

(Williams: 2004). A lot of doubts emerged whether the hooligans will be affected by the

violence shown in the film or not. Alan Keen, chairman of Parliamentary Football Group,

expressed his concerns and was certain that the contents of the film would cause trouble

during the forthcoming championships in Portugal (Hawkes 2004). Nevertheless, director

of The Football Factory persistently defended his film in all the interviews telling "if

someone watches a film for 90 minutes and then wants to go out and batter someone, (...)

then I think they probably wanted to batter someone anyway" (Williams 2004). Creators of

The Football Factory and Green Street continuously defended their films and refuted all

the claims about their works praising violence.

Reactions of the members of different firms throughout the country were also

diverse. On the one hand Nick Love predicted that the film "will be popular with the firms

because it helps justify their way of life" (Robertson 2004) but the hooligans were mostly

concerned with the way their communities are presented. A Millwall spokesman said in the

Daily Star article about the release of the film: "it's regrettable for a film that casts football

and supporters in a negative light to appear on the eve of the biggest game in Millwall's

history" (Robertson 2004). The release of Green Street evoked similar opinions among the

firms. Cardiff City Supporters Club chairman Vince Alm in the interview for BBC News

said "hooliganism is being glorified by the media yet again, and we are not pleased. ... The

film will misinterpret fans - we are not raving lunatics. If this film comes out, it will sour

relations with police forces, and we will have to start all over again" (Hawkes 2004).

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The Firm, The Football Factory and Green Street are the fictional stories about the

real problem of the British society. However, for somebody not directly touched by the

'English disease', which is the hooliganism on the football terraces, these works may be

excellent opportunities to have a rare insight into the presented social group. The films are

said to be praising wrong values, like violence, but they may teach many people something

useful. They may prevent some people from involving in the life of a firm, too.

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Chapter Three

The media's interest

The press and the other media have always been interested in the subject of football

hooliganism. However, it is the press and journalists who brought the topic to the public

and helped people understand it. Extensive coverage of this phenomenon showed that this

is a serious problem in Great Britain and evoked a particular interest of the public in the

subject. Public interest in the issue of hooliganism created a kind of market for the subject

which is no longer focused only on being a source of information. Now it also is "regularly

reproduced or simulated in autobiographies by hooligans, videos and DVDs - often with

'live' incidents" (Poulton 2007: 152).

The films discussed in the previous chapter, The Firm, Green Street Hooligans and

The Football Factory, are the products of such an interest. Over the years the public has

started exploring the problem of hooliganism. The press, as well as television, radio and

cinema, became a great source of the knowledge about hooliganism and provided a deep

insight into the social group of football thugs. Poulton in her essay "'Fantasy football

hooliganism' in popular media" (2007) cites after Crawford that "in recent years

'hooliganism' has become a genre in itself within popular culture. Numerous television

programmes and videos have been produced that either seek to 'explain' hooliganism,

provide insight into its 'nurky' world, or purely offer voyeuristic entertainment to the

viewing public" (Poulton 2007: 151). Each person who desires to get to the bottom of the

problem or explore the life of the thugs may simply read about it in one of numerous

autobiographies, watch a documentary or even become one for a short period of time in

virtual reality. Curiously, some scholars even coined the term 'hooliporn' (Poulton 2007)

which denotes all the products which give deeper insight into the phenomenon and are

created by the entertainment industry.

The problem of hooliganism on the football terraces started drawing the attention of

the public in the mid-1960s. Since then the journalists concerned with the hooligan

violence started devoting more and more time for the coverage of the problem. However,

reports in the press have not always been the same, as well as the whole nature of the

hooligans. Armstrong and Hobbes claim that the style of reporting on the hooliganism in

the press has changed over the years. According to them a starting point of the changes was

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the coverage of the trial of the 'Cambridge' casuals in 1985 in which the image of the thugs

no longer matched the old stereotype. Before, the hooligans were considered to be scruffs

and bandits. From that view only the fact that they still fought has not changed. But their

battles became well planned, they started spending more time in pubs and wearing smarter

clothes so that they could not be found in a crowd (Armstrong - Hobbes 1994: 201-202).

However, the media base their choice of the topics mostly on the predictions

whether the topic would sell well or interest the readers and bring income. As one can read

in Poulton's essay "hooliganism provides everything a good story should have: drama,

tension, fear and villians. Throw in a bit of shame and the odd pinch of xenophobia and

you have the lot" (Poulton 2007: 156). These elements make hooliganism a good topic as

the media almost always want to find in the news something sensational and dramatic.

Hence the media's trend "to hyperbolize the ordinary to make it sound extraordinary, often

combining it with the suggestion of unexpectedness and negative consequences" (Kerr

1994: 85). The way that mostly tabloids present the news is to shock, draw the readers

attention by big bold headlines touching rather scandalous topics. These techniques in

addition with people's tendencies to voyeurism and search of excitement may be the

reasons why so many people buy tabloids. They may be simply interested and excited by

the hooligan violence (Kerr 1994).

The media is a powerful force which not only can inform and present facts but can

also create opinions and define certain problems for the public. As Hall explains:

The press can generate their own impressions and explanations of
football hooliganism; or they can generate an impression and
explanation by who and what they choose to quote. The press can
be the primary definers of a problem; or they can contribute to the
public definition of a social problem by quoting and headlining the
definitions of others. Both have a bearing on how the problem will
be seen and understood by the public (Hall 1978: 16).

These possibilities of the media may result in a range of exaggerations and finally lead to a

distortion of a real problem. The selection of facts may create false views of the public

about the problem.

Creating opinions is not the only way of exploring the cause by the press.

Newspapers may also let the public express their concerns through their pages. They may

help in calling the authorities to take some measures in order to tackle the problem and

solve it. Campaigning for tougher measures against the hooligans is often what the

newspapers are occupied with (Hall 1978).

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Hooligans in almost all newspapers are treated and described stereotypically.

Almost everywhere one can read that a typical hooligan is a tattooed bald moron and

xenophobic troublemaker who loves drinking beer in amounts that nobody could handle.

Some even say that those who fight on the football terraces are not exactly the real fans

and know nothing about the game. Poulton in her yet another essay "Tears, tantrums and

tattoos: framing the hooligan" (2001) calls this approach of the media towards the

hooligans simplistic. She argues that not every hooligan is a "mindless and sub-human"

(Poulton 2001:124) and that these simplistic characteristic created a new 'folk devil'. The

presentation of the hooligans as villains and a possible threat to the order of the society

triggered panic among the public creating prejudices towards this particular social group.

Kerr also supports Poulton's views. In his opinion "in general, the people involved in

soccer hooliganism are not morons and are sometimes quite intelligent and creative.

Consequently, to describe soccer hooliganism as mindless behaviour by drunken morons is

completely to misunderstand the motivational process involved" (Kerr 1994:105).

Hall (1978) claims the way the press covers the problem of football hooliganism

and presents its nature is the problem itself. He accuses the journalists of being responsible

for "sensationalising the character of the problem and for isolating the violent and

sensational aspects from their proper social context" (Hall 1978: 20). Hall argues that it has

a profound influence on the readers' minds and changing its significance gives the public

wrong views on the issue. The media's selective representation of the problem make the

journalists sometimes forget that not all hooligans are morons. They forget about the

details and treat all the spectators as one consistent group. Actually, there is no balance in

the reporting of football related violence and well-behaving fans are rather rarely written

about. Innocent fans are mistreated by the press which focuses mostly on the more

sensational and dramatic side of the issue, i.e. more violent minority gets more attention

than real peaceful fans.

Moreover, the language of the press coverage is another problem. Reports from the

incidents caused by the hooligans are often described with the use of war metaphors and

rather strong comparisons to animals. Epithets like savages, barbarians, pigs or animals

can be often seen in the articles about the football thugs. As Poulton quotes after the

Sunday Mirror (18 June 2000) they use " hysterical headlines, emotive language, evocative

imagery (usually borrowed from the 'battlefield') and graphic photographs, all help to

frame the football fan-cum-hooligan as a member of a homogeneous group of 'drunken,

tattooed, crop-headed oafs'" (Poulton 2001: 122). The language use in the headlines and

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articles about football related incidents is also said to contribute to what happens on the

terraces and after the games. Hall claims that:

If the language of football reporting is increasingly the language of
thrills and spills, hard tackles and tough games, of struggle, victory
and defeat, studded with images drawn from the blitzkrieg an the
military showdown, it is not so difficult to understand why some of
what is going on the pitch, and recorded with such vivacity in the
newspapers, spills over onto the terraces (Hall 1978: 27).

In addition, this provocative language is even said to promote nationalism. But it is not

only promotion of hatred of the public towards fans. The media often contribute to creating

tense and hostile atmosphere before the matches, especially before those played by the

national team of England. Such situations mainly happen before some important games

and competitions like world championships or Euro games. It also happens that the

newspapers before the game print some headlines which express the battle readiness and

try to warm up the atmosphere at the same time in expressing nationalistic slogans and in a

way accepting and calling for violence. Then after the match, they do not spare critical

words for the people involved in the battles. Such situations show that:

The press is also guilty of sometimes displaying flagrant
xenophobia in their gung-ho, nationalistic rhetoric prior to a game.
The malign clichés that underpin the cultural denigration and
antagonistic lampooning of the customs, traits and symbols of
opposing nations often goes well beyond a 'joke' or a 'cheeky
banter'. It is therefore perhaps little wonder that some fans show a
lack of respect to the cultural practices and sensitivities of host
nations when in some corner of a foreign field. Sometimes, of
course, this lack of respect may be unintentional, or, of course,
misread (Poulton 2001: 132).

However, in the same essay Poulton (2001) explains that besides a dose of approval to

nationalist behaviour the press tends to make a clear distinction between being patriotic

and nationalistic. For the press patriotism in all instances characterises a 'good' well-

behaving fan. Whereas nationalism is a feature of always negatively perceived hooligans.

Previously mentioned lack of balance in reporting hooligan related violence and

rare presence in the media of a good hooligan creates particular concerns of the fans

towards media. More and more often they stop believing them and no longer trust in what

is written. Fans also tend to feel as the victims of bad publicity and this supposedly

provokes their aggression toward the journalists. Poulton explains this issue at the same

time giving some examples:

It is perhaps not surprising that fans are often suspicious of the

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media, seeing them as only interested in muck raking and trouble
making, leading to a commonly negative perception of England's
support. The sense of victimisation has sometimes resulted in acts
of aggression and frustration towards media personnel. The Sunday
People (18 June 2000) revealed how one of its own reporters was
'injured as he got caught up in the riots' during Euro 2000.
Similarly, the Sunday Mirror (18 June 2000) confirmed that 'TV
crews were attacked', while the Daily Telegraph (19 June 2000)
reported how eye-witnesses had claimed 'some England fans
roamed the square looking for opportunities to attack
photographers and television cameras' (Poulton 2001: 133).

These and similar reports scare fans and enhance dislikes for the media. Incidents

mentioned resulted for example in the training of the press crews before some competitions

in order to be prepared to be able to overcome riots safely and find good material for an

article or a programme. This evidence clearly confirms that the media seek the trouble and

many times instigate violence.

Poulton suggests that reporting on good sides of football may help in hushing up

violence. She claims that "a balanced approach to the treatment of supporters, rather than

framing them all as 'hooligans'" (Poulton 2001: 138) may help in changing the image of the

hooligans, for the media commentators are used to exaggeration and sensationalism in

presenting the nature of hooliganism. As long as the media seek for sensation and treat

hooliganism as a nice topic which also helps to boost selling rates, the measures which

have been introduced by the authorities may not help in preventing the development of the

problem. The longer hooligans feel that the media are interested in their behaviour and

want to report this, the more prevention may be needed.

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Conclusion

This work attempted to give a brief insight into the problem of football hooliganism. All

three chapters combine the characteristic of the nature of the issue, image of it in the films

and the way the media approach hooliganism. All these aspects were described to provide

better understanding of the behaviour of the hooligans.

Understanding football hooliganism means understanding the complexity of this

still unsolved problem. The phenomenon consists of many different aspects which have

been deeply examined by the scholars, the knowledge of which may help in finding a

solution and a good way of tackling the problem. Although the authorities undertake

numerous measures to reduce the violence on the football terraces the scale of hooliganism

is rather high and it is constantly developing. Introducing identity cards with photographs

and banning the most violent spectators from the stadium did not bring any solution to the

problem. It even made it a little worse by carrying the battles between to the places outside

the exact place of the match. Hence the need of well-thought-out productions like film or

books and balanced reporting on the issue. As some scholars tend to claim, though films

are fictional stories, they may be viewed as praising hooligan violence and hooligan

lifestyle. As long as the image of the hooligans in the media does not change, the problem

will be developing.

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