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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Hooligans, Ultras and Vandals

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Football hooliganism in its modern sense is often said to have started in Great Britain in 1961, after a serious riot broke out during a match between Tottenham Hotspur and Sunderland; although crowd disorder was not unknown in other countries, this event is regarded as the birth date of the so-called ‘English disease’, which grew in seriousness and extent over the next few decades. The increasing professionalization and internationalization of English football during the 1950s generated a need for greater profits in football clubs that brought about a reorganization of stadiums (Taylor, 1971). Due to this reorganization, young working-class people were relocated at the ends of the stadiums, where separation of fans contributed to conditions conducive to the growth of a hooligan subculture, especially during the 1970s. For some commentators, the emergence of this subculture signified an attempt by fans to preserve their traditional ethos and reassert their class identity in a context of financial crisis and the end of the decolonization process of the British Empire (Williams, 1997). Moreover, in addition to club-related disorder, there was an element of defensive patriotism in the hooliganism of English youth when the national team travelled abroad: they did not accept the new international position of the country, being defeated on the pitch by countries they considered inferior, and surpassed economically by both emerging countries and enemies beaten in the war (Williams, 1997).