Football hooliganism 'widespread in Europe’

Press, 22 January 1988, Page 13

Football hooliganism 'widespread in Europe’

NZPA London Britain’s leading academic experts on football violence say it makes no sense to continue to ban English clubs from Europe because the European fans are as bad, if not worse, than their British counterparts. They believed football violence was now so widespread throughout Europe that banning English fans was doing nothing to stem its spread. Home-grown violence in The Netherlands, Germany and Italy was in some cases far worse than anything on English terraces. The academics, from

Leicester University, said there was now evidence that fans from Belgium, where the Heysel disaster in 1985 (39 people died in riots between Liver pool and Juventus fans at the European Cup final) led to the ban, were coming to Britain to learn the finer points of terrace tactics for themselves. Comments by the Leicester team of Messrs. Eric Dunning, Patrick Murphy and John Williams came on the day U.E.F.A. officials in Monaco chose to delay until May 3 a decision on the future for English club sides in Europe. The academics’ book.

"The Roots of Football Hooliganism,” to be published next month, is one of the most detailed studies yet of the origins of what European football authorities have previously considered a “British disease.” Mr Dunning predicted there would be trouble if English clubs were readmitted to Europe. There were bound to be scores to settle and reputations to defend, he said. But there was widespread and growing violence throughout European football anyway, just as there had been in the

past at times when British football was relatively peaceful. Dutch and German supporters now had reputations just as bad as English fans travelling abroad. “It is quite wrong to imagine that the problem throughout Europe will go away just through continuing the ban on English fans,” said Mr Dunning. He did not expect the U.E.F.A. authorities to make an instant decision, but would wait until after summer’s European Championship finals in West Germany, in which England’s national team would be competing.