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