Men At Work
14-08-2000, 07:46 PM
From the Guardian site. Anyone know where our 17 arrests came from? :
Violence is being stepped up and becoming more coordinated, according to intelligence report that will embarrass the authorities
Special report: football violence
Vivek Chaudhary Sports correspondent
Monday August 14, 2000
Large scale football violence is becoming increasingly common with hooligans using the internet and mobile phones to arrange confrontations.
Figures released by the national criminal intelligence service, show that violence is again marring the domestic game, much of it taking place away from grounds or after matches have finished.
The figures will embarrass government and football officals who have insisted that hooliganism usually takes place abroad when the national team is playing.
While the overall number of arrests for hooliganism fell slightly to 3,137 last season, from 3,341 in the season 1998-1999, attacks were more violent and better organised, often involving weapons.
Last season, there were 83 particularly violent incidents. In one of the most serious confrontations Stoke City and Cardiff City supporters battled throughout the day and into the night when the two teams met in a second division match. Other organised confrontations involved supporters of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Chelsea, Sunderland and Manchester City.
There were a number of mass arrests with dozens of hooligans being rounded up to prevent trouble. In one incident, 168 Chelsea fans were arrested as they planned to attack Tottenham Hotspur fans.
The number of arrests for racist chanting also increased with 34 people arrested compared to 25 during the 1998-99 season. Missile throwing also made an unwelcome return with 88 fans arrested for the offence last season compared to 42 the season before.
Sunderland top the arrest league with 223 arrests last season followed by Chelsea, with 168 arrests. Macclesfield and Wycombe Wanderers had no arrests at their grounds while Manchester United had 88 arrests from a total crowd of 1.04m who attended their matches last season.
There were 1,461 arrests in the Premiership, 831 in division one, 586 in division two and 259 in division three.
With CCTV cameras installed at all league grounds and many matches heavily policed, the criminal intelligence service said most violence now takes place away from stadiums, particularly in town centres or as fans are travelling to or away from matches.
The stereotype of the hooligan is changing, with many from middle class backgrounds working in the professions. The organisers are also involved in other criminal activity such as drug dealing and theft and are using technology to arrange confrontations. Bryan Drew, head of strategic and specialist intelligence at NCIS said: "Football hooliganism is more sophisticated than it was.
"Invariably, the incidents are away from grounds and are therefore more difficult to police. The criminal hooligan element often know when a game is going to be 'police free' and far from being mindless they are often organised and adept at exploiting spontaneous situations."
With the English football season starting last Saturday and the Premiership begining this weekend, police and football officals are hoping that the Football Spectators Act which comes into force next month will curb hooliganism.
The law will prevent known hooligans from attending matches, either in Britain or abroad, and police will have the power to detain those they suspect of planning violence.
The Home Office minister Lord Bassam said on Radio 4's The World this Weekend: "Ten years ago we had something like 10,000 arrests (for football hooliganism) annually. Now that is down to around 3,000. We should not be complacent. There was a big problem at Euro 2000 and we have taken measures to stop it.
"The overall total number of arrests maybe down but the hooligans are still with us and there is clearly a hard core of thugs trying to have weekly pre-organised fights some way from the stadium."
A spokesman for the Football Association said: "They are not football supporters, they are criminals."
1999/2000 arrests while travelling or at matches
Division One
Manchester City 165
Birmingham City 77
Barnsley 60
W'hampton Wan 47
Queens Pk Rangers 40
Nottingham Forest 39
West Bromich Albion 36
Huddersfield Town 35
Portsmouth 29
Sheffield United 28
Grimsby Town 27
Bolton Wanderers 26
Ipswich Town 23
Blackburn Rovers 22
Fulham 22
Swindon Town 19
Charlton Athletic 18
Crystal Palace 17
Norwich City 15
Port Vale 14
Stockport County 12
Tranmere Rovers 12
Crewe Alexandra 6
Violence is being stepped up and becoming more coordinated, according to intelligence report that will embarrass the authorities
Special report: football violence
Vivek Chaudhary Sports correspondent
Monday August 14, 2000
Large scale football violence is becoming increasingly common with hooligans using the internet and mobile phones to arrange confrontations.
Figures released by the national criminal intelligence service, show that violence is again marring the domestic game, much of it taking place away from grounds or after matches have finished.
The figures will embarrass government and football officals who have insisted that hooliganism usually takes place abroad when the national team is playing.
While the overall number of arrests for hooliganism fell slightly to 3,137 last season, from 3,341 in the season 1998-1999, attacks were more violent and better organised, often involving weapons.
Last season, there were 83 particularly violent incidents. In one of the most serious confrontations Stoke City and Cardiff City supporters battled throughout the day and into the night when the two teams met in a second division match. Other organised confrontations involved supporters of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Chelsea, Sunderland and Manchester City.
There were a number of mass arrests with dozens of hooligans being rounded up to prevent trouble. In one incident, 168 Chelsea fans were arrested as they planned to attack Tottenham Hotspur fans.
The number of arrests for racist chanting also increased with 34 people arrested compared to 25 during the 1998-99 season. Missile throwing also made an unwelcome return with 88 fans arrested for the offence last season compared to 42 the season before.
Sunderland top the arrest league with 223 arrests last season followed by Chelsea, with 168 arrests. Macclesfield and Wycombe Wanderers had no arrests at their grounds while Manchester United had 88 arrests from a total crowd of 1.04m who attended their matches last season.
There were 1,461 arrests in the Premiership, 831 in division one, 586 in division two and 259 in division three.
With CCTV cameras installed at all league grounds and many matches heavily policed, the criminal intelligence service said most violence now takes place away from stadiums, particularly in town centres or as fans are travelling to or away from matches.
The stereotype of the hooligan is changing, with many from middle class backgrounds working in the professions. The organisers are also involved in other criminal activity such as drug dealing and theft and are using technology to arrange confrontations. Bryan Drew, head of strategic and specialist intelligence at NCIS said: "Football hooliganism is more sophisticated than it was.
"Invariably, the incidents are away from grounds and are therefore more difficult to police. The criminal hooligan element often know when a game is going to be 'police free' and far from being mindless they are often organised and adept at exploiting spontaneous situations."
With the English football season starting last Saturday and the Premiership begining this weekend, police and football officals are hoping that the Football Spectators Act which comes into force next month will curb hooliganism.
The law will prevent known hooligans from attending matches, either in Britain or abroad, and police will have the power to detain those they suspect of planning violence.
The Home Office minister Lord Bassam said on Radio 4's The World this Weekend: "Ten years ago we had something like 10,000 arrests (for football hooliganism) annually. Now that is down to around 3,000. We should not be complacent. There was a big problem at Euro 2000 and we have taken measures to stop it.
"The overall total number of arrests maybe down but the hooligans are still with us and there is clearly a hard core of thugs trying to have weekly pre-organised fights some way from the stadium."
A spokesman for the Football Association said: "They are not football supporters, they are criminals."
1999/2000 arrests while travelling or at matches
Division One
Manchester City 165
Birmingham City 77
Barnsley 60
W'hampton Wan 47
Queens Pk Rangers 40
Nottingham Forest 39
West Bromich Albion 36
Huddersfield Town 35
Portsmouth 29
Sheffield United 28
Grimsby Town 27
Bolton Wanderers 26
Ipswich Town 23
Blackburn Rovers 22
Fulham 22
Swindon Town 19
Charlton Athletic 18
Crystal Palace 17
Norwich City 15
Port Vale 14
Stockport County 12
Tranmere Rovers 12
Crewe Alexandra 6