History Main / FootballHooligans

* Boxing, despite the inherent violence in watching a couple of guys pummel the hell out of each other, [[{{irony}} has usually been contained]]. But every so often, a riot will be touched off because of irate fans protesting the referee's call. In [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riddick_Bowe_vs._Andrew_Golota one infamous 1996 fight]], a riot was begun by Riddick Bowe's security detail pushing rival boxer Andrew Golota, who responded, naturally, with punches; another security guy hit Golota on the head [[ImprovisedWeapon with his walkie-talkie]]. A huge melee ensued between irate fans and the boxer's entourages, with Creator/{{HBO}}'s ringside boxing commentators caught in the thick of it; HBO's cameras ensured the brawl [[https://youtu.be/Z4LcsGSfADU?t=2229 was caught on live national TV]] (with commentator Larry Merchant dubbing it "disorganized mayhem", as opposed to the "organized mayhem" boxing matches usually are). Boxing legend George Foreman, part of HBO's team, attempted to get the enraged fans to knock it off, but they didn't listen, so he instead helped his fellow commentators escape unharmed. The aftermath saw 10 arrested and 17 injured.

** The first known instances of hooliganism in the modern game occurred during the 1880s, with pitch invasions and gangs of supporters attacking referees, opposing supporters and players. Instances of football crowd violence and disorder have therefore been a feature of association football throughout its history, but the phenomenon only started to come to wider public attention in the late 1950s. The term "football hooliganism" first began to appear in [[UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers the press]] in the mid-1960s, leading to increased media interest in, and reporting of, acts of disorder. It has been argued that this, in turn, may have exacerbated the problem -- which, by the 1970s, had become endemic to the game. Fans had already been kept apart within the grounds, and by the late 1970s some clubs had started to erect fences to keep them from invading the pitch, but with the problem spreading to the streets surrounding the grounds on matchdays, it became a serious public order issue. The fact that neo-fascist groups like the National Front were gaining in popularity at the time (leading to much racial abuse being chanted at black players) merely exacerbated the problem.

*** Millwall has the dubious distinction of having an improvised weapon named after them; the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millwall_brick Millwall Brick]], [[ImprovisedWeapon a newspaper folded up to serve as a cosh]]. When the Police started cracking down on more obvious (and sometimes, non-obvious - mentioned in the linked other wiki article are [[ImprovisedWeaponUser steel combs, beermats, and Polo Mints]]) weapons being brought into games, it was difficult to justify taking people's newspapers away, although the Police learned rapidly to look with suspicion on working-class fans carrying broadsheets.

** The first known instances of hooliganism in the modern game occurred during the 1880s, with pitch invasions and gangs of supporters attacking referees, opposing supporters and players. Instances of football crowd violence and disorder have therefore been a feature of association football throughout its history, but the phenomenon only started to come to wider public attention in the late 1950s. The term "football hooliganism" first began to appear in [[UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers the press]] in the mid-1960s, leading to increased media interest in, and reporting of, acts of disorder. It has been argued that this, in turn, exacerbated the problem -- which, by the 1970s, had become endemic to the game. Fans had already been kept apart within the grounds, but with the problem spreading to the streets surrounding the grounds on matchdays, it became a serious public order issue.

* UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}} has its own share of hooligans; the most infamous cross over with the ViolentGlaswegian archetype in the form of the "Old Firm", the rivalry between Glasgow clubs Celtic and Rangers. It's particularly notorious for its political and religious overtones in relation to UsefulNotes/TheTroubles (Celtic being the Catholic/Republican team and Rangers being the Protestant/Unionist team). It got to the point where [[Creator/TheBBC BBC]] war correspondent Kate Adie, who was covering sectarian protests, noted that you could tell when they were going to start by looking at the football schedule. Scottish hooligans gained a global reputation when Rangers fans started rioting in Manchester at the 2008 UEFA Cup Final contested against Zenit Saint Petersburg (another team that gained infamy for their questionable supporters), when a screen showing the match in Piccadilly Gardens failed. Rangers fans also gained prominence for the 2022 Europa League final in Seville, but for much more positive reasons: the good behavior of their 100 thousand away supporters culminated with zero arrests or violent incidents of any capacity, [[GracefulLoser and some even congratulated the supporters of Eintracht Frankfurt after their loss.]] Supporters of the national team tend to only get rowdy when they play England (which isn't very often), although Scotland fans blew it in the 2022 World Cup qualifying match with Israel when they were fined $10,000 for anti-semitic behaviour (they booed loudly during Israel's national anthem).

* In UsefulNotes/{{Italy}}, among the many rivalries in the top flight, the most infamous is between capital city arch-enemies Roma and Lazio. When derby day comes in Rome, the Stadio Olimpico's surroundings turn into a battleground. This was the setting for Italy's first football related tragedy in 1979, when a Roma supporter shot a flare across the stadium, hit a Lazio supporter in the eye, and killed him. In 2004, a derby match was marred by rumours that a police car had hit a child outside the stadium (which turned out to be false), sparking riots that forced the match's abandonment. The more hardline fans have a particular reputation for being hardcore fascists -- one banner Lazio fans displayed to Roma fans in 1999 read, "Auschwitz is your land, the ovens are your houses," and a Roma hooligan neo-Nazi shot and killed a Napoli fan on his way to a game Roma weren't even playing in (2014 Coppa Italia final against Fiorentina). The Italian FA cites the ''second''-worst rivalry as between Atalanta Bergamo and Brescia (a rivalry that is well-documented by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGVqT5bjBJA a video by COPA90]]), with a close third being Hellas Verona and Livorno (whose fans are ''very'' politically opposed -- far-right for Hellas, far-left for Livorno).

** UsefulNotes/{{Argentina}} has the "barras bravas" (read: hooligan gangs), who over the last 80 years have been responsible for an estimated 250 deaths (and that's not counting the 300 people who died during a single Argentina-Peru match). Its most famous rivalry is between the two big Buenos Aires sides, Boca Juniors and River Plate; during a 2015 Copa Libertadores match (basically the South American equivalent of the Champions League) between the two, Boca fans pepper-sprayed the River players as they came out of the tunnel for the second half, which led to Boca's disqualification. It culminated in 2018, when the two sides met in the final ([[MassOhCrap not something anyone was expecting]]), and before the second leg, Boca's team bus was attacked by River hooligans on their way to the stadium, and a pepper spray bomb launched by the police ended up inside the bus, injuring about two thirds of the entire squad. Shocked observers demanded that River forfeit the final to Boca, but [[MoneyDearBoy now everyone wanted to see the match]], and the authorities took the teams all the way to Madrid to finish the tie (which River won).

** UsefulNotes/{{Chile}} has its share of "barras bravas"; its biggest rivalry is between Santiago's Colo Colo and Universidad de Chile, and when these two teams are playing, the rest of the city universally stays the hell away.
* UsefulNotes/{{Turkey}}'s hooligans mostly follow the "Big Three" football clubs, Galatasaray, Beşiktaş, and Fenerbahçe; their firms have traditionally been extremely well organized and [[GunNut well armed]] -- and when the national team plays, they have been known to pool their resources. In 2000, a clash with British hooligans left two Brits dead, leading to a government crackdown, but not before also leading to a revenge hit by [[EnemyMine several English hooligan groups]] at the UEFA Cup final the next week. In 2013, the Beşiktaş and Galatasaray firms lent support and equipment to anti-government protesters, which started on Beşiktaş turf.

* American soccer ([[SoccerHatingAmericans such as it is]]) has a reputation for attracting fans who aren't into the sport so much as [[ForeignCultureFetish the European sporting atmosphere]], and that can include hooliganism. The worst in this respect are the Portland Timbers and their "Timbers Army", which openly admits that it's all (mostly) just for show. [[AllIssuesArePoliticalIssues Unless there's a political protest in the city.]]. The ''real'' hooligans are the [[SportsDad soccer parents]], who will fight anyone who insults their kid's honor, including other parents, their kid's opponents, their kid's coaches, and the officials. Quite frequently this is one of the primary grounds of the ObnoxiousEntitledHousewife.

* Football hooliganism is largely associated with England, and for good reason:
** First of all, it's OlderThanPrint. In 1314, Edward II banned football (at the time a barely-disguised form of street warfare played in the streets using a pig's bladder), fearing that the game could lead to social unrest and even treason. [[IWarnedYou He might have been on to something.]]

** First of all, it's OlderThanPrint. In 1314, Edward II banned football (at the time played using a pig's bladder) fearing that the game could lead to social unrest and even treason. [[IWarnedYou He might have been on to something.]]
** The first instances of hooliganism in the modern game occurred during the 1880s, with pitch invasions and gangs of supporters attacking referees, opposing supporters and players. Instances of football crowd violence and disorder have therefore been a feature of association football throughout its history, but the phenomenon only started to gain the media's attention in the late 1950s. The term "football hooliganism" first began to appear in [[UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers the press]] in the mid-1960s, leading to increased media interest in, and reporting of, acts of disorder. It has been argued that this, in turn, exacerbated the problem.
** In the 1980s, "la malaise anglaise" was so prevalent that UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher formed a "war cabinet" to deal with the problem. The lowlight was the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heysel_Stadium_Disaster Heysel disaster]] in 1985, in which 39 mostly Italian Juventus fans were killed in a stampede instigated by the opposing Liverpool supporters (in Belgium -- it was the final of the European Cup). This led to all English teams being banned from European competition for several years and the need for heightened security not just in England, but throughout Europe.

** Interestingly, by far the most notorious of all English clubs for hooliganism is Millwall, which isn't in the Premier League at all and hasn't been for quite some time; their most famous chant is "No one likes us; we don't care," which should tell you all you need to know. Groups of Millwall supporters have been known to fight each other (thinking the other group supported their opponents), and [[https://www.foxsports.com/stories/soccer/soccer-fan-hailed-as-hero-in-london-terror-attack-shouted-f-you-im-millwall in 2017 one Millwall supporter]] stood up to three knife-wielding terrorists with the battle cry, "Fuck you, I'm Millwall!" (they kept stabbing him, but he [[MadeOfIron wouldn't go down]], so they gave up and left). You don't want to pick a fight with these guys. During their 10 year rivalry with Leeds, several fans were also banned for life from attending games for taunting Leeds fans over the below mentioned Galatasaray stabbing incident.

** One infamous "[[NonIndicativeName friendly]]" match in 1995 at Lansdowne Road was between England and the Republic of UsefulNotes/{{Ireland}}, which had [[UsefulNotes/TheTroubles several political overtones]] and a controversial call when an English equalizing goal was disallowed due to the player who scored the goal being offsides. The ensuing riot by English fans, instigated by a group of neo-Nazis named Combat 18, led to the game being abandoned, and the two countries wouldn't play each other again for eighteen years, by which time the political issues that had fueled the violence had abated enough. Many speculate that the riot wouldn't have happened if the match were played in the afternoon rather than the evening (which wasn't traditional -- [[ExecutiveMeddling Sky wanted to show it in prime time]]).

** OlderThanPrint: In 1314, Edward II banned football (at the time played using a pig's bladder) fearing that the game could lead to social unrest and even treason. [[IWarnedYou He might have been on to something.]]
* UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}} has its own share of hooligans; the most infamous cross over with the ViolentGlaswegian archetype in the form of the "Old Firm", the rivalry between Glasgow clubs Celtic and Rangers. It's particularly notorious for its political and religious overtones in relation to UsefulNotes/TheTroubles (Celtic being the Catholic/Republican team and Rangers being the Protestant/Unionist team). It got to the point where [[Creator/TheBBC BBC]] war correspondent Kate Adie, who was covering sectarian protests, noted that you could tell when they were going to start by looking at the football schedule. Scottish hooligans gained a global reputation when Rangers fans started rioting in Manchester at the 2008 UEFA Cup Final contested against Zenit Saint Petersburg (another team that gained infamy for their questionable supporters), when a screen showing the match in Piccadilly Gardens failed. Rangers fans also gained prominence for the 2022 Europa League final in Seville, but for much more positive reasons: the good behavior of their 100 thousand away supporters culminated with zero arrests or violent incidents of any capacity, [[GracefulLoser and some even congratulated the supporters of Eintracht Frankfurt after their loss.]] Unfortunately Team Scotland fans blew it in the 2022 World Cup qualifying match with Israel when they were fined $10,000 for anti-semitic behaviour (they booed loudly during Israel's national anthem).

* UsefulNotes/TheYugoslavWars were pointedly influenced by football riots. Croatia's war of independence started with [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinamo%E2%80%93Red_Star_riot a football riot]]. In Bosnia, a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serb_Volunteer_Guard Serbian paramilitary group]] consisted largely of hooligan supporters of Red Star Belgrade, who even won the European Cup/Champions League in the midst of all. Even today, the Red Star-Partizan rivalry in Belgrade is considered [[http://deadspin.com/red-star-belgrade-played-partizan-today-which-means-th-1771410854 one of the most violent in Europe]]. It's not pretty down there in the Balkans, and it's gotten worse now that (a) none of these teams are very good anymore[[note]]Yes, you might spot them in the Champions League every now and then: Red Star even beat Liverpool in 2018 in the group stage. But in the Communist era both teams were perennial contenders: Partizan made it to the final in 1966 (which they lost to Real Madrid), and Red Star won the whole thing in 1991.[[/note]] (b) the Communist government isn't around to keep everyone under control.

** In a bitter irony, the government's measures to try and stop hooliganism led to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillsborough_disaster Hillsborough disaster]] in 1989, which killed 97 fans, most of them Liverpool supporters. To prevent hooligans from taking potshots at each other, the fans were herded into pens which were fenced off from each other and the pitch; when too many fans were herded into one pen, they couldn't escape the crush because of the fences. When policemen saw them trying to climb the fence, they assumed they were hooligans and shoved them back into the crowd. Initial public reaction suggested hooliganism was at fault (and ''[[UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers The Sun]]'' printed a particularly nasty and notorious article in this regard, as a result of which you cannot buy The Sun ''anywhere'' in Liverpool - locals were so outraged by it that they boycotted the paper entirely, and the boycott is still in place more than three decades later). The investigation into Hillsborough led to the 1990 Taylor Report, which revealed the truth of what happened and issued recommendations to both curb hooliganism and ensure crowd safety[[note]]The most notable one was a rule put in place for the UsefulNotes/EnglishPremierLeague be "all-seaters" to reduce overcrowding, prior to that English football stadiums had large sections of concrete terraces where fans stood and watched the game. These all had to be replaced with seats (or at minimum metal bleachers), leading to extensive stadium renovations and a few just getting totally replaced[[/note]]. These worked; the British have largely stamped out the worst problems, and British police are now considered ''the'' experts worldwide on handling hooliganism. It's also contributed to the explosion in popularity of the UsefulNotes/EnglishPremierLeague.

** In a bitter irony, the government's measures to try and stop hooliganism led to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillsborough_disaster Hillsborough disaster]] in 1989, which killed 97 fans, most of them Liverpool supporters. To prevent hooligans from taking potshots at each other, the fans were herded into pens which were fenced off from each other and the pitch; when too many fans were herded into one pen, they couldn't escape the crush because of the fences. When policemen saw them trying to climb the fence, they assumed they were hooligans and shoved them back into the crowd. Initial public reaction suggested hooliganism was at fault (and ''[[UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers The Sun]]'' printed a particularly nasty and notorious article in this regard, as a result of which you cannot buy The Sun ''anywhere'' in Liverpool - locals were so outraged by it that they boycotted the paper entirely, and the boycott is still in place more than three decades later). The investigation into Hillsborough led to the 1990 Taylor Report, which revealed the truth of what happened and issued recommendations to both curb hooliganism and ensure crowd safety. These worked; the British have largely stamped out the worst problems, and British police are now considered ''the'' experts worldwide on handling hooliganism. It's also contributed to the explosion in popularity of the UsefulNotes/EnglishPremierLeague.

** Interestingly, by far the most notorious of all English clubs for hooliganism is Millwall, which isn't in the Premier League at all and hasn't been for quite some time; their most famous chant is "No one likes us; we don't care," which should tell you all you need to know. Groups of Millwall supporters have been known to fight each other (thinking the other group supported their opponents), and in 2017 one Millwall supporter stood up to three knife-wielding terrorists with the battle cry, "Fuck you, I'm Millwall!" (they kept stabbing him, but he [[MadeOfIron wouldn't go down]], so they gave up and left). You don't want to pick a fight with these guys. During their 10 year rivalry with Leeds, several fans were also banned for life from attending games for taunting Leeds fans over the below mentioned Galatasaray stabbing incident.

* Boxing, despite the inherent violence in watching a couple of guys pummel the hell out of each other, [[{{irony}} has usually been contained]]. But every so often, a riot will be touched off because of irate fans protesting the referee's call. In [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riddick_Bowe_vs._Andrew_Golota one infamous 1996 fight]], a riot was begun by Riddick Bowe's security detail pushing rival boxer Andrew Golota, who responded, naturally, with punches; another security guy hit Golota on the head [[ImprovisedWeapon with his walkie-talkie]]. A huge melee ensued between irate fans and the boxer's entourages, with Creator/{{HBO}}'s ringside boxing commentators caught in the thick of it; HBO's cameras ensured the brawl [[https://youtu.be/Z4LcsGSfADU?t=2229 was caught on live national TV]]. Boxing legend George Foreman, part of HBO's team, attempted to get the enraged fans to knock it off, but they didn't listen, so he instead helped his fellow commentators escape unharmed. The aftermath saw 10 arrested and 17 injured.

* American soccer ([[SoccerHatingAmericans such as it is]]) has a reputation for attracting fans who aren't into the sport so much as [[ForeignCultureFetish the European sporting atmosphere]], and that can include hooliganism. The worst in this respect are the Portland Timbers and their "Timbers Army", which openly admits that it's all (mostly) just for show. [[AllIssuesArePoliticalIssues Unless there's a political protest in the city.]]. The ''real'' hooligans are the [[SportsDad soccer parents]], who will fight anyone who impugns their kid's honor, including other parents, their kid's opponents, their kid's coaches, and the officials.

* UsefulNotes/TheFootballWar between UsefulNotes/ElSalvador and UsefulNotes/{{Honduras}} is often cited as the worst example of football hooliganism -- 'cause, you know, there was a war. The war itself was caused by a variety of issues unrelated to football. However, it was triggered during the qualifying rounds for the 1970 UsefulNotes/FIFAWorldCup. The two countries played three matches against each other (one in El Salvador, one in Honduras, and the final match in UsefulNotes/MexicoCity), and fans of both countries clashed violently with each other at every match. El Salvador (who incidentally won two of the three games) wound up severing diplomatic ties with Honduras, claiming that "the government of Honduras has not taken any effective measures to punish these crimes which constitute genocide, nor has it given assurances of indemnification or reparations for the damages caused to Salvadorans." Read that again -- that's football violence escalating to accusations of ''genocide''.

* UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}} has its own share of hooligans; the most infamous cross over with the ViolentGlaswegian archetype in the form of the "Old Firm", the rivalry between Glasgow clubs Celtic and Rangers. It's particularly notorious for its political and religious overtones in relation to UsefulNotes/TheTroubles (Celtic being the Catholic/Republican team and Rangers being the Protestant/Unionist team). It got to the point where [[Creator/TheBBC BBC]] war correspondent Kate Adie, who was covering sectarian protests, noted that you could tell when they were going to start by looking at the football schedule. Scottish hooligans gained a global reputation when Rangers fans started rioting in Manchester at the 2008 UEFA Cup Final contested against Zenit Saint Petersburg (another team that gained infamy for their questionable supporters), when a screen showing the match in Piccadilly Gardens failed. Rangers fans also gained prominence for the 2022 Europa League final in Seville, but for much more positive reasons: the good behavior of their 100k away supporters culminated with zero arrests or violent incidents of any capacity. Unfortunately Team Scotland fans blew it in the 2022 World Cup qualifying match with Israel when they were fined $10,000 for anti-semitic behaviour (they booed loudly during Israel's national anthem).

* UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}} has its own share of hooligans; the most infamous cross over with the ViolentGlaswegian archetype in the form of the "Old Firm", the rivalry between Glasgow clubs Celtic and Rangers. It's particularly notorious for its political and religious overtones in relation to UsefulNotes/TheTroubles (Celtic being the Catholic/Republican team and Rangers being the Protestant/Unionist team). It got to the point where [[Creator/TheBBC BBC]] war correspondent Kate Adie, who was covering sectarian protests, noted that you could tell when they were going to start by looking at the football schedule. Scottish hooligans gained a global reputation when Rangers fans started rioting in Manchester at the 2008 UEFA Cup Final contested against Zenit Saint Petersburg (another team that gained infamy for their questionable supporters), when a screen showing the match in Piccadilly Gardens failed. Rangers fans also gained prominence for the 2022 Europa League final in Seville, but for much more positive reasons: the good behavior of their 100k away supporters culminated with zero arrests or violent incidents of any capacity.

** The chaos surrounding the May 28, 2022 UEFA Champions League Final between Liverpool and Real Madrid at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis escalated to quasi-''diplomatic crisis'' when France's minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin and Sports minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra falsely put all the blame on "Liverpool hooligans who bought 40.000 fake tickets". It turned out there was a whole unruly mob of young French people from the nearby Seine-Saint-Denis [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banlieue banlieue]] who came at the stadium and caused all sorts of troubles (there were multiple reports of aggressions, threats with ''machetes'', thefts and sexual assaults) and were massively allowed in the stadium without tickets due to very lenient stadium stewards with the same social background. The lack of security measures, the brutal anti-riot police response that hit British and Spanish supporters who didn't deserve it (and in some cases were already shocked by the aforementioned unruly mob if not victims of it) and the French governmental efforts to cover up that latter aspect (including Darmanin's lie) only made things worse and painted a pretty terrible picture of France's sports events and security issues two years before the UsefulNotes/OlympicGames of Paris. Some have speculated that the incidents weren't for nothing in the sizeable win of seats by the far-right party Rassemblement National at the legislative elections a couple weeks later, since the party advocates for tougher police responses and measures against delinquency from the banlieues.

* The UrExample of sports hooliganism in Europe is the chariot races that took place in AncientRome and the later UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire. Racers back then would be divided into teams based on the uniform colors they wore -- Red, White, Blue, and Green -- and their fans and spectators would likewise align themselves into these different camps. Much like modern football clubs, the fanbases would often be identified not just by which racing team they rooted for, but also by cultural and sociopolitical issues beyond just the sport -- thus, riots breaking out during games were not uncommon whenever tensions ran high. The most infamous example of these was the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nika_riots Nika riots]] in Constantinople, where a fight between the fans of the Green and Blue chariot teams (by then the only ones of significance, the Reds and Whites having small bases and aligned with the Greens and Blues respectively) quickly escalated into city-wide riots that burned down the Hagia Sophia and nearly ''toppled the government of Emperor Justinian'', only being put down by the intervention of General Belisarius, who put them down by reportedly killing over ''30,000'' people (somewhere around 10% of the city's total population). The rest were cleared out by convincing them that [[BatmanGambit the Emperor had always supported their side]]. Talk about BreadAndCircuses GoneHorriblyWrong.

** In a bitter irony, the government's measures to try and stop hooliganism led to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillsborough_disaster Hillsborough disaster]] in 1989, which killed 97 fans, most of them Liverpool supporters. To prevent hooligans from taking potshots at each other, the fans were herded into pens which were fenced off from each other and the pitch; when too many fans were herded into one pen, they couldn't escape the crush because of the fences. When policemen saw them trying to climb the fence, they assumed they were hooligans and shoved them back into the crowd. Initial public reaction suggested hooliganism was at fault (and ''[[UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers The Sun]]'' printed a particularly nasty and notorious article in this regard). The investigation into Hillsborough led to the 1990 Taylor Report, which revealed the truth of what happened and issued recommendations to both curb hooliganism and ensure crowd safety. These worked; the British have largely stamped out the worst problems, and British police are now considered ''the'' experts worldwide on handling hooliganism. It's also contributed to the explosion in popularity of the UsefulNotes/EnglishPremierLeague.

* Boxing, despite the inherent violence in watching a couple of guys pummel the hell out of each other, [[{{irony}} has usually been contained]]. But every so often, a riot will be touched off because of irate fans protesting the referee's call. In [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riddick_Bowe_vs._Andrew_Golota one infamous 1996 fight]], a riot was begun by Riddick Bowe's security detail pushing rival boxer Andrew Golota, who responded, naturally, with punches; another security guy hit Golota on the head [[ImprovisedWeapon with his walkie-talkie]]. A huge melee ensued between irate fans and the boxer's entourages, with Creator/{{HBO}}'s ringside boxing commentators caught in the thick of it; HBO's cameras ensured the brawl [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3Ey0yACX6A was caught on live national TV]]. Boxing legend George Foreman, part of HBO's team, attempted to get the enraged fans to knock it off, but they didn't listen, so he instead helped his fellow commentators escape unharmed. The aftermath saw 10 arrested and 17 injured.

* ''videoGame/HooligansStormOverEurope'', which is a tactical RTS specifically about hooligans -- from the hooligans' point of view.

** In a bitter irony, the government's measures to try and stop hooliganism led to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillsborough_disaster Hillsborough disaster]] in 1989, which killed 97 fans, most of them Liverpool supporters. To prevent hooligans from taking potshots at each other, the fans were herded into pens which were fenced off from each other and the pitch; when too many fans were herded into one pen, they couldn't escape the crush because of the fences. When policemen saw them trying to climb the fence, they assumed they were hooligans and shoved them back into the crowd. Initial public reaction suggested hooliganism was at fault (and ''[[UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers the Sun]]'' printed a particularly nasty and notorious article in this regard). The investigation into Hillsborough led to the 1990 Taylor Report, which revealed the truth of what happened and issued recommendations to both curb hooliganism and ensure crowd safety. These worked; the British have largely stamped out the worst problems, and British police are now considered ''the'' experts worldwide on handling hooliganism. It's also contributed to the explosion in popularity of the UsefulNotes/EnglishPremierLeague.

** English fans at [[UsefulNotes/EuropeanChampionship Euro 2020]][[note]][[NonindicativeName played in 2021]], delayed a year thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic[[/note]] matches in London raised the question of whether England had really put the lid on hooliganism. Wouldn't you know it, England made it all the way to the final and played nearly all of their matches in front of nearly full stands at Wembley Stadium. The combination of the recent UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic (meaning most fans hadn't had an opportunity to see a live match in more than a year), England on the cusp of [[EveryYearTheyFizzleOut not actually fizzling out]] (they even beat Germany!), Brexit-induced mistrust of other European countries, and the general political and social elements of hooliganism combined to make a humiliating show of public drunkenness, racial abuse, viciously taunting children, booing during opponent's national anthems, and general misbehaviour. In the semifinal against Denmark, one idiot shone a laser in the face of the Danish goalkeeper while he was facing a penalty, the kind of thing you'd see at a gang-infested game deep in South America[[note]]He actually stopped the penalty, but the English shooter scored on the rebound[[/note]], leading to calls to ban fans from the final against Italy (they didn't). At said final, England scored just two minutes into the match, and drunken hooligans overwhelmed the security and barged into the venue without tickets -- only to see England lose ''again'' on penalties, which the rest of the world thought was hilarious and appropriate. Meanwhile, the hooligans to the loss reacted by fighting in the streets and hurling more racial abuse (every English player who missed happened to be black), leading to condemnations from as high up as the Prime Minister and UsefulNotes/TheBritishRoyalFamily. So problem not really solved.

* UsefulNotes/{{Indonesia}} is not known for being particularly good at football, but they do love it to death, and almost all the big clubs have hooligan groups who will readily start a full-blow riot whenever they play another big club.

* American soccer ([[SoccerHatingAmericans such as it is]]) has a reputation for attracting fans who aren't into the sport so much as [[ForeignCultureFetish the European sporting atmosphere]], and that can include hooliganism. The worst in this respect are the Portland Timbers and their "Timbers Army", which openly admits that it's all (mostly) just for show. [[AllIssuesArePoliticalIssues Unless there's a political protest in the city.]]. The ''real'' hooligans are the [[StageMom soccer parents]], who will fight anyone who impugns their kid's honor, including other parents, their kid's opponents, their kid's coaches, and the officials.

** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco_Demolition_Night "Disco Demolition Night"]], the incident that marked the turning point where {{disco}} music [[DiscoSucks fell out of favor]], started as a promotion by the UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} White Sox and local rock music DJ Steve Dahl. Patrons could gain admission to a double-header between the White Sox and the UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} Tigers for only 98 cents if they brought a disco record with them. Between the two games, all of the vinyl thus collected would be [[BookBurning blown up in the middle of the field]]. A combination of anti-disco sentiment from the crowd and prodigious amounts of alcohol led to a riot when the demolition took place, with the White Sox forced to forfeit the second game of the night.