Braden StokesGood Support
October 20th 2008 16:32
In the Barclay's Premier League match between Aston Villa and Portsmouth at the weekend a Villa supporter threw a coin at a match official once again raising questions of "Good Support" vs "Bad Support".
After the game Harry Redknapp, manager of Portsmouth, seemed genuinely concerned about the way fans choose to support football "You come out of football grounds now and you see grandparents with kids and they are sticking fingers up at you and they are making filthy gestures to the team coach. You look at them and these people and it scares me. I think it is horrific, I really do.'' This could be the fans attempting to create a hostile work environment for visitors; in the Australian State of Origin rugby league series the trip to Lang Park for visiting NSW rugby league teams is famously hostile. Perhaps the kids are told that it is all an act.
Negative expressions of support are common criticising the skill of everyone on the pitch, good, bad and neutral is part of the admission price. Taboo subjects like the referee's eye-sight are open for debate and it is hard to convince fans to voice only encouragement for their team; "C'mon! Keep trying!" or "It's not whether you win or lose but how you play the game" are not very effective spleen vents. When passion boils over in to verbal threats a supporter should question how much emotion they have invested in the game. If frustration makes you throw hard-earned money at people I'd say you are over-invested.
Investing in tight security and surveillance has made the Premier League stadia well controlled environments but violent football fans still exist. In Italy strict control over fan travel led to isolated carriages, then after Napoli fans destroyed a carriage after taking it hostage on the way to Genoa travel prohibitions kicked in. Napoli supporters can not travel to away games for the rest of the 2008/09 season. Fans of the national team have also been banned from away legs after a Bulgarian flag was burnt during a World Cup Qualifier held on Saturday 11th October 2008. The World Cup has provided the environment for football hooliganism to thrive but the tournament's combination of national pride and competition makes preventing violence a difficult military operation.
The English F.A. have banned travel for known or suspected hooligans when England are playing major tournaments; passports must be surrendered to the police five days before England's first game. The law has been tested in court and 3,500 orders were served and only 150 passports were outstanding by the time of Germany 2006. 3,352,605 people attended matches in Germany, 2006, and arresting officers were refreshingly unprejudiced arresting 200 German and Polish trouble makers, the worst fears held for the tournament were not realised.
Racial abuse is as pervasive as violence and but the message from the top, FIFA, is consistent the 2006 World Cup quarter-finals were themed "Anti-Discrimination Days" and events like 2008 Fair Play Day and International Day of Peace continue the theme. Penalties might be haphazard but generally flare-ups of intolerance are identified and punished improving the overall environment.
If people are drawn to murder and mayhem they may also be drawn to football so keep an eye open for suspicious behaviour and be safe.
After the game Harry Redknapp, manager of Portsmouth, seemed genuinely concerned about the way fans choose to support football "You come out of football grounds now and you see grandparents with kids and they are sticking fingers up at you and they are making filthy gestures to the team coach. You look at them and these people and it scares me. I think it is horrific, I really do.'' This could be the fans attempting to create a hostile work environment for visitors; in the Australian State of Origin rugby league series the trip to Lang Park for visiting NSW rugby league teams is famously hostile. Perhaps the kids are told that it is all an act.
Negative expressions of support are common criticising the skill of everyone on the pitch, good, bad and neutral is part of the admission price. Taboo subjects like the referee's eye-sight are open for debate and it is hard to convince fans to voice only encouragement for their team; "C'mon! Keep trying!" or "It's not whether you win or lose but how you play the game" are not very effective spleen vents. When passion boils over in to verbal threats a supporter should question how much emotion they have invested in the game. If frustration makes you throw hard-earned money at people I'd say you are over-invested.
Investing in tight security and surveillance has made the Premier League stadia well controlled environments but violent football fans still exist. In Italy strict control over fan travel led to isolated carriages, then after Napoli fans destroyed a carriage after taking it hostage on the way to Genoa travel prohibitions kicked in. Napoli supporters can not travel to away games for the rest of the 2008/09 season. Fans of the national team have also been banned from away legs after a Bulgarian flag was burnt during a World Cup Qualifier held on Saturday 11th October 2008. The World Cup has provided the environment for football hooliganism to thrive but the tournament's combination of national pride and competition makes preventing violence a difficult military operation.
The English F.A. have banned travel for known or suspected hooligans when England are playing major tournaments; passports must be surrendered to the police five days before England's first game. The law has been tested in court and 3,500 orders were served and only 150 passports were outstanding by the time of Germany 2006. 3,352,605 people attended matches in Germany, 2006, and arresting officers were refreshingly unprejudiced arresting 200 German and Polish trouble makers, the worst fears held for the tournament were not realised.
Racial abuse is as pervasive as violence and but the message from the top, FIFA, is consistent the 2006 World Cup quarter-finals were themed "Anti-Discrimination Days" and events like 2008 Fair Play Day and International Day of Peace continue the theme. Penalties might be haphazard but generally flare-ups of intolerance are identified and punished improving the overall environment.
If people are drawn to murder and mayhem they may also be drawn to football so keep an eye open for suspicious behaviour and be safe.
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