Football Hooliganism

Abstract

Few phenomena in contemporary society have elicited such strong sentiments as that labeled “football hooliganism.” The disorder and violence that the phrase encapsulates has been studied, policed, and legislated against from a wide variety of starting points. In this entry the authors contend that the epiphenomena provoked by hooliganism are as worthy of academic inquiry as the “hooligans” themselves. The entry charts the history of football hooliganism as well as of governmental and academic responses to it, and ends by examining contemporary instances of hooliganism from around the world.

Sport and Crime

“…Armstrong and Testa's (2010) exploration of Italy's neo-fascist UltraS (hardcore soccer supporters) revealed that their soccer loyalties were a subplot to their wider ideological allegiances that were disseminated in the stadium, a de facto 21st century agora (Greek: "meeting place") for the fans. Elsewhere in Egypt and Turkey, Dorsey (2013) has explored the role ultras play in political protests and has argued that "hooligan" acts must be situated in the context of wider political loyalties and complex sociopolitical machinations (Armstrong and Rosbrook Thompson, 2015). As Coakley and Pike (2009) postulate, "Sports events do not occur in a social vacuum.…”

“…As a result, the phenomenon has lost its "British" correlate and as the scope for exploration has become international, the locus of analysis has shifted from strictly soccer-related violence to dynamics and agendas far more complex than the impulse to confront rival fans (Armstrong and Rosbrook-Thompson, 2015). Armstrong and Testa's (2010) exploration of Italy's neo-fascist UltraS (hardcore soccer supporters) revealed that their soccer loyalties were a subplot to their wider ideological allegiances that were disseminated in the stadium, a de facto 21st century agora (Greek: "meeting place") for the fans.…”

“…Present-day spectator deviance can occur across a number of sports and within various settings, even domestically while fans watch sport on the television (Coakley and Pike, 2009). However, few phenomena in contemporary society have evoked such strong sentiments as that labeled "football hooliganism" (Armstrong and Rosbrook-Thompson, 2015).…”

“…(Manchester Evening News, 2014) The quote was taken from an interview with Tony Lloyd, the Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner, after hooliganism marred the aftermath of Manchester United versus Manchester City in November 2014. The disorder and violence that the term encapsulates has been studied, policed, and legislated against from a variety of starting points (Armstrong and Rosbrook-Thompson, 2015). This has contributed to the construction of a "social problem" that has produced a wealth of theory and literature from academic (Armstrong, 1998;Armstrong and Giulianotti, 1997De Biasi, 1996;Dunning et al, 1988Dunning et al, , 2002Giulianotti, 1999;Hobbs and Robins, 1991;Millward 2009;Murphy et al, 1990;Roversi, 1992;Taylor, 1969Taylor, , 1971Taylor, , 1982Taylor, , 1999, police, and other commentators (Armstrong, 1998).…”

“…Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a title in Oxford Handbooks Online for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy). Subscriber: Oxford University Press -Main Account; date: 23 November 2015 the possible outcome since the beginnings of Association Football in the mid-nineteenth century has been partisan spectatorship prone to disorder" (Armstrong and Rosbrook-Thompson, 2015). Perhaps the most surprising reality is that a specific criminal offence of "hooliganism" does not exist (Armstrong, 1998), only a stream of legislation specifically targeted at the perceived problems of "football hooliganism" and the criminal offences it creates (Dunning and Malcolm, 2003).…”