FOOTBALL HOOLIGANS

Hi again everyone.


Last time I wrote about English food and how shockingly bad it is. This time I want to write about another part of English culture that students often mention to me...football hooligans.


There is an impression all over the world that England is the centre of the hooliganism problem. I think this was true until about twenty years ago but now we don't have many problems at all.


When I was about eight years old, my Dad took me to a Premier League game. It still remains as one of my best memories. In those days, most spectators stood rather than sat and as I was small, my Dad put me on top of the metal railing so I could have a great view. It was fantastic and there was no sign of hooliganism.


However, at around that time there were terrible incidents at many games between rival fans. The main reason was that some stupid fans just enjoyed fighting. Their Saturday was taken up with drinking, watching the game, and then fighting. It is hard to believe, but it was a kind of hobby for them.


Things changed from 1985 when the Heysel Disaster in Belgium caused by English hooligans led to many deaths and English clubs were banned from Europe for five years.
Then in 1989, two very important things happened in England. Firstly, there was another disaster- the Hillsborough disaster where 96 fans were crushed to death from overcrowding on the terraces. I remember that game very well because my friend was there and I was very worried. Even now, it's hard for me to think about it. Because of hooligans, all stadiums had metal fences to keep the fans from going onto the pitch. These fences caused the deaths of the 96 people and so basically because of the hooliganism problem, many innocent people died. After that, all top stadiums became all-seater and had no fences.


The other important turning point in 1989 was the so-called "Summer of Love". Dance music had suddenly become fashionable and, instead of fighting on a Saturday, young people would go dancing at nightclubs and raves to get rid of all their energy. Hooliganism finally became a thing of the past in England.


Unfortunately, other countries such as Russia and Italy have bigger problems now but I am happy to say that English culture does NOT include hooligans!

▼▽▼▼【講師】Anthony先生のバックナンバー━━━━━━━━
・【British Food】2009.04.03 (Fri)

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