ING-GER-LAND AT EURO 2000

Abstract

Incidents involving England's football fans at the Euro 2000 championship were widely portrayed as full-scale riots that brought disgrace upon the nation. Yet there is evidence that this portrayal does not accurately represent these incidents, and that little actual violence took place. This article identifies the tactics of the Belgian police, the threat from UEFA to expel England from the tournament and the reputation of the English fans as violent supporters, as factors leading to the exaggeration of these incidents. However, it also discusses a culture among a significant element of England's travelling support, reinforced by elements of English national culture generally, that leads to a propensity to join in with the aggressive behaviour of the small minority of hardened hooligans without wishing to get involved in any actual physical violence. In addressing these issues, a range of explanations for football hooliganism is reviewed, and the work of Marsh et al. is found particularly useful in providing insights in this case. In conclusion, football hooliganism is identified as a heterogeneous phenomenon and, consequently, the potential of each of the theoretical approaches to provide insights in relation to the particular settings in which such approaches were developed is recognized.