London, Thanasis Gavos

In the 1960s, incidents of football hooliganism were seen by many as an expression of relief for poor youths stressed by the reality of everyday life.

Over the next two decades, however, it became clear that this was a huge problem out of control, with the Hazel tragedy in May 1985 being the final straw.

The then prime minister Margaret Thatcher had reacted with the famous phrase of “stiff” punishments for the perpetrators of incidents in the stadiums and finally agreed with UEFA on the five-year ban of English clubs from European competitions.

Its attempt to introduce a ‘fan ID’ system was not approved, however the Public Order Act 1986 gave the courts the power to ban entry to stadiums (a ‘power’ that became a ‘duty’ of judges in 1999).

THE Football Spectators Act 1989 he imposed travel bans on hooligans to international matches, sowing the seeds of so-called “Football Banning Orders (FBOs)”, which keep recognized troublemakers away from stadiums.

FBOs are also the core of a database of hooligans that began to be created in the following years by the police. The effectiveness of the measure can be seen in the numbers: in the 1991-92 season there were 6,378 banning orders in force, in 2010-11 it was 3,089 and in 2019 it had fallen to 1,771.

With the coming to power of John Major, he began to be promoted Football Offenses Act, adopted in 1991. He identified and criminalized specific offenses that can be committed in football stadiums by fans: throwing objects on the pitch, disrespectful and racist chants, entering the pitch without permission, distributing drugs in and around the pitch, entering stands under state of intoxication or possession of alcoholic beverages, transportation of “fireworks” (fireworks, etc.) to the stadium.

Along with all this, over time and in cooperation with the club administrations, the stadiums were transformed into spaces exclusively with spectator seats (finally from 1994).

Also for her buy a ticket one must give electronics its details and for most big clubs that offer only a few tickets to the general public one has to buy even a basic membership as a member of their favorite team.

They were not placed cameras closed-circuit television and a large number of caretakers, who during the match have their eyes constantly directed towards the stands, ready to intervene to remove any spectator deemed to be deviating.

These measures were agreed to or initiated by the owners of the clubs, as almost all football grounds in England are owned by the clubs.

Furthermore, in the 1990s, the police did not hesitate to take drastic measures, such as monitoring hooligans, of course also by tapping phones, but also police intrusion into organized hooligan groups.

Such organized groups still exist, sometimes giving “appointment for wood» in areas away from the stadiums.

The fact that from the beginning of the 90s these teams began to be excluded from the stadiums is also attributed to the establishment of the Premier League and the simultaneous increase in the price of tickets for this upgraded football product. Viewers now come overwhelmingly from the middle class rather than from the poorer strata, from which most of the members of the hooligan groups came.

Sociologists also report that as a social phenomenon, hooliganism has declined due to the improvement in the standard of living of the British from the 90s onwards.