N.B. Just after finishing this article, which contained a generally optimistic message concerning English football hooliganism at the upcoming world cup, I went to check the status of the “Old Firm Clash” between Glasgow Rangers and Glasgow Celtic concerning a Scottish Cup Semi-final fixture (8th March 2026) at Ibrox, to see that it ended with a pitch invasion by both sets of fans, with an “appearance” by the Ranger’s Ultras. Whilst it was a brief confrontation between both sets of fans, and nothing like the violence that was seen in the 1980’s and 1990’s, it was a stark reminder that UK football hooliganism is far from dead.

With the FIFA World Cup starting in less than 100 days, I thought I’d write an article about the “English Disease” i.e., football hooliganism, as many people outside of the UK may be aware of the history of English fans engaging in acts of group violence, but not really understand the context and background as to why such hooliganism exists, and also why it has declined in the past twenty years or so. Whilst law enforcement in the various US, Canadian and Mexican cities where matches will be played are probably not expecting/bracing for the types of rioting that occurred in the 1980’s and 1990’s, they will still be on the alert and at a state of readiness, when England are scheduled to play, and English supporters are due to arrive etc.

Before going further, it is worth understanding England and the UK’s relationship with football/soccer. No country supports as many professional football clubs relative to its size and population as the UK. The density and depth of the football pyramid in the United Kingdom is essentially unique in world sport. England alone has one of the largest professional and semi-professional league systems in the world, with four fully professional tiers/leagues, that contain 92 fully professional teams. When Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are included, the UK supports well over 120 professional clubs and several hundred semi-professional ones. One of the reasons for this is that unlike many countries where fans primarily follow a few major clubs, British supporters often identify strongly with their local team, even when that team plays in a lower division, and hasn’t had a history of achievement. However, with the opportunity for lower league teams to get promoted into higher league ones, and competitions such as the FA cup, which can see lower league teams being drawn against top-flight teams (and sometimes winning), supporting a lower league club can still feel meaningful. It is this association with football teams and local “pride”, that has played a part in soccer hooliganism.  

English football hooliganism emerged as a distinct social phenomenon in the decades following the Second World War, but its roots can be traced further back to the early culture of working-class football support in Britain. Football had long been the sport of the industrial working class. Clubs were embedded in neighborhoods, factories, and local identities, and supporters often traveled together in tightly bonded groups. Rivalries between towns and cities were intense, and matches became occasions where local pride and masculine identity were expressed publicly. By the 1960s and 1970s, this environment began to produce organized groups of supporters, referred to as “firms”, who engaged in fighting with rival fans before, during, or after matches. One popular undertaking was for a visiting “firm” to invade and try to take the home supporters’ “Kop” (the “Kop” was traditionally where the most passionate members, and the members of that team’s “firm” were located – the term Kop originates from Battle of Spion Kop in South Africa. During that battle, a hill called Spion Kop was the site of heavy British casualties. After the war, several steep terraces in English football stadiums reminded people of the hill’s shape and began to be called “Kops).

Several factors contributed to the growth of hooliganism during this period. Many sociologists have argued that football terraces provided an outlet for young men experiencing social marginalization in post-industrial Britain. The decline of traditional manual industries, rising youth unemployment, and limited avenues for expressing status or identity created a fertile environment for confrontational subcultures. Violence around football offered a form of belonging and reputation within peer groups. Participation in a “firm” could provide identity, loyalty, and status, particularly among young working-class men. By the late 1970s and early 1980s, English football hooliganism had reached a peak. Firms such as West Ham’s Inter City Firm, Chelsea’s Headhunters, and Millwall’s Bushwackers became widely known. Violence often took place away from stadiums, in city centers, train stations, or pubs, and confrontations were sometimes pre-arranged. The reputation of English fans became so notorious that traveling supporters were frequently associated with disorder across Europe. International tournaments during this period saw repeated clashes involving English fans, contributing to the perception that English football culture was uniquely violent.

The 1980s represented both the culmination and the turning point of this phenomenon. Several tragedies exposed deep problems within English football. The most notorious being the Heysel Stadium disaster (in Italy), where fighting between Liverpool supporters and Juventus fans contributed to the collapse of a wall, killing thirty-nine people. Just four years later, the Hillsborough disaster led to ninety-seven deaths due to overcrowding and poor stadium management. Whilst Hillsborough was not caused by hooliganism, the political and media environment surrounding football had already framed working-class supporters as inherently dangerous. These incidents prompted sweeping reforms. English clubs were banned from European competition for several years after Heysel, and the British government introduced new policing strategies and legislation aimed at controlling football violence (this was very much tied in with the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher trying to redefine what/who the working class should be). Stadiums were redesigned, terraces were removed, and all-seater stadiums became mandatory following the Taylor Report into Hillsborough. Surveillance also increased dramatically (leading the UK to become the most CCTV’d nations on the planet), and football banning orders were introduced to prevent known hooligans from attending matches or traveling abroad e.g., they would have to sign in at a police station during the time that matches were played etc.

At the same time as this was happening, English football started to undergo a profound economic change. The formation of the Premier League ushered in a new era of television revenue, corporate sponsorship, and global marketing. Ticket prices rose significantly, stadiums became safer and more comfortable, and clubs increasingly targeted families and middle-class spectators as part of their audience. The result was a gradual shift in the social composition of football crowds. What had once been a predominantly working-class cultural space became more commercially oriented and socially diverse, attracting in “new” middle class supporters who had once been deterred by the culture of the terraces. This transformation had a significant impact on hooliganism. The tighter security, intelligence-led policing, and legal restrictions made organized violence much harder to engage in. At the same time, the commercialization of the game reduced the space for the old terrace culture that had tended to foster hooligan firms. Whilst isolated incidents still occur, the large-scale organized violence that characterized English football in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990’s has largely receded.

The legacy of this transformation may have implications for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will take place across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Modern English supporters are generally far removed from the hooligan culture that once defined the country’s reputation abroad. Many traveling fans are older, more affluent (especially with this particular tournament where ticket prices are significantly higher than in previous World Cups), and accustomed to regulated stadium environments. In addition, authorities now rely heavily on intelligence sharing and travel restrictions to prevent known troublemakers from attending tournaments (many police forces in the UK have officers and units who go undercover and study firms’ activities). Nevertheless, any large sporting event always brings its security challenges. Rivalries between national teams (England and Scotland will be in Boston at the same time during the group stages) can still produce heated atmospheres, and alcohol-fueled celebrations, along with boredom that may set in between games, sometimes results in disorder in public spaces. However, the context today is very different from the conditions that produced hooliganism in the late twentieth century. Modern football culture is shaped less by working-class territorial identity and more by global media entertainment and commercial enterprise.

In this sense, the decline of hooliganism reflects broader social changes within English football itself. The game has evolved from a local, working-class pastime into a global industry. While some critics argue that this transformation has diluted traditional supporter culture, it has also significantly reduced the violence that once overshadowed the sport. As international tournaments like the 2026 World Cup approach, the primary concern for organizers is less about organized hooligan firms and more about managing large, passionate crowds.