This weekend we saw football hooliganism, anti-Thatcher protests and a new episode of Catchphrase on TV. Who says that Britain is going backwards?
Humorous? A little, not one of my best admittedly. Accurate? Not really, it’s ultimately just a joke. Because, despite what we saw from Millwall and Newcastle United this weekend, football is not the registered address of Britain’s most unruly as it once was.
It appears that we have been the victim of coincidence as two isolated incidents have occurred in the same weekend, causing the panic-mongers out there to suggest that we are in the midst of a hooligan epidemic the likes of which we have not seen since the 80’s. I don’t feel as though this is the case, although I wouldn’t want to play down the severity of the incidents that did occur.
Saturday, Wembley, the FA Cup Semi Final between Millwall and Wigan Athletic. Violence erupts as Millwall fans seemingly clash with other Millwall fans. A scuffle involving fans and police ensues.
Sunday, Newcastle city centre, after Newcastle’s loss to local rivals Sunderland, Newcastle fans take to the streets in force. Bottles and other debris are thrown, windows are smashed, 29 people are arrested.
A couple of things jump out at me from this. Firstly, the way these stories have been covered in such depth by the media supports the idea that this is far from an everyday occurrence. Sensational events have happened that have warranted a lot of attention but that does not mean that this is common place. Football clubs have worked tirelessly to ensure that their grounds are as safe and trouble free as possible. In 2013 the CCTV in a football ground is such that absolutely nothing can be missed.
And that’s common knowledge. If you do something wrong in a football stadium you will be caught. And that, as a deterrent, is more effective than any policing during a game can be. Figures on football-specific arrests have only been kept since 1984 but have seen a steady decline ever since. Racism and abusive chanting, while still an issue, is also on the decline. Football has received a firm punch this weekend, but it isn’t in a coma, it simply has a black eye.
The other thing that I think is notable from this weekend is that each ‘event’ involved one set of fans. Millwall fans fighting amongst themselves, Newcastle fans tearing up their town centre. The factions, the wars, the scenes that have been glorified in cinema where two teams do battle in a nearby industrial estate are becoming a distant memory. What is essentially a keenly organised Royal Rumble on a match day is less of an issue than it has ever been.
I’m not naïve, I know there is genuine hatred amongst football fans, I know there is violence amongst football fans. I know this violence is increased when certain teams clash. Some games do warrant a heightened police presence. But you’re naïve if you think that the situation football finds itself in today in any way resembles the mess that hooligans put our game in decades ago.
It could be argued that the number of football-related arrests is still too high. Of course it is. Anything above zero is too high. But improvement has been made. The facts are there to be seen. Progress is happening all the time. And in any event, perhaps calling these arrests football related seems unjust. They occurred in or around a football stadium, but the vast majority have nothing to do with our beautiful game.
Football is used as a scapegoat. These are people who clearly have deep-rooted violent and disruptive tendencies. To think that these serious personality defects would disappear without a sport to watch is laughable. They use football, certainly. They use it as an excuse and as a meeting place. But there is a difference between someone who loves the game and someone who uses it as an excuse to cave someone’s head in.
Football to a certain extent, invites it. There is a tribal nature to our support which we are programmed with from an early age. Supporting our own team isn’t enough, we have to hate our rivals in equal measure. If you support Manchester City there is a good chance that you hate Manchester United too. But it ends there for most. The vast majority hate their rival club, the vast majority still manage to have good friends who support their rival club. The vast majority can go to their derby and enjoy it for the spectacle that it is, without trying to kill anyone.
Only a tiny minority feel the need to do any harm. The reputation and, more importantly, the enjoyment of millions shouldn’t be tarnished by a few. Fortunately, today, hardly ever is that the case anyway. We’d be well served to remember that.