Hobbies. Leisure Time. Бекерова Е.А - 35 стр.

      - Why is there an epidemic of violence associated with football       Myth number 2:
in England today? Each group should explain it from different points        Football hooligans follow a favourite team and especially their na-
of view.                                                                    tional team.
      The 1st group gives the reasons, connected with culture.              Fact:
      The 2nd group gives the reasons connected with money.                        Hooligans often don't even watch the match of the team they are
      The 3rd group gives the reasons connected with history.               supposed to be following. They are more interested in 'having a go' at
      The 4th group gives the reasons connected with nationalism.           supporters of the opposing team. They travel large distances in order to
                                                                            attack anyone in the vicinity of the ground, or the town centre.
                                                                            Sometimes they even fight their own supporters. Unfortunately this is
5.3. Reading.                                                               especially true of the England fans. At the recent Turkey-England
                                                                            Euro2004 qualifier in Sunderland all the fighting was between rival
                   ‘The Barmy Army’ – Football:
                                                                            England supporters — in particular between club supporters of Sunder-
                      ENGLAND’S GLORY?
                                                                            land and Newcastle: two towns about 15 kilometres from each other,
       Solicitors, doctors, bankers, teachers... What do all these groups   both premier division teams with an intense hatred and rivalry.
have in common? Well, individuals from these professions have all           Myth number 3:
been arrested at some point for football hooliganism. Surprising? In        Football violence is unorganised and spontaneous.
England today there is an epidemic of violence associated with foot-        Fact:
ball. But why is this? There are many reasons — connected with cul-                The police and the Home Office have tried to deal with hooli-
ture, money, history and nationalism.                                       gans travelling to England matches abroad by confiscating the pass-
Myth number 1:                                                              ports of known hooligans and by monitoring ports and airports care-
Football is a working class game, for working class people.                 fully. Groups of hooligans have recently gone as far as travelling
Fact:                                                                       through third countries. For example: if there is a match in Holland,
       Probably more than in any other country in the world, football in    then to avoid getting caught, hooligans have flown to Spain and caught
England has a national following. Just switch on the TV on a Saturday.      trains to Holland to escape detection.
Much of the afternoon on the two major channels is taken up by foot-               Once near the football ground, rival groups of hooligans even
ball coverage. People from all walks of life watch, play, and go to         telephone each other by mobile to organise massive fights and to avoid
matches. It is also big business, with top players like Beckham getting     the police. One English club side has even begun to employ former
paid around $40000 a week, whether they are fit to play or not. Much        hooligans as security specialists, but this seems to have backfired, as
of the violence associated with football actually comes from the richer     the club in question still has some of the worst violence and racism in
supporters. People with prestigious, well-paid jobs often go to football    the country.
matches just in order to have a fight. It is as if they have the right to   Myth number 4:
lose control and go mad for a while — to forget they are respectable        Football violence is an English problem.
people. This perverse situation even extends to semi-secret uniforms        Fact:
among hooligans. Many fans interested in ultra-violence wear the same              It is true that a lot of club violence takes place in England rather
checked Burberry clothing — an extremely expensive American brand.          than on the Continent. But much of the time it is limited in scope and
Other hooligans are members of the shadowy Combat 18 neo-nazi or-           ferocity. At a recent UEFA match in Turkey between Galtasarai and
ganisation that has provoked huge race-riots in the north of England.

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