1

MINISTERUL EDUCAIEI NAIONALE

LICEUL TEORETIC ONISIFOR GHIBU, SIBIU
CATEDRA DE LIMBA ENGLEZ

LUCRARE PENTRU OBINEREA

ATESTATULUI DE COMPETEN
LINGVISTIC LA LIMBA ENGLEZ

Profesor coordonator:
Prof. Marinela Onitiu

El
ev:
Lungu James Denis

SIBIU
2016
MINISTRY OF NATIONAL EDUCATION
"ONISIFOR GHIBU HIGH SCHOOL OF SIBIU
THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

2012

FOOTBALL HOOLIGANISM IN
GREAT BRITAIN

Scientific Advisor:
Mrinela Onitiu, Teacher

Student:
Lungu James Denis

SIBIU

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2016

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Contents
Introduction
............4
1.
History
of
football
....6
1.1.What is football?............................................................................
..6
1.2.
The
evolution
of
football,
now.............7

football

then

and

1.3. Football in schools. How football helps children to relax and become more
healthy...
...........................10
1.3.1.Footballasa
passion.
.11
2.Football
and
media.
16
3.Hooliganism
and
vandalism......20
3.1.What
hooliganism?.............................................................................20

is

3.1.1.Discrimination
....22
3.1.2.Ways
of
stopping
hooligans...24

the

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3.1.3.
Largest
hooligan
crowds....30
3.1.4..Consequence
of
....33

hooliganism.

Conclusions
...36

Sources
..37

Introduction
The love for football many dont understand it! (Gheorghe Hagi)

In our world football is a phenomenon, all the rest are sports. Football is called
the king of sports and it is played in almost all countries and cities. Beside all the
good and emotional parts, there is a negative part: hooliganism! But this negative
part is caused by fanatic supporters who can not express the love for football in
normal, nice and peaceful ways.
The aim of my paper is to show both the good and bad things of
football, from the beginning to the present day. My paper also reflects ways in
which the football community can reduce the hooliganism and can make football
to be more gorgeous because woman and kids also watch football and they do not
warm to see fighting and damaging. Our children must learn how to tolerate
others and how to be human. Hooliganism must be reduced and people can do
that. In many countries hooliganism do not exist. In the end I want to support the
make football not war project, initiated by Puma.

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The paper is divided into for chapters. The first chapter, History of Football, is a
rather theoretical one. It focuses on the beginning of football and gow it was
developed. It also reflects the football-school relation. Furthermore, this chapter is
about the children who play football for fun and the legends who become models
for them.
The second chapter, Football and Media, is about the positive and
negative aspects of media reflected in football.
The third chapter, Hooliganism and Vandalism, refers to the hooligan
gangs who destroy the beautiful side of this sport. There are methods to stop the
hooligan but also to make them feel the consequences of their behavior. This
chapter is also about the causes of the hooligan bad behavior. In all cases the main
cause is alcohol but in some special cases the drugs are a cause, too. This chapter
also goes further and discuses discrimination. Football hooligans discriminate the
true fans of a football team. The purpose of this chapter is to show that
hooliganism is a bad thing and it is the dark side of the football.

1. History of football
The History of English football is a long and detailed one, as it is not only the
national sport but England was there the game was developed and codified. The
modern global game of football was first codified in 1683 in London. The impetus
for this was to unify English public school and university football games. There is
evidence for refereed, team football games being played in England schools since
at least 1581. An account of an exclusively kicking football game from
Notthinghamshire-Notts County in the 15th century bears similarity to football.
England can boast the earliest ever documented use of the English word
football and the earliest ever reference to the sport in French. England is home
to the oldest Fa cup founded in the world, the worlds oldest competition and the
first ever football league(1888). But the first ever interleague was in the 20 th
century. For these reasons England is considered the home of the game of
football.
Figure 1.1

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Source:

1.1. What is football?

Football refers to a number of sports that involve , to varying degrees, kicking a

ball with the foot to score a goal. The most popular of these sports worldwide is
association football, more commonly know as just football or
soccer. Unqualified, the word football is understood to refer to whichever form
of football is the most popular in the regional context in which the word appears.
Sports commonly called 'football' in certain places include: football association as
well as American football, Canadian football Australian football. These different
variations of football are known as football codes. Football is a game played by
two teams of 11 player each on a rectangular, 100-yard-long field with goal lines
and goal posts at either end, the object being to gain possession of the ball and
advance it in running or passing plays across the opponents goal line or kick it
through the air between the opponents goal posts.

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1.2. The evolution of football, football then and now

For all the evidence of early ball sports played elsewhere in the world, the
evolution of football as we know it today took place in Britain. The game that
flourished in the British Isles from the eighth to the 19th centuries featured a
considerable variety of local and regional versions - which were subsequently
smoothed down and smartened up to create the modern-day sports of association
football, rugby football and, in Ireland, Gaelic football.
Primitive football was more disorganised, more violent, more
spontaneous and usually played by an indefinite number of players. Frequently,
games took the form of a heated contest between whole villages - through streets
and squares, across fields, hedges, fences and streams. Kicking was allowed, as in
fact was almost everything else. Sometimes kicking the ball was out of the
question due to the size and weight of the sphere being used - in such cases,
kicking was instead limited to taking out opponents.
Curiously, it was not until nine years after the rules of football had been
first established in 1863 that the size and weight of the ball were finally
standardised. Up to then, agreement on this point was usually reached by the
parties concerned when they were arranging the match, as was the case for a game
between London and Sheffield in 1866. This encounter was also the first where
the duration was prearranged for 90 minutes.
One theory is that the game is Anglo-Saxon in origin. In both Kingstonon-Thames and Chester, local legend has it the game was played there for the first
time with the severed head of a vanquished Danish prince. In Derby, it is said to
have originated in the third century during the victory celebrations that followed a
battle against the Romans. Yet there is scant evidence of the sport having been
played at this time, either in Saxon areas or on the continent. Indeed prior to the
Norman conquest, the only trace found of any such ball game comes from a Celtic
source.
Another theory regarding its origin is that when 'mob football' was being
played in the British Isles in the early centuries AD, a similar game was thriving
in France, particularly in the northern regions of Normandy and Brittany. So it is
possible that the Normans brought this form of the game to England with them.

23

A similar significance was attached to contests between married men and

bachelors that prevailed for centuries in some parts of England, and, likewise, to
the game between married and unmarried women in the Scottish town of Inveresk
at the end of the 17th century which, perhaps by design, was regularly won by the
married women. Women's football is obviously not as new as some people think.
For all the conflicting views on the origins of the game, one thing is
incontestable: football has flourished for over a thousand years in diverse
rudimentary forms, in the very region which we describe as its home, Britain.

1.3. Football in schools. How football helps children to relax and

become more healthy

Football can be an extra activity for the children in school and high schools.They
can disconnect from the day by day activity at school and go to the schoolyard
and play some football. This sports is a fantastic cross-training opportunity that
has some mental and corporeal benefits.

Improve your cardio

Increase muscle tone and bone strength
Increase endurance
Teamwork
Getting involve
Increase endurance

Soccer known as the most popular sport in the world is being played in most
countries. It is a team sport, involving 11 players on each side who can use their
legs, head and torso to pass a ball or to score. The nature of the game means that
players may be sprinting, running fast or slow and sometimes may be standing
around.
Figure 1.3

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As play during soccer is

continuous, soccer is great
for fitness and cardiovascular
health. People of various ages
and skill levels can participate
in soccer, with individual of
various sizes being able to do
equally well. Soccer can also be a
great sport for kids who may not
have high levels of athletic ability

Source:https://www.google.ro/searc
h?q=i+football&source

but, who would like to participate in

team sports.

1.3.1 Football as a passion

In any given game you can witness the tears, sweat, blood and see individual
running with their arms spread wide as if they are about to soar off into the
heavens. This is only small factors that show the passion of soccer.
They control the ball with amazing speed and grace, with strong legs that
seem to defy the law of motion. Such skill and talent is not equaled in any other
sport.I It can be country against country, team against team, but each of them
having a sense of pride and confidence in their ability to score a goal and take the
winning prize home. Soccer is a sport rich in culture and history dating back to
Elizabethan time and is closely associated with rugby football which is also a
European sport.

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The sport soccer has no room for weakness, the players must show
amazing endurance through the whole game. Why is there no room for weakness?
Well consider that a basic adult soccer match consist of a hour and half of
gameplay, cut into 2two periods know as halves, each one runs constantly, this
means that time does not stop when the soccer ball is out of play. However, there
is only a fifteen minutes break between the two halves so each player must have
the stamina to endurance such a long run.`
Soccer is the most popular sport in the world and is an industry worth over
US$400 billion world wide 80% of this is generated in Europe. It has been
estimated that there were 22 million soccer players in the world in the early
1980s.
It is played by 250 million players in over 200 nations, making it the world's most
popular sport. Over the years the passion of soccer has been demonstrated time
and time again from riots braking out to a game that puts nations at war with each
other at peace. Just recently the sporting world of soccer gained international
attention when Egypt hosted a soccer match where nearly 74 people died when a
rito broke out.
Was this a result of the deep passion held within soccer? One may never know.
But such events highlight the high turnout and love for a single soccer game.

2. Football and media

Its belief that the advance in the use of social ways of communication will change
the way fans communicate with players and event organisers. With the advance in
social media spread it is possible to affirm that even stadiums big screen will be
utilised to share followers thoughts and comments worldwide, creating a live
atmosphere in every match. Probably the 2014 edition of football (soccer)
competition will serve as a showcase for this sport upcoming changes.
Social Media is one of the technologies which has increased dramatically in
sport/soccer, as the time comes closer to 2014 World Cup, speculations arise in
how those communication channels will be used and how this will affect:

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Soccer Players
With the advent of modern technology, even innocent off field incidents can
become public, as highlighted by the situation involving Athletes and their offfield life. Other than the mainstream media indicates that this issue of players
having to accept the consequences of their offfield behavior is something that is
only likely to increase. Social Media is an everyday fact that needs to be managed
by athletes. During 2010 World Cup, Kaka, one of the worlds premiere football
players, was using his Twitter account to connect with fans and do things like
share a pair of songs that were written for him. Traditional media outlets like
Sports Illustrated magazine were running profiles of the US national team, but
were also including each players Twitter handle. Despite FIFAs accessibility of
players was so guarded and controlled the idea that players were kind removing
filters, connecting with their fans appears really innovative.

Soccer Sponsors
By 2006, during Germany World Cup social media sites were starting to pick up
steam. Facebook had launched but it was still restricted to college and high school
students. Similarly, Twitter was still in its beta-stage and hadnt yet caught on;
MySpace was the most popular social networking site in the US. Companies like
Adidas, Nike and Puma were early adopters with campaigns that included print
ads, television spots and online sites.
Nike in particular teamed up with Google to create the first social
network for football fans worldwide, Joga.com, allowing users to create profiles,
view video and connect with fellow fans. Other companies joined in, with Adidas
launching a MySpace site featuring video and exclusive content, and Coca-Cola
launching a blog to track two unofficial World Cup mascots. Users could provide
the mascots with suggestions and track their antics. The blog was a predecessor to
similar video sites created for MySpace and YouTube.
In summary, then, I think that social is here to stay for football and that it
can be very positive, as long as clubs focus on conservation with fans for its own
sake and accept any positive spin-off from that as a happy adjunct, rather than the
aim itself. I will conclude a few ideas for what clubs should be thinking about in
the field of social media:

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1. Clubs, especially larger ones, should use social to encourage engagement with
grass roots football and football charities; this will build genuinely positive
sentiment, increase reach, and chimes with the values of the majority of fans. This
includes any content relating to clubs engagement with corporate social
responsibility programs.
2. Clubs should use social for crisis PR: while not necessarily able to shape
conversation, crisis PR on social can react quickly to negative narratives and
address issues as they arise with more agility.
3. Smaller clubs can use social to drive sales and engagement more positively and
successfully than larger clubs, and should invest in social. This might assist in
engaging fans of larger teams too, as they may wish to visit a second club in
their area, not as fans, but simply to watch, which will generate revenue.
4. Clubs should seek to engage with the blogging community, offering tickets or
interviews; bloggers are a massively influential source of conversation and
engagement with this community is not well directed at the moment.
5. Lastly, clubs should remember that their fans, not corporate partners, are the
life-blood of any club. Any social engagement should always privilege that
relationship over any other, and if that is remembered, then social will work for
clubs, rather than against them.

3. Hooliganism and vandalism

The word hooliganism and hooligan began to be associated with violence in

sports, in particular from the 1970s in the UK with football hooliganism. The
phenomenon, however, long preceded the modern term; for example, one of the
earliest known instances of crowd violence at a sporting event took place in
ancient Constantinople. Two chariot racing factions, the Blues and the Greens,
were involved in the Nika riots which lasted around a week nearly half the city
was burned or destroyed, in addition to tens of thousands of deaths.

3.1. What is hooliganism

Figure 3.1.1

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Football hooliganism refers to

unruly, violent, and destructive
behavior
by
overzealous
supporters
of
association
football
clubs,
including
brawling,
vandalism
and
intimidation.
Football hooliganism
normally involves conflict
between gangs, often known as
Source:
football firms formed for the specific purpose of intimidating and physically
attacking supporters of other teams. Certain clubs have long-standing rivalries
with other and hooliganism associated with matches between them is likely to be
more severe.
Conflict may take place before, during or after matches. Participants often
select locations away from stadia to avoid arrest by the police, but conflict can
also erupt spontaneously inside the stadium or in the surrounding streets. In such
cases, shop windows may be smashed, rubbish bins set on fire. In extreme cases,
hooligans, police, and bystanders have been killed, and body-armoured riot police
have intervened with tear gas, police dogs, armoured vehicles and water cannons.
The main causes are "the media, the police, the football authorities and opposing
fans. " Rowe (2002) states that "football violence is often explained by focusing
on genetic and sociological theories."
Writing for the BBC in 2013, David Bond stated that in the UK, "high-profile
outbreaks of violence involving fans are much rarer today than they were 20 or 30
years ago. Football has moved on thanks to banning orders and better, more
sophisticated policing. And while it is too simplistic to say that the higher cost of
watching football has pushed unsavoury elements out, there has been a shift in the
way people are expected to behave inside grounds. Offensive chants are still way
too commonplace but actual fighting doesn't happen very often.

3.1.1. Discrimination

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Figure 3.1.2

Discrimination is the prejudicial

treatment of
an individual based on their
actual
or
perceived
membership in a certain
group or category, "in a
way that is worse than
the way people are
usually
treated".
It
involves the group's initial
reaction or interaction going on
to influence the individual's
actual behavior towards the group
leader
or the group, restricting members of one group
from
https://www.google.ro/
opportunities or privileges that areSource:
available
to another group, leading to the
exclusion of the individual or entities based on logical or irrational decision
making.
Discriminatory traditions, policies, ideas, practices, and laws exist in
many countries and institutions in every part of the world, even in ones where
discrimination is generally looked down upon. In some places, controversial
attempts such as quotas have been used to benefit those believed to be current or
past victims of discrimination but have sometimes been called reverse
discrimination. In the USA, a government policy known as affirmative action was
instituted to encourage employers and universities to seek out and accept groups
such as African Americans and women, who have been subject to discrimination
for a long time.
Moral philosophers have defined discrimination as disadvantageous
treatment or consideration. This is a comparative definition. An individual need
not be actually harmed in order to be discriminated against. They just need to be
treated worse than others for some arbitrary reason. If someone decides to donate
to help orphan children, but decides to donate less, say, to black children out of a
racist attitude, then they would be acting in a discriminatory way even though the
people they discriminate against are actually benefited by having some money
donated to them.
Based on realistic-conflict theory and social-identity theory, Rubin and
Hewstone have highlighted a distinction among three types of discrimination:

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1.Realistic competition is driven by self-interest and is aimed at obtaining material

resources (e.g., food, territory, customers) for the in-group like favouring an ingroup in order to obtain more resources for its members, including the self.
2.Social competition is driven by the need for self-esteem and is aimed at
achieving a positive social status for the in-group relative to comparable outgroups just like favouring an in-group in order to make it better than an out-group.
3.Consensual discrimination is driven by the need for accuracy clarification
needed and reflects stable and legitimate intergroup status hierarchies like
favouring a high-status in-group because it is high status.

3.1.2. Ways of stopping the hooligans

Soccer hooliganism is a big problem in Europe. It is associated in particular with
England, after many incidents involving British soccer fans both in their own
country and abroad. The problem is now to stop the hooliganism occurring.
Some countries have a fairly brutal way of stopping crowd problems at
soccer matches: they send in riot police and hit all the supporters until they stop
moving, whether its because theyve knocked them out. This was recently seen in
Italy, where what should have been a minor disturbance was dealt with by police
wielding batons and shields.
Soccers governing bodies have certain power to force clubs to take
action against hooliganism. The sport is governed in each country first by a
national body, which is answerable to a continental one, which in turn answer to
FIFA. FIFA is the top level of government in professional soccer. Penalties can be
imposed on clubs whos supporters dont follow the rules, ranging from fan
lockouts, to suspension of an entire nation from certain competitions.
The problem for soccer teams is that preventing an incident occurring at all is a
lot more difficult than reacting to one. Stewards are employed to patrol the

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stadium during a match and the team as whole has the power to expel or ban
anyone from their stadium at their discretions. But neither of those options are of
any user except as a threat, until after something has happened.
No nation currently have the answer to soccer hooliganism, but as with so many
other things, we may be looking at the wrong question. The problem of
hooliganism to this extent is exclusive to soccer and mainly occurs in Europe
countries. Perhaps if the reason for that were known, the problem could be solved.

Below are some methods that were tried out to stamp out hooliganism:

Hooligan Holine

Figure: 3.1.2

Another scheme introduced by

local policing Authorities in the
UK was known as the Hooligan
Hotline. Whereby supports who
bad witnessed hooliganism taking
place would be take from the
stadium.
This is an example of hooliganism
acting out after a football match
and by having a hooligan hotline
then the situation that arise from
Source:https://www.google.ro/sear
hooliganism will be dealt with more
ch?
efficiently, because they can get to the
q=hooliganism&espv=2&source
problem before it gets out of hand.

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Restriction on alcohol before and during games

Figure:3.1.3

If alcohol is restricted before and

during football matches the amount
of vandalism aand abuse caused by
hooligans will be minimized.
Hooliganism does not apply to all
individuals who consume alcohol
but for those who do it makes their
intention a whole lot worse.

3.1.3. Lrgest hooligan crowds

WORST FOOTBALL RIOTS

Souce:https://www.google.alohol+pro
hibited

Sparta Prague vs. Dinamo Zagreb

2008
A UEFA Cup tie between Czech
side Sparta, and Croatian outfit
Dinamo, descended into mayhem.
150 Croat supporters were detained
as they rioted with police and home
fans in the centre of Prague.

Dinamo Zagreb vs. Red Star Belgrade 1990

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The match that started a war

according to some experts. Red
Stars Delije & Dinamos Bad
Blue Boys clashed at Zagrebs
Maksimir stadium in 1990. This
riot is famous for Dinamos 21
year old captain Zvonimir
Boban, who reacted to seeing
one of his sides fans being
beaten by a police officer by
launching a roundhouse kick to
free the fan. Madness.

Catania vs. Palermo 2007

The Sicilian derby proved to be
fatal, as 40 year old police officer
Filippo Raciti was killed after a
homemade bomb was thrown
into his patrol car as rival fans of
Catania & Palermo clashed
before, during and after their
sides meeting in February 2007.
Serie A football was suspended
for three weeks as a consequence.

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Birmingham vs. Leeds 1985

1985 was when football reached its
lowest point in England. Not so
much the standard of play, but the
behavior of its fans. At this second
division game, Leeds & Birmingham
clashed before, during and after the
match, ripping St Andrews apart, and
killing a fourteen year old fan when
a wall collapsed on top of him. When
analysing footballs problems, Lord
Justice Popplewell described the
scenes as more like Agincourt than
a football match

Bibliography

Bill Murray, The Worlds Game: a history of soccer, Paperback,Jan 11,1998.

David Goldblatt, The Ball is Round:A Global History of Soccer, kindle
edition,Jan 2,2008.
DK Publishing,The soccer Book, Paperback, Mar 11,2014.
Eduardo Galeano, Soccer is sun and shadow,Goodbooks,Feb 23,2002.
http://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/65hme7st9780252067181.html
http://soccerlens.com/football-violence-worst-football-riots/23093/
https://www.google.ro/search?espv=2&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=alcohol+prohibited
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrimination

35

https://www.google.ro/search?
q=vandalism&oq=vandalism&aqs=chrome..69i57.2805j0j7&sourceid=chrome&i
e=UTF-8
David Winner, Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Football
http://www.skysports.com/football
http://www.nfl.com/
Ben Michele, What Ive learned
http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20338949,00.html
http://jonathan0035374.tripod.com/id10.html
http://www.sirc.org/publik/fvtackle.html
https://www.quora.com/How-did-the-UK-manage-to-stop-hooliganism-at-theirstadiums

Conclusion
Hooliganism the term used broadly to describe disorderly, aggressive and often
violent behavior perpetrated by spectators at sporting events. In the UK,
hooliganism is almost exclusively confined to football. Disorderly behavior has
been common amongst football supporters since the birth of the sport, but it is
only really since 1960s that it began to be perceived as a serious problem.
In the 190s, however, hooliganism became indelibly associated with
English football supporters, following a series of major disturbances at home and
abroad, which resulted in numerous deaths. Vigorous efforts by governments and
the police since then have done much to reduce the scale of hooliganism.
However, it still persists, albeit in new forms. Today, in contrast to the more or
less spontaneous upsurges of violence of past, gangs of rival fans will frequently
arrange to meet at specific location, using mobile phones or the internet, before
and after matches to fight.

36

Furthermore, while England has the worst international reputation for

hooliganism, a number of other countries have similar and growing problems.
Today, the highest profile hooliganism problems tend to occur in relation to
international matches and events. In all these countries, some gangs of
hooliganism share other characteristics, interests and beliefs that incline them
towards violent conduct, including links to far-right and racist organizations.
Other, however, are apolitical and are simply composed of men who enjoy
fighting. The term hooliganism has a derivation, but it is generally accepted to
have begun to appear in London police reports in 1989 in relation to violent
gangs.

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