From: srd@ukc.ac.uk (S.R.Davies)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.soccer
Subject: Re: Where are the English hooligans?
Date: 1 Oct 92 11:25:10 GMT
Reply-To: srd@ukc.ac.uk (S.R.Davies)
Organization: Computing Lab, University of Kent at Canterbury, UK.

In article <1adch4INNkua@agate.berkeley.edu> 160955r@garnet.berkeley.edu writes:
>
>> In the Bay Area we are privileged enough to see on TV a show called
>> "FA Premier League", a weekly collection of English games (BTW, I
>> never understood which is which; is "Premier"="Rumbelows"?).
>> I've been watching it for a year now; where are the hooligans? You know,
>> the socially misfit uneducated and uneployed  youngsters who, according
>> to some press make soccer arenas a hazardous place to be?

	Where are the hooligans?  If you are looking for them in the
 crowd, then you are looking in the wrong place. They are all running
 around on the pitch kicking lumps out of each other. Vinny Jones has
 just got into trouble with the FA again for appearing in a video about
 football's "hardmen", which glorifies their efforts to maim fellow
 players. Jones describes techniques used to accomplish this end, such
 as raking the back of a players leg with one's studs, so as to inflict
 an Achilles tendon injury. It recalls to mind the famous photo of Jones
 grasping a young Gascoigne firmly by the plums, out of sight of the
 referee. Which brings us round to uneducated social misfits who make
 football grounds hazardous places to be. A prominent example just made
 his competitive debut for Lazio on Sunday.

	Seriously though, the hooligan problem at football matches has
 definitely been on the decline in this country recently, at least
 domestically. There are still problems with supporters following, for
 example, the England team (also for other national sides, e.g. Germany,
 Netherlands). Groups of drunk hooligans from more than one country
 sometimes end up having street fights. However, I think the media hype
 makes this problem appear more widespread than it actually is. Also, I
 think that social violence is a common problem in all countries, and
 for a time this was channelled as football hooliganism. When they get
 bored with it, the thugs will find another outlet for beating each other
 up. Many countries have their problems with fascist-inspired groups who
 sometimes vent their violent tendencies at football matches, and sometimes
 do it elsewhere. There are then plenty of sheep-like dimwits in any
 football crowd, who let themselves be sucked into the hooliganism.

	Also, "Premier" <not equal> "Rumbelows". The FA Premier League
 is precisely that ... a league competition, where each team in it plays
 each of the others twice (home and away) over the course of the season.
 It is the major domestic competition in England. The Rumbelows Cup is a
 knock-out competition culminating in a Wembley final between the last
 two teams remaining, and is a poor-man's FA Cup. Rumbelows is the current
 sponsor of what was originally called the League Cup, which is perhaps
 where the confusion arose. It was called the League Cup, because the
 teams eligible to enter it were from the Football League (formerly
 Divisions 1, 2, 3 and 4, but now turned into FA Prem., Div. 1, 2, 3
 respectively). The FA Cup has entries from a much larger pool, including
 the so-called non-league sides (which means not in the top four leagues),
 such as footballing giants Gresley Rovers.

	This article has now swelled to massive proportions, and since this
 is not what I get paid for doing, I'd better stop now.

 Regards, Steve.
Newsgroups: rec.sport.soccer