Recent disorder at the European football championships in France involving fans from a variety of nations, is a stark reminder that an uglier side to the oft-termed “beautiful game” is still alive and, possibly, quite well.
For many in England, the images and footage of hooligans careering through the streets of Marseille will be familiar—for decades hooliganism has been a staple of England’s domestic and international fixtures, earning it the unflattering metaphor of a “disease.” As a result, English football fans have earned a dubious reputation for engaging in heavy drinking, antisocial behavior, and violence at matches.
Although one must always interpret statistical measures of crime with caution and recognize their various shortcomings, during the past several years football-related violence—or hooliganism—has officially declined in England. Occasional outbursts of visible disorder do still occur at football matches, but these are not as regular as they were during the late 1980s when levels of football hooliganism in England reached their peak. Since then, increased TV coverage and corporate investment as well as alterations to stadiums, security, policing, and a concerted effort to market football as an inclusive, family-oriented sport, have stimulated some quite dramatic transformations within the game.
Importantly though, as several criminologists have pointed out, these have occurred in tandem with transformations in the nature of football hooliganism too, which has assumed a more “organized” character and has been linked to other forms of criminal activity that take place away from stadiums and their immediate surroundings.
