The word hooligan it has an uncertain origin. According to the Oxford English language dictionary, this term may be related to the surname (Hoolihan) of a brawler Irish character who starred in a series of comic strips in a British newspaper or, then, with the surname of Patrick Hoolihan, a prominent Irish thief of the time, among other possible origins.
football and violence
Since its inception, when villagers from the medieval era gathered in commemorative times to have fun kicking a ball. made from an inflated pig's bladder, football and the generalized fights around this sport shared the same context. From 1890 onwards, these conflicts were identified as hooliganism.
Born in the 13th century, in England, football was an event that brought together different families from neighboring lands and commonly if made it a semi-legitimate way of resolving disputes that could be related to land disputes or aggression tribal. Events involving football in the medieval period occurred in parallel with commemorative dates, and it was common the abuse of alcohol consumption, which ended, most of the time, with the injured or even victims fatal. Violence was tolerated, being seen as a natural behavior of sport participants.
However, from the 14th century onwards, football, which had grown in numbers of players, began to suffer attempts to control it. Violent sport, which was now practiced in the new cities that sprang up near markets, brought confusion and terror to shoppers and merchants, which was not good for business. Cases of looting and generalized violence were also not rare and, from that point on, violence started to be fought, but without much success.
It was only in the 17th century that football, after a strong education campaign aimed at children who also participated from violent matches, it came to be governed by rules and regulations guided by "chivalry" and the spirit sports. However, although “sanitized”, the sport environment was still permeated by an air of strong disputes.
Having spread across Europe between the 18th and 19th centuries, football became a continental passion in which rival teams faced each other in front of large audiences. Fan rivalry was generally associated with social standing and was as visible at this time as class divisions. In Nordic countries such as Switzerland, although chivalry, inspired by British ideals, was the behavior in vogue, the segregation between the working class and the more affluent was clear and blatant among to the fans. The demonstrations of revolt when the events occurred came to be feared by the authorities, who saw the the possibility of a football match becoming the trigger for a mass revolt, but with other motivations social.
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Violence in organized fans
The clash of fans is commonly attributed to hooligans *
The segregation by class that previously occurred in the fans was established in a different way from 1960 on. The resurgence of a sense of patriotism and xenophobia has invaded football's sports scene and its fans. Groups that identified themselves by their origin or ideology saw in football and in the crowd the opportunity to directly confront their rivals united under a flag and a common ideal, in search of a sense of belonging, legitimacy or simple dominance over others groups. The term "hooligans”, which had been coined in the 1890s, was now attributed to these groups that were fighting over the culture of European football.
It was in 1960 that European football fans began to demonstrate a level of organization that had not been there before. Coats of arms, flags, slogans, anthems and chants that exalted the fans, and not exactly the team, emerged. The fans considered themselves distinct in such a way that, even those who supported the same team, differed and fought amongst themselves.
Holiganism was seen by its participants as a sport in itself. Hierarchies between groups and fans were formed according to the success of each group in their violent endeavors. Even today, hooligans persist, even with the government's enormous efforts to try to stop and end the clashes. However, the confused and lost youth of the new middle class that has established itself over the past few decades still see a foothold and familiarity within these groups.
*Editorial Image Credit: Laszlo Szirtesi / Shutterstock.com
by Lucas Oliveira
Graduated in Sociology
