In England they confronted an uncomfortable truth

Hooligans. In England, where hooliganism had become a hobby for many intent on destroying the enjoyment of the game for others, all changed after the Heysel and Hillsbrough disasters. There were also the efforts of the Margaret Thatcher government to impose an identity card scheme to try and identify hooligans. The behavior of a handful of individuals was a matter which affected the mood of a country and created a perception which the world held towards the United Kingdom. The general public made clear to the government their disdain for the ID card proposal that the scheme was ditched. In its place a cultural transformation began to take place: the public weren’t to be dictated to by Thatcher or by the State, but everyone was united in that football needed to change.

Taylor Report. In 1990 this report introduced the need for structural changes to stadia and a new legislation. Police officers were educated on how to manage situations and develop a more positive attitude towards the football fan. The most important change however was a cultural shift: it was agreed that there were certain aspects of behavior that were unacceptable at a football ground. The English were valiant and began to address subjects that were previously deemed as taboo. They abandoned the world of cliches and began to address the root of the problem. They stopped demonizing the violent and looked at what propelled them towards this behavior and what made others join in their senseless activities The studied and questioned everything, absolutely everything, finally they uncovered some unconformable truths.

Problem and solution. This is how football fans were perceived, problematic. Racist, homophobic and xenophobic chants were common place at football grounds. Players, coaches were regularly insulted and they even tried to justify this lack of respect. It was then decided that this was not acceptable. Policing improved (not just in administering punishments, but in prevention and bridges were put in place to understand the culture of the supporter), investment was carried out in modernizing stadia and this in turn attracted a new audience far removed from the perpetual violence that dogged the game in the 1980’s. Also, and this is key, they developed a new way to watch and enjoy the game. Not only was the unruly fan penalized but a culture of showcasing then positive side of football fans developed. People asked for respect to be shown, initiatives were implemented to help minorities and they even dissected the language to see what needed to be removed.

Expert. Clifford Sttot, one of the experts surrounding football violence had this to say: “Controlling organized groups is a more difficult problem than is generally reported”. It wasn’t simply a case of eradicating violent thugs. The British realized that the hooligans were a sign of the times and decided to act.

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