An interesting correlation that needs to be examined in relations and for the true understanding of football hooliganism is the types of demographics involved between firms in England. Football firms are made up of a wide variety of people from all walks of life. The beautiful game is said to be consider a sports that can be enjoyed by the masses. A sport being enjoyed by the masses brings in all types of fans. People who involve themselves in soccer firms have a certain type of mind set that seem to always be ready to fight and get into trouble. The interesting aspect of the hooligans are that they are not all young in shape men, this blog will be analyzing all types of demographics of males that are drawn into this type of fanism.

The first and most obvious demographic that needs to be looked at is the male and female ratio in these English football firms. Football hooliganism has been seen as first occurring in the late 1960's, and peaking in the late 1970's. During these time periods having a woman in a firm would be unheard of, even unspeakable. Now, on the other hand, women are not only accepted but also welcomed. Women are much more emotional than men, and this shows in their actions for the football firms. They are willing to take more risks such as streaking, and are also used to lure other male firms into traps. Just this year, a 15-year-old girl was arrested for football hooliganism, which marks the youngest female hooligan in England. Even though there are still very few women in English football firms, they are gaining wide spread respect for their risks and actions for their football club.

Football hooliganism for the past 50 years has been seen as a juvenile crime and gave rise to delinquency. For a certain period this notion of youngsters creating mayhem was not a rumor, but fact. As the years passed and these young boys became men, a whole new dynamic was created concerning football firms in England. These middle-age men began to organize into structured groups and began to recruit young bucks ready for a fight. This progression brought the first organized football firms of England. There are no definite age statistics recorded, but from first hand accounts, about 30% of hooligans are over the age of 35. The older members of the firms take a more administrative role and keep the football firm functioning as a whole rather than brining the mob mentality into the group.

Racism is a very large problem in European football, but for some reason, the racism does not flow into the football firms. Racism is the persecution of a group or type of person due to their race, religion, skin color, or ethnicity. The largest type of racism seen in Europe is the racism against blacks that play and cheer for the football clubs. Football firms on the other hand, have no racial lines or creeds. Football firms are seen as a brotherhood where everyone is an equal because you fight right next to each other. There are no racial lines of borders, just brotherhood. For the past few years more and more ethnicities have been entering into the football firms. Some reasons might be just the pure love of the game or the simple fact of immigration into England. The simple fact of the matter is, racial demographics in football firms do not matter. Brotherhood is brotherhood just as long as the man or woman your fighting next to has your back.

References:

FOOTBALL HOOLIGANISM. (n.d.). The University of Liverpool. Retrieved July 21, 2010, from http://www.liv.ac.uk/footballindustry/hooligan.html

Girl, 15, becomes youngest female football hooligan. - Free Online Library. (n.d.). News, Magazines, Newspapers, Journals, Reference Articles and Classic Books - Free Online Library. Retrieved July 21, 2010, from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Girl,+15,+becomes+youngest+f

Marsh, P. (1978). Aggro, the Illusion of Violence. London: Dent, London.

Football firms are groups of men who attach themselves to football clubs and fight firms from other clubs, sometimes a long way in time and space from a match. Football firms are seen as freedom fighters, and to others, they seem as common street criminals. This blog will only be focusing on football firm activities solely in England due to the fact that football firms exist all over the world. To understand why these men decide to form these firms and fight for their football teams, the reader must first understand the factors that place these men into these firms.

One factor that draws these British men from all ages into football firms is just the pure love for their game. Football teams in England are organized into teams from different cities all round the country. This means that different cities have different football firms, which sometimes culminate into random fights whenever two rival firms meet on the street. Green Street Hooligans, a 2005 film depicting the life of and English football firm, explains this idea of “pure love of the game” best with a quote. “It’s football mate, you do what you gotta do.” This quote in essence explains one important factor of a hooligan’s state of mind. They understand the risk that they are taking and they perform for their football team as the team performs for them on the field. Some might call this crazy or irrational, but for many, this is life.

Football not only shows the sense of pride and love of the game, it also clearly shows camaraderie between the men on the football field and the men in the firms. The sense of belonging and being part of a group has been a desire for every person on this Earth. The sense of belonging to a group is not only comforting, but it provides the person pride and happiness. A large part of being in a football firm is standing along side your brothers and know that they are there to protect you and help you achieve a common goal, which is usually to win the fist fight against a rival firm. In the face of danger, camaraderie is one of they aspects that grows in leaps and bounds. Another quote from Green Street Hooligans says, “You know the best part? It isn't knowing that your friends have your back. It's knowing that you have your friends' back.” Often, these football firms are in very dangerous fights, and the only person you can rely on is you and your friend besides you. Men seen to forge strong relationships in the face of danger, and football firms are no exceptions.

Whatever the reasons may be for joining, these men in their football firms love the sport and love each other. The brotherhood is forged and they fight and defend the honor of their football team with everything they got. It is difficult to understand why these men decide to form these firms and fight for their football teams but they do and these guys enjoy every second of it.

References:

Football Hooligans | Ultras. (n.d.). Football Hooligans | Ultras. Retrieved July 5, 2010, from http://www.football-hooligans.org/index.html

Green Street Hooligans (2005). (n.d.). The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Retrieved July 5, 2010, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0385002/

lasses., t. w. (n.d.). Football Violence in Europe - Executive Summary. Social Research - Social Trends Analysis. Retrieved July 5, 2010, from http://www.sirc.org/publik/fvexec.html#_VPID_7