Hooliganism

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Hooligan(s) redirects here, for the 2005 film, see Green Street, for the performance artist, see Hooligan (artist).

Hooliganism is unruly and destructive behaviour. It is now frequently linked in the public mind with the game and support of football (soccer) clubs. The term has however been widely used since (at least) the 1980s to describe various street gangs of youths behaving indecently. Hooligans have also attached themselves to other sports, such as rugby and even cricket.

1 Origin of name
2 History
3 Hooliganism in Scotland
4 Hooliganism in Scandinavia
5 Hooliganism in the Soviet Union and Russia
6 Hooliganism in Iran
7 Hooliganism in the People's Republic of China
8 Sports violence in North America
9 See also
10 Media
11 External links

[edit]

Origin of name

The origin of the name is uncertain, but it is known that it appeared in an 1898 London police report. One theory has the name coming from an Irish hoodlum from London named Patrick Hooligan; another has it coming from a street gang in Islington named "Hooley", a third lists "Hooley" as an Irish word which means a wild, spirited party.

[edit]

History

Violence in sports has a long history. In the 6th century, rivalry between supporters of the Blue and Green chariot-racing teams in Constantinople, led to 30,000 deaths in the week of the Nika riots in 532.

The game of football (soccer in the United States) has been associated with violence since its beginnings in 13th century England. Medieval football matches involved hundreds of players, and were essentially pitched battles between the young men of rival villages. Only two periods in British history have been relatively free of football-related violence: the inter-war years and the decade following the Second World War.

The behaviour now known as "football hooliganism" began in England in the early 1950s. In other European countries, similar patterns of behaviour emerged about fifteen or twenty years later, in the early 1970s. Italian fans created a particularly fanatical brand of football support known as Ultras, who are now a major force in the Italian game and are prevalent in a few other European countries.

[edit]

Hooliganism in Scotland

Scottish football hooligans are commonly known as 'Casuals'. Hooliganism is more closely associated with the 'second tier' of clubs such as Aberdeen, Hibernian and Hearts, than with the Glasgow based Old Firm of Celtic and Rangers. However the Glasgow teams have close links with paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland, and perhaps the most serious violence associated with supporters of these clubs occurs here and not in Scotland. It should be noted that the national team's traveling supporters, the Tartan Army, are world-renowned for their friendliness and aversion to violence.

[edit]

Hooliganism in Scandinavia

Hooliganism in Scandinavia became a growing problem in the 1980s, but pitch invasions and violence on, or in direct connection to the football grounds lessened in the later years of the 1990s, instead, organized football firms took on the role as the troublemakers in Scandinavian football, moving the problem relatively far away from the grounds and the regular supporters.

Hooliganism is said to have made the entrance in Sweden when supporters of IFK Göteborg invaded the pitch, destroyed the goals and fought the police in the end of the football match in 1970 that destined the club to be relegated from the highest league. In the end of the 1970s, inspired by the English football culture, many unruly supporter groups were created, including AIK's Black Army and Hammarby IF's Bajen Fans. The word huliganism was established in the Swedish language as a description of violence in connection with sport events, mainly football, in the early 1980s.

Hooliganism in Denmark is almost exclusively a domestic affair; the traveling supporters of the national team, known as roligans, are as renowned as the Scottish supporters (the Tartan Army) for their peaceful nature. However, there are a few hooligan groups, of which some occasionally engage in violence abroad, mainly in the Swedish part of the Oresund Region.

[edit]

Hooliganism in the Soviet Union and Russia

In the Soviet Union "hooliganism" (хулиганство, khuliganstvo) was made a criminal offence under the penal codes of the Soviet republics. In the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (RSFSR), article 216 of the penal code defined "hooliganism" as "any deliberate behaviour which violates public order and expresses explicit disrespect towards the society." This article was used to cover a wide range of behaviours such as vagrancy, stalking, foul language, etc. This law was often used by Soviet authorities against political dissidents involved to public protest.

Hooliganism is still covered under the criminal and administrative codes of the Russian Federation and applicable to persons at least 16 years (the age of full responsibility, by Soviet and Russian laws). Hooliganism is graded into "Malicious hooliganism" (злостное хулиганство, zlostnoye khuliganstvo), (simply) hooliganism, and "Petty hooliganism" (мелкое хулиганиство, melkoye khuliganstvo).

"Petty hooliganism" is "subject to administrative proceedings" ("привлекаться к административной ответственности" (roughly equivalent to application of the civil law) and classified as "административный проступок" (administrativny prostupok), which is roughly equivalent to infraction). It is applied to deal with minor street disorders, fighting, and disorderly behaviour generally, mainly by urban youth. The two remaining grades are criminal offences. "Malicious hoologanism" is hooliganism committed "with extraordinary cynicism, with resistance to law enforcement, with usage of arms or attempt thereof, or committed by a recidivist."

[edit]

Hooliganism in Iran

In Iran holliganism, especially football hooliganism, is punished by prison or death. According to the SMCCDI (Students Movements Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran) four Esfahan residents were executed by hanging between April 8 and 9 for their part in the October 2001 riots, when hundreds of youths took to the streets following a defeat of the Iranian national football team in a World Cup qualifying match. The four were accused of "banditry", "hooliganism" and "aggression" after clashing with police as furious fans shouting "Death to the Islamic Republic" tore down street decorations put up to welcome Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was to visit to the city the following day.

[edit]

Hooliganism in the People's Republic of China

The crime of hooliganism was abolished in China in 1997 with reform of criminal law and was replaced by "disrupting public orders", "causing mass anger", "vandalism", "destruction of public or private property" and other, all punished by prison or death. On October 16 1997 one person was sentenced to death for "stirring up fights and causing trouble". However, in 1998 hooliganism was reintroduced for "Strike Hard". On May 5 (1998) one was sentenced to death for "using condemned mob for committing hooliganism". On July 31 there was an death sentences for "corruption, hooliganism and embezzlement". On November 25, one person was sentenced to death for the alleged crime of "hooliganism". In 2000, there was an execution for "hooliganism and rape". Specified laws on football hooliganism were enacted only only in 2005. According to this law, police can arrest [incomprehensible] suspect, detained for twenty days, fined (?) between 2000 to 5000 renmibi and prevented to go to stadia for one year without trial. With trial, football hooligans are killed to death.

[edit]

Sports violence in North America

Hooliganism in North America is not nearly the problem it is in Europe. Fans of rival teams generally limit their abuse to taunts and jeers. Fans are not segregated, and only recently have stadiums begun checking fans for weapons (to protect them from terrorists, not from each other).

However, fan violence is not unknown in North America. A victory celebration in Detroit after the 1990 NBA Finals degenerated into a riot that left 7 dead. Three people died in Chicago after the Chicago Bulls won the 1993 NBA championship. The best-known example of sports-related violence in Canada is the riot that followed the suspension of ice hockey player Maurice Richard in Montreal in 1955.

[edit]

Media

Books

Among the Thugs
Red Army General: Leading Brittains Biggest Hooligan Gang
Scally: Confessions Of A Category C Football Hooligan
The Football Factory
Football Hooligans: Knowing the Score (Explorations in Anthropology S.)
The Family Game: The Untold Story of Hooliganism in Rugby League
Fighting Fans: Football Hooliganism as a World Phenomenon
Hooliganism: Crime, Culture and Power in St.Petersburg, 1900-14
Football Hooliganism: The Wider Context
Barmy Army: The Changing Face of Football Violence
The Roots of Football Hooliganism
Understanding Soccer Hooliganism
Bloody Casuals: Diary of a Football Hooligan
Naughty: The Story of a Football Hooligan Gang
The Frontline
City Psychos: From the Monte Carlo Mob to the Silver Cod Squad
Rolling with the 6.57 Crew: The True Story of Pompey's Legendary Football Fans
Hooligan Wars: Causes and Effects of Football Violence
Terrace Legends
Congratulations, You have just met the I.C.F.
Flying With the Owls Crime Squad