Nostalgia in football- Domestic Hooliganism
I recognised last week that the area of nostalgia I want to focus on is the relation to this notion within football and specifically football hooliganism. This week, therefore, I've spent a lot of time pondering the angle from which I want to examine this area and worked out it would be best to start from a domestic angle, exploring the feelings of nostalgia some have towards times when hooliganism was more prevalent.
I found the following article particularly relevant and discovered it helped to evoke some interesting thoughts.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2009/apr/08/football-hooliganism-green-street-icf
Firstly, it is important to note that domestic hooliganism has lessened significantly since the 80s and 90s when an entire cultural movement was forged out of 3pm violence on the terraces. However, with the correct contextual elements present, there is still room for hooliganism to flourish and as Rob Bagchi explains in this article there undeniably a sense of "nostalgia some supporters feel for when it was rife".
The rose-tinted perspective many seem to have towards the "boozing, bonding and brawling" Bagchi discusses is deeply reflective of how we have been defining nostalgia in terms of a version of the past being conveyed that isn't necessarily completely factual but fits a certain narrative.
This led me to consider dramatisations of hooliganism such as Green Street and The Football Factory. These films relate intrinsically to this sentiment by presenting a romanticised picture of what is, in reality, glorified thuggery. The creators of these simply capitalised on what they have recognised as a fetishism many feel when they hark back to the 'good old days' of football hooliganism.
On a personal note, me and my friends grew into adolescence watching these films as well as documentaries with a similar theme and due to the narrative they were pushing (but one we were more than happy to lap up) we would view the characters with admiration. This I think is indicative of the power of the nostalgia contained in the the culture of hooliganism, that people too young to even witness it at its heights, will feel a certain affinity towards it nonetheless.
Finally, I feel like this article is worth a read if for no other reason than its description of Danny Dyer as a "haemorroid-stricken orangutan".
I found the following article particularly relevant and discovered it helped to evoke some interesting thoughts.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2009/apr/08/football-hooliganism-green-street-icf
Firstly, it is important to note that domestic hooliganism has lessened significantly since the 80s and 90s when an entire cultural movement was forged out of 3pm violence on the terraces. However, with the correct contextual elements present, there is still room for hooliganism to flourish and as Rob Bagchi explains in this article there undeniably a sense of "nostalgia some supporters feel for when it was rife".
The rose-tinted perspective many seem to have towards the "boozing, bonding and brawling" Bagchi discusses is deeply reflective of how we have been defining nostalgia in terms of a version of the past being conveyed that isn't necessarily completely factual but fits a certain narrative.
This led me to consider dramatisations of hooliganism such as Green Street and The Football Factory. These films relate intrinsically to this sentiment by presenting a romanticised picture of what is, in reality, glorified thuggery. The creators of these simply capitalised on what they have recognised as a fetishism many feel when they hark back to the 'good old days' of football hooliganism.
On a personal note, me and my friends grew into adolescence watching these films as well as documentaries with a similar theme and due to the narrative they were pushing (but one we were more than happy to lap up) we would view the characters with admiration. This I think is indicative of the power of the nostalgia contained in the the culture of hooliganism, that people too young to even witness it at its heights, will feel a certain affinity towards it nonetheless.
Finally, I feel like this article is worth a read if for no other reason than its description of Danny Dyer as a "haemorroid-stricken orangutan".
Comments
Post a Comment