Hooliganism

[murciagull]

Just reading the thread about attendances and the trouble at the Spurs game, does anyone know when hooliganism started at football. My first game was in 1969 and I cant remember hearing anything about trouble at games before that. Though I am sure that season the was trouble after the Pompey league cup game.

Any ideas_

 

[coventrygull]

I think there was the odd incident going way back but I think Hooliganism on a large scale developed in the early 70's

 

[Blackadder]

I think Millwall had problems (and even a ground closure?) back in the 1930s.

 

[Hiney]

As posted on the Spurs thread, Tim Carder has written a brilliant series of articles in the Collectors & Historians Society Newsletter about 'A History of Albion Crowd Disorder'.

I'm sure he won't mind if I post some of it.

In December 1891, all clubs were ordered to post notices warning spectators not to demonstrate against the players or the referee, following incidences of mud and stone-throwing.

Between 1904 and 1915, 5 clubs had their grounds closed because of crowd disturbances and there are reports of 'drunkenness' and 'filthy language' being used by supporters at Shrewsbuiry in 1899.

There was trouble in Brighton as early as 1900 when Brighton & Hove Rangers travelled to Shoreham when 'the Shoreham supporters took defeat in a very unsportsmanlike manner'.

The first major incident after the formation of The Albion came in 1905 when the crowd, 'already antagonised by the rough play of The Hammers', spilled onto the pitch and surrounded the West ham players. There were ugly scenes.

There's more - I'll see if Tim will let me reproduce it here.

 

[Brovion]

There's been trouble at football matches going back to the 19th century; there was even a riot at the Goldstone in the 1930s! However it was more in the nature of one-off events as opposed to 'firms' looking for trouble. The modern hooligan era really started with the 'bovver boys' of the late 1960s.

PS - Those Victorians weren't the stuck-up prudes we think they were. There were some huge disturbances at Newcastle, Villa and Spurs to name but three. Mind you this was in the era when there used to be a heavy police presence at Lords for the annual Eton v Harrow cricket match to break up the fights between the parents!

 

[jevs]

I think Millwall had problems (and even a ground closure?) back in the 1930s.

The dockers strike in the 1920's/30's was the start of the West Ham - Millwall hatred

 

[Perry Milkins]

The dockers strike in the 1920's/30's was the start of the West Ham - Millwall hatred

Is there a 'Wall massive in Lewes?

 

[Bevendean Hillbilly]

From Footballorg:

Violence has always been associated with football since the origination of the game and its ancestors, dating back to 225 BC.

Essentially pitched battles between the youth of rival villages and towns, (most often played on Shrove Tuesdays and other Holy Days) Medieval football matches involved literally hundreds of men, sometimes in excess of 1000, and were commonly used as an occasion to settle arguments, personal differences and disputes over land. Rules existed purely on a local basis.

The presence of a ball, in the form of a leather-bound inflated pig's bladder, which could be thrown or kicked, was almost incidental to this semi-lawful opportunity for settling old scores, long running feuds and violent behaviour towards the other side.

Forms of football existed in other European countries too, like Germany and Italy but the roots of the modern game however, are to be found firmly in these ancient English traditions, which were often accompanied by extended bouts of drinking and quite regularly resulted in serious injuries and even death to some of the participants.

The acceptance of violence in the sport was not, however, widespread and by the early 14th century there were calls for regulations to be placed into the game. These requests arose not because of the violent nature of the game at the time, but because of the fact that, on match days it was prising local citizens away from market towns, and it was therefore bad for business.

By this time the game now had a bad reputation among English royalty. Not just for its extreme violence but also because of the excessive noise made by the spectators. King Edward III banned the game, not only because of its violence and noise but for military reasons too. The game had become so popular that it was distracting members of the military from undertaking their archery practice. King Henry IV and Henry VIII also passed laws against the sport, and Queen Elizabeth I even had football players jailed for up to a week.

Nonetheless, laws failed to slow down the popularity of football in the country and by 1681 it received official sanction in England. However, the standard of the game had not changed. The matches were still vicious and boisterous, with players hardly ever leaving the field without being injured or in some circumstances even killed. The sizes of each team and the field in which they played on were ignored and unorganised.

Modern forms of football emerged as the folk versions of the game were regulated and became more restrained. The much more disciplined game introduced to continental Europe in the 1900's was this newly refined contest, imported from the sport now played by the English upper classes.

Other countries all over Europe began implementing this form of the game, associated with Victorian values of fair play and re-educated enthusiasm. The transformation of the game itself from an uncontrolled battle on an imprecise field to a modern harmonised sport came largely as a result of the game moving to small arenas in built up cities.

However only two periods in British history have been relatively free of football-related violence: the inter-war years and the decade following the Second World War. This is mainly due to a phenomenon that still exists in the game today, "Football Hooliganism". Unlike early on in the game's history football hooliganism does not involve violence between members of opposing teams but in actual fact violence between rival supporters.

 

[Nottseagull]

There was trouble in Brighton as early as 1900 when Brighton & Hove Rangers travelled to Shoreham when 'the Shoreham supporters took defeat in a very unsportsmanlike manner'.

Shoreham folk - hang your heads in shame. That sort of thing would have been unthinkable on our genteel Worthing streets.

 

[csider]

the name hooligan comes from an irish family called hoolihan, or similar spelling. it has been around for long time, will also be around for a long time to come...or as long as football will be played.

 

[Blackadder]

The dockers strike in the 1920's/30's was the start of the West Ham - Millwall hatred

Same reason Pompey and Southamton hate each other (That plus the fact that they are local rivals).

 

[northstandnorth]

first violence at the goldstone i remember was in the late 60's, with no attempt at segregation large numbers of away fans were allowed to enter the north stand and mobs of london fans were a common sight.
the terracing was laid out without verticle barriers and hoolies could move across the terrace at will.

a common sight outside the ground in the early 70's was a mountain of steel toe capped boots that the plod insisted the owners took off before allowing entry. pity the poor bastard who got there last because if you came with some beat up old brickies cast offs you could get away with a nice shiny pair of DM's if you got in first

 

[Freddie Goodwin.]

As posted on the Spurs thread, Tim Carder has written a brilliant series of articles in the Collectors & Historians Society Newsletter about 'A History of Albion Crowd Disorder'.

I'm sure he won't mind if I post some of it.

In December 1891, all clubs were ordered to post notices warning spectators not to demonstrate against the players or the referee, following incidences of mud and stone-throwing.

Between 1904 and 1915, 5 clubs had their grounds closed because of crowd disturbances and there are reports of 'drunkenness' and 'filthy language' being used by supporters at Shrewsbuiry in 1899.

There was trouble in Brighton as early as 1900 when Brighton & Hove Rangers travelled to Shoreham when 'the Shoreham supporters took defeat in a very unsportsmanlike manner'.

The first major incident after the formation of The Albion came in 1905 when the crowd, 'already antagonised by the rough play of The Hammers', spilled onto the pitch and surrounded the West ham players. There were ugly scenes.

There's more - I'll see if Tim will let me reproduce it here.

It all sounded so much more civilised then.

Drunkeness in Shrewsbury, well surely not!