mercoledì, giugno 16, 2004

Football Violence again

Another night in Portugal - another opportunity for English football 'fans' to cause even more aggressive mayhem there. They must surely realise that they are creating the situation where England will find itself banned from playing any matches in Europe, as was the case a few years ago. Tony Blair has weighed in with his statement about the 'fans' bringing "shame on our country" and further saying that the situation in Albufeira was "completely intolerable".

With the aggressive violence demonstrated on the pitch by the England squad during the match against France - which they lost - is it a surprise that the fans see violence as acceptable behaviour?

Of course, we might trace the game back to it's medieval origins in England and see how violently it was originally played and how the game developed over the ages. A study by the Sir Norman Chester Centre for Football Research gives an informed English view of the problem, including discussing issues surrounding the violence caused by other European teams, usually called 'Ultra" clubs associated with individual teams. The actual term "Ultra" is generally thought to originate with the Stanley Kubrik film, "Clockwork Orange" that was notoriously effectively banned by Kubrik himself in 1973.

posted by WelshmaninItaly @ 5:37 PM