March of the Hooligans: Soccer's Bloody Fraternity

As I began reading this rather slim volume, I couldn't help but wonder if the author was schizophrenic. While the seeming theme of the volume is to warn the USA, with graphic narrative and hyperbolic history, of the threat of "The English Disease" as soccer become more popular here, I couldn't help but notice that, as the author shared tale after tale of his own involvement in hooliganism, he seemed not to be ashamed of his activities, but, in his own words, recalled them as part of the best years of his life. What I finally realized was that this book is in fact nothing but a celebration of violence and hate written by an unapologetic practitioner.

The tone is set in the second chapter, wherein the author spews page after page of his hatred for a "rival city." His venom is not spat upon that city's football club, or even the club's players, but is aimed directly at the citizens. He even goes so far as to spew hate at an American auto company purely because it runs a plant in that city. He disgorges tale after tale of cruelty not only utterly without remorse, but he actually cites them as fond memories! He insists that such feelings are "normal" in England. I've my doubts. Certainly a less hate-besotted human being would recognize that a Doc Marten-clad kick (he insists that he abhors using weapons, but has no reluntance to injure or maim with fist or foot) can be just as lethal as a knife or a lead pipe.

Much of this book is devoted to a narrative history of hooliganism. Knowing what he needs to say to get the book published, he gives lip service to being "horrified" by the proceedings, but it's clear in the lovingly-detailed accounts, written almost in romance-novel purple prose, that he's in fact glorifying the events. Sometimes I felt as if I was watching the author in an act of self-gratification--why else would anyone write virtually the same book, what, ten times already? Time after time he offers apologies and excuses for violence and hatred, all of which, whether he's referring to rival "firms", local or foreign, or the police or anyone else he chooses to hate, can be summed as simply, "They started it first, so they deserved what they got, those bleepers!"

England has no monopoly on damaged baby-men like Mr. Brimson. Hate has no nationality. The USA is no stranger to the street-gang mentality. Nearly a third of the citizenry believe that, for example, all Muslims are enemies of America. Hate crimes flourish here like they do everywhere else and are just as likely to be performed by middle- or upper-class professional as low-income inner-city dwellers (Americans aren't, for the most part, shocked when people act contrary to their class stereotype). And just like everywhere else, those who hate find whatever excuse they need to validate their "victimhood" so to justify their hate.

For Mr. Brimson, it just happens to be Football.

well written and great character description......makes you want to rap a Man U follower in the mouth

I've read a couple of Brimson's other books, and March of the Hooligans seems like a rehash of his past efforts, but for an American audience. It's a good introduction to English football, I guess, but his assertions that hooliganism can sprout up here is rushed and seems like he tacked it on to be sensational. Like all the gang members in America who don't like hip-hop will flock to the MLS teams to feel big. Maybe if the MLS weren't so spread out.

I read this book in a couple of hours and was mostly bored. I'd rather read any other book by Brimson.

First things first - The facts of the matter are simple: - English football (aka soccer) will NEVER overtake baseball, basketball or US football as the preferred sport of North Americans. As a matter of fact, soccer won't even overtake ice hockey. If anyone cares to take a bet on the opposite point of view, I will be glad to take your money....

The established US sports league's such as the NFL, MLB, NBA & NHL have long, colorful and legendary histories carved into the American psyche - sporting names like Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Michael Jordan, Johnny Unitas & Joe Namath hold special places in the hearts of US sports fans that are not about to be exchanged for a few British citizens who have flown in from "across the pond" for a money making holiday. Plus, their is too many dollars at stake to let a latecomer to the US sporting party start diverting away all those multi-billion dollar revenue streams. And glamor boy David Beckham's expensive signing with LA Galaxy is a headline grabbing publicity stunt for C-grade celebrities, wannabees, try-hards and other party-goers to flounce around with David and his pencil thin wife Victoria in Hollywood, but the US market is a lot bigger than just one city on the West Coast.

The author of this book, Dougie Brimson, an ex-member of a notorious English firm (hooligan gang) makes some interesting comments regarding behaviour, however his logic is off the mark about the potential for soccer violence in the USA. The USA posseses' its own street gang problems in most major cities - but ironically in a country where nearly 70 million handguns lie in private hands, and homicide rates heavily outstrip most other Western countries - sporting crowds in the United States are generally well behaved and opposing fans are not locked into seperate caged zones, monitored by dozens of CCTV units, or herded between stadiums and public transport depots by armies of police. Whilst many US street gangs during the 1980's adopted the colors of some well known US universities as their badge of membership or war, this did not translate into these gangs attending sporting events for the purpose of inciting violence with opposition supporters. Soccer hooliganism (aka "The English Disease") is extremely unlikely be a major issue in the USA, because soccer will remain a fringe sport in the USA, in the same way US football is a novelty sport in the United Kingdom. Want further proof that the Americans don't necessarily follow major UK trends - then cast your mind back to the mid-1970's and the worldwide explosion in the UK phenomenon of "punk" music and the associated lifestyle - where didn't "punk" take off ?? The United States - Why ? Because the British working class anger & rebellion that was behind the emergence and rapid rise of punk music / lifestyles was very different to the sentiment amongst the American working class, and hence a collective chord was not struck. Thus, "punk" simply remained a short lived fad in the USA.

The facts clearly show that soccer hooliganism is predominantly confined to being a European, African, Middle Eastern & South American pestilence perpetrated by mainly working class hoodlums, or manipulative individuals spreading racial & political hatred. Soccer violence in many European countries is plainly an extension of ongoing government instabilities, political, religious & military clashes and bitter rivalries dating back hundreds of years over which country owns which chunk of land - these issues are simply not present in the continental United States. If you examine the emerging popularity of soccer in Asia ( China, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Phillipines etc), you will observe that the region is thankfully quite free of organised crowd violence - because once again the Asian history / political climate / psyche / attitude is very different to Europeans and South Americans.

All sports fans can only hope that law enforcement groups globally continue to work to eradicate the most violent sports fans on the planet - the soccer hooligans.

An excellent primer to what is a truly European fad/disease--soccer hooliganism. Rather than glorifying and glamorizing the activity, the author does an excellent job at simply describing the political and sociocultural trends that allowed for such brutality to take place as well as the anonymous nature of hooliganism which breeds violence. While I disagree with the premise that hooliganism could happen in the United States (if it could, why hasn't it attached itself to other sports?), it is worth considering and preventing.