ebb
05-02-2002, 11:49 PM
o.k, i might upset a few people here as my opinions on this subject somewhat conflict with public opinion. I have to admit to been engaged in the odd brawl following the reds, thats not to say i'm an orgainsed hooligan who goes looking for it, but when you follow your team away all over the country shit happens, places like millwall, birmingham, stoke, west ham and local derbies all attract large groups of pissed lads intent on chasing away fans out of town ! And to be honest whats the problem ? as long as innocent people aren't involved isn't it just 'cavemen' damaging each other ? its almost instinct ?? if thats the right word, a kind of tribal masculine thing ? i know i'm going to get flamed for this thread and i can't really justify hooliganism, but it is kind of fun in a really stupid way.
Every couple of years england fans toddle of abroad and get the most undeserved torrent of abuse from the media imaginable. I always remember going to see forest in munich a few years back, loads of fans were on the streets having a beer, a sing song etc in good spirits, then a few cocky german youths start chucking bottles, before you know it the riot police are everywhere smashing fans with batons, of course next day its the shame of english football thugs ? how ? nine times out of ten our fans are provoked, mis treated by foreign police who frankly don't like us to start off with and treated as yobs upon their return to england.
Of course abroad we have this stupid 'we are english step aside' attitude, captured beautifully by the chant 'if it wasn't for the english, you'd be crowts (sp?)' And things aren't helped by the loony organised mob.
I suppose its the adrenaline rush or something, the weird thing is nobody ever really gets hurt, very very few deaths etc, just bruised faces as a rule. Compare that to holland, italy and ever germany where people do get badly hurt on a regular basis and you have to question whether we desrve our reputation ?
Well one thing i do know, we have millwall on saturday, i know stoke and man city fans are coming down to join us and have a pop at them, and i imagine derby and leicester will be in amongst there lot, its all a bit silly i suppose, but when you get in amongst it all, its a buzz and whats more i have no doubt there will be no mention of disturbances in the press monday, the times i've seen it kick-off with no news reports is beyond belief !
So i guess i reckon hooliganism is kind of good <IMG alt="image" SRC="eek.gif" border="0"> to a point beyond which it is plain stupid !
*sits and waits for on slaught*
Every couple of years england fans toddle of abroad and get the most undeserved torrent of abuse from the media imaginable. I always remember going to see forest in munich a few years back, loads of fans were on the streets having a beer, a sing song etc in good spirits, then a few cocky german youths start chucking bottles, before you know it the riot police are everywhere smashing fans with batons, of course next day its the shame of english football thugs ? how ? nine times out of ten our fans are provoked, mis treated by foreign police who frankly don't like us to start off with and treated as yobs upon their return to england.
Of course abroad we have this stupid 'we are english step aside' attitude, captured beautifully by the chant 'if it wasn't for the english, you'd be crowts (sp?)' And things aren't helped by the loony organised mob.
I suppose its the adrenaline rush or something, the weird thing is nobody ever really gets hurt, very very few deaths etc, just bruised faces as a rule. Compare that to holland, italy and ever germany where people do get badly hurt on a regular basis and you have to question whether we desrve our reputation ?
Well one thing i do know, we have millwall on saturday, i know stoke and man city fans are coming down to join us and have a pop at them, and i imagine derby and leicester will be in amongst there lot, its all a bit silly i suppose, but when you get in amongst it all, its a buzz and whats more i have no doubt there will be no mention of disturbances in the press monday, the times i've seen it kick-off with no news reports is beyond belief !
So i guess i reckon hooliganism is kind of good <IMG alt="image" SRC="eek.gif" border="0"> to a point beyond which it is plain stupid !
*sits and waits for on slaught*