Not Our Beer!

[Ironside]

There's a very good reason why English people are not supposed to drink at football matches - because it often turns them into uncontrollable maniacs who riot and cause trouble.

Of course, the Argentines, Brazilians, Italians, Turks.... do not need alcohol to cause trouble at football matches and they frequently do riot and cause trouble and damage - but they're not England so it doesn't count

And that defends the British how?

I mean since when is an actuall riot a good thing?

[Jubilation T Cornpone]

And that defends the British how?

I mean since when is an actuall riot a good thing?

Hmmm, good question. Might be better directing that one at the French!

[Incongruous]

Oh yeah us Brits are the worst, Satans spawn can't outmatch us. Wonder when Fifa are going to force that into the Bible?

[Al Khalifah]

And that defends the British how?

I mean since when is an actuall riot a good thing?

It's not so much a defence, just a statement that generally, English fans whether at home or abroad are subjected to much harsher retaliation than others - based purely on a past perception that is now largely outdated.

In Rome, Middlesbrough fans were attacked by a notorious (as in not a one off) group of known (as in the police know who these people are) bunch of hooligans called the Ultras wielding weapons - including an axe. There were several hospitalisations but fortunately not fatalities. UEFA did not so much as bat an eyelid, as if this incident had not occured. Can you imagine the fallout if this had been English fans?

Point in fact, last night, ONE Middlesbrough fan was causing trouble - so the Swiss police decided to surround the enclosure with riot police wielding firearms. This of course, in spite of the fact that several of the Basel fans were throwing flares into the Middlesbrough section of the crowd.

England are paying for a past legacy when it comes to football fans, in the same way that English people seem to be expected to be forever apologetic for being the greatest empire the world has ever known. The world needs to cut England some slack and learn to forgive in the same way we have forgiven Germany and Japan.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Me thinks the bad rep of English football hooligans is neither unjustified nor exageratted.

But, just like when speaking about ethnic minorities or crime rates, one always regrets not having added the usual disclaimer: the behaviour of a few tens of thousands of course doesn't discredit millions of English footy fans, let alone discredit a nation of sixty million.

Even more importantly: English hooliganism does get singled out unfairly. When compared objectively to other European countries, they only averagely misbehave. The Spanish crowds are notorious for their racism, the Italians for their fascist tendencies, the Turks for their aggresiveness. The Germans and Dutch for taking the violence outside of the stadiums, by their making appointments between groups of fans to just battle each other on neutral ground.

[Kralizec]

Meh, our hooligans will own those German pansies anyday

[Scurvy]

at least the bad press about our hooligans covers up the bad press about our football team