Interesting-Hooliganism and the World Cup

[Footie4ever]

http://football.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1786256,00.html?gusrc=rss

Interesting read..

[Hrvat]

This Dougie Brimson spent a couple of days recently here in Zagreb, feeling the pulse of our supporters I guess.

P.S. Croatia - Poland in Wolfsburg on Saturday.

[Smoga]

My feeling is that this whole hooligan thing has been blown out of proportion by (mostly) yelow journalism media. However, it just may become a self fulfilling prophecy of sorts, since most of these hooligan groups are very much internet savvy, are gleefully reading everything that's posted about them, and will try their best to live up to the hype.

The article you linked to is an interesting one, though. I would tend to agree with the first writer, the one who worries about holiganism and about regular English fans being targeted by hooligans more so than with the other guy who really has no arguments to support his view. However, this being said, I am very tired of Polish (and to some extent other Eastern/Central European) hooligans being made to look like some kind of barbaric, uncivilized monsters. We all know that hooligans exist in every football crazy country. However, no one ever says that these hooligan groups fight generally among themselves, and that they do not attack regular fans or tourists. They use all the modern tools such as the internet, cell phones, GPS, detectors etc. to set up their brawls, and always try to do it as far away out of the stadium and out of the presence of the police. It's kind of like the movie "Fight Club", where the idea is to test your strenght against someone else. In my opinion those will be the most common real hooligans at this WC, and we really shouldn't worry if they all kill each other: that's their own business.

The other type of "hooligan", the drunken fan who starts a brawl outside of the stadium (and I think that this is the hooligan that is feared to attack an innocent regular fan) will be deal with by the police really quickly, maybe even before he as a chance to inflict any real pain or damage. So I am not impressed...I feel that the regular World Cup fan will be very safe.

[Big balls]

My feeling is that this whole hooligan thing has been blown out of proportion by (mostly) yelow journalism media. However, it just may become a self fulfilling prophecy of sorts, since most of these hooligan groups are very much internet savvy, are gleefully reading everything that's posted about them, and will try their best to live up to the hype.

The article you linked to is an interesting one, though. I would tend to agree with the first writer, the one who worries about holiganism and about regular English fans being targeted by hooligans more so than with the other guy who really has no arguments to support his view. However, this being said, I am very tired of Polish (and to some extent other Eastern/Central European) hooligans being made to look like some kind of barbaric, uncivilized monsters. We all know that hooligans exist in every football crazy country. However, no one ever says that these hooligan groups fight generally among themselves, and that they do not attack regular fans or tourists. They use all the modern tools such as the internet, cell phones, GPS, detectors etc. to set up their brawls, and always try to do it as far away out of the stadium and out of the presence of the police. It's kind of like the movie "Fight Club", where the idea is to test your strenght against someone else. In my opinion those will be the most common real hooligans at this WC, and we really shouldn't worry if they all kill each other: that's their own business.

The other type of "hooligan", the drunken fan who starts a brawl outside of the stadium (and I think that this is the hooligan that is feared to attack an innocent regular fan) will be deal with by the police really quickly, maybe even before he as a chance to inflict any real pain or damage. So I am not impressed...I feel that the regular World Cup fan will be very safe.

Captain obvious to the rescue . Sorry but you just explained what every real football fan already knew.

[seiya]

Captain obvious to the rescue . Sorry but you just explained what every real football fan already knew.

LOl, so true.

[Smoga]

We know it, but many Americans do not. Just trying to educate the masses, that's all.

[Big balls]

We know it, but many Americans do not. Just trying to educate the masses, that's all.

I didn't mean to be rude but it was such a long post to explain "hooliganism 101"

Still, come to think of it. What you just described is "club hooligan culture". This will not work in the WC. It's 2 complete different settings. The hooligans from Germany are not likely to have the number to the England hooligans or Swedish,Polish,Argentinian hoolignas. A WC is chaos and spontaneous brawls, the violence will not be as organized. It will be happening in the inner cities just as it always has. Who knows what will happen but it will be nothing like a club match when they agree to meet out in nowhere and punch eachothers face in.

Germany could be one of the bigger hooligan WC's in a long time. Many people still haven't forgotten WW2. Germans, Polish, Dutch, English.

[Aarmande]

English fans Shouldn't be banned for going so that the can go over there and defend themselves