Hooliganism and Violence Maine Road 80's/early 90's

[BlueRockape]

Well there’s a lot of people on this thread, like myself, who are now way too old for any of that nonsense. But who grew up in the era where our teens and early 20s coinciding with the peak years of hooliganism.

I’m not saying it was totally unavoidable for everyone but If you went to away games on public transport, in a reasonably sized group of young men then you were inevitably involved whether you liked it or not.

Some on here went specifically looking for it. Others would be quite happy just having a booze and a laugh but would be quite happy if it came to them. Others would try their upmost to avoid it. But whichever group you fell into, there was no avoiding it.

And yes, as young testosterone filled young men, it was exciting. In a good and a bad way. And when you were finally safe on the way home from a tricky away ground there was a sense of pride if you’d managed to hold your own. As well as relief.

I don’t see anything wrong with reminiscing on your youth and what you got up through a bit of rose tinted glasses.

Analysing it too deeply as men mainly in our 50s and 60s and it probably all does seem a bit silly. But we were mainly young, working class ragamuffins who lived for the buzz of the football on a Saturday and everything that came with it.

There’s no harm in acknowledging that. If it’s not for you, that’s fair enough. Probably best avoiding the thread in future.

Great post sums up the times

 

[Stephen230]

Great post Stephen. I suspect we actually agree on all the salient points you make above. I can certainly remember the visceral thrill and emotional rush back in the 70's and 80's that accompanied those moments when you knew trouble was brewing. At the same time, my head was telling me it was fundamentally wrong, particularly when innocent bystanders were at risk of being caught in the crossfire. However, for all the faux moralising of self-appointed arbiters in the media, those feelings probably tap into something primeval in all of us.

Fair enough. I’ve made this point before. Quite possibly on this thread.

But if you get to the heart of it, football hooliganism is pretty much just an extension of young men’s territorial instincts. It often gets called postcode wars these days.

But it’s gone on in just about all recorded history of mankind. And certainly way before any record of organised football.

 

[jrb]

Leeds at West Brom, 80’s.

Just one example of how mad football hooliganism or the English disease as it became to be known across Europe.

Look at the male demographics of that Leeds away end. All lads/men. No women. No kids.

Just hundreds, or thousands of lads/men looking for a fight and trouble either with opposing fans, or in many cases, also with the Police.

 

[levets]

Well there’s a lot of people on this thread, like myself, who are now way too old for any of that nonsense. But who grew up in the era where our teens and early 20s coinciding with the peak years of hooliganism.

I’m not saying it was totally unavoidable for everyone but If you went to away games on public transport, in a reasonably sized group of young men then you were inevitably involved whether you liked it or not.

Some on here went specifically looking for it. Others would be quite happy just having a booze and a laugh but would be quite happy if it came to them. Others would try their upmost to avoid it. But whichever group you fell into, there was no avoiding it.

And yes, as young testosterone filled young men, it was exciting. In a good and a bad way. And when you were finally safe on the way home from a tricky away ground there was a sense of pride if you’d managed to hold your own. As well as relief.

I don’t see anything wrong with reminiscing on your youth and what you got up through a bit of rose tinted glasses.

Analysing it too deeply as men mainly in our 50s and 60s and it probably all does seem a bit silly. But we were mainly young, working class ragamuffins who lived for the buzz of the football on a Saturday and everything that came with it.

There’s no harm in acknowledging that. If it’s not for you, that’s fair enough. Probably best avoiding the thread in future.

Same as I view it.

 

[johnnytapia]

Leeds at West Brom, 80’s.

Just one example of how mad football hooliganism or the English disease as it became to be known across Europe.

Look at the male demographics of that Leeds away end. All lads/men. No women. No kids.

Just hundreds, or thousands of lads/men looking for a fight and trouble either with opposing fans, or in many cases, also with the Police.

View attachment 123641

No runners, no door-knockers.

 

[jrb]

No runners, no door-knockers.

No bouncing about whilst dropping back.

 

[Scaring Europe to Death]

On a similar theme, I flew to Cologne last Sunday for a couple of Euro games, and something reminded me of this thread.

I've done the vast majority of City's European away games since we moved to the ETIHAD, but it's noticeable that some of our older supporters (many of whom were in their late 30s for Lokeren and the early Europa League games) are now pushing 60 and beyond.
Consequently, the whole demographic has been diluted by occasional travellers and foreign supporters, whilst the vocal diehards are no longer supping three pints at 5am before a day trip to Santander or Poznan. We've seen it all before and prefer to keep our powder dry for the latter stages.

In complete contrast the flight to Cologne last Sunday was full of boisterous Stoke, Derby, Leicester, Coventry, or Sheffield Wednesday, most of whom had never experienced their team in Europe. Christ they were loud, and it reminded me of the first time we played in the Allianz.

 

[2smokinberyls smockfrocks]

can it be argued that the widespread use of ecstasy in the early 90's was a major factor in such extreme hooliganism ending?

 

[A57 the snake]

On a similar theme, I flew to Cologne last Sunday for a couple of Euro games, and something reminded me of this thread.

I've done the vast majority of City's European away games since we moved to the ETIHAD, but it's noticeable that some of our older supporters (many of whom were in their late 30s for Lokeren and the early Europa League games) are now pushing 60 and beyond.
Consequently, the whole demographic has been diluted by occasional travellers and foreign supporters, whilst the vocal diehards are no longer supping three pints at 5am before a day trip to Santander or Poznan. We've seen it all before and prefer to keep our powder dry for the latter stages.

In complete contrast the flight to Cologne last Sunday was full of boisterous Stoke, Derby, Leicester, Coventry, or Sheffield Wednesday, most of whom had never experienced their team in Europe. Christ they were loud, and it reminded me of the first time we played in the Allianz.

Totally agree with the demographic,
Two England home games I went to one against Greece at the swamp (those at the thirsty scholar ) will know. And a couple of years or so later when we played Iceland at our place things changed probably for the best for many of us.

 

[JASR]

can it be argued that the widespread use of ecstasy in the early 90's was a major factor in such extreme hooliganism ending?

CCTV, banning orders, passport surrendering, all seaters, no drink on terraces, less jibbing in (unless Liverpool fans) due to better turnstiles, ‘gentrification’ of fan demographics … spring to mind