The 70s and 80s, an era where youths and middle-aged men alike joined together to cause mass violence on the terraces. Frustrations and superfluous passion vented on a Saturday afternoon for the sake of club pride and superiority, regardless of results on the pitch. Hooliganism in the UK is dated as far back as the 1880s, but this was the pinnacle of football hooliganism, then touted the ‘British Disease’, but now a mere blemish on society, an unfavourable occurrence that arises on the periphery of our consciousness every so often.

So, what changed? Following the Hillsborough Disaster in 1989, where 96 Liverpool fans died as a result of a safety problem being mistook for a security problem, and The Taylor Report in 1990, football hooliganism domestically has changed significantly. Football, a sport infamously draped in affluence and prosperity, has seen the introduction of ‘football intelligence’; closed-circuit television, all-seater grounds and segregation, the rise of the football league and £50 tickets. However, the tight restraints the supporters now have to overcome to cause trouble within the ground doesn’t necessarily mean hooliganism is dormant, but rather moved to places that get less attention. Town centres, train stations and the surrounding areas of a match day football stadium may be swathed in a heavy police presence, but this is nothing compared to the intense precautions that are placed inside the stadium itself, and so hooligans have now moved away from the terraces and instigated their bloodshed elsewhere.

It has been documented that most English hooligans are in their late teens or early twenties, it’s not common for older hooligans to take part, although often acquire the role of leader of the pack. Your local on a match day can frequently house veteran hooligans of the 70s and 80s lovingly recalling their exploits like retired generals remembering their battles. It has also been recognised that hooligans come from a working class background and are often employed. People’s preconceived idea of a generic hooligan probably includes a Burberry cap, shaved head and a can of Stella, although people choose to use football violence as an outlet for a wide mixture of reasons.

There have been many examples of football hooliganism in the UK over the last five years. Crimestoppers still regularly appeal for help in identifying hooligans. England have been repeatedly threatened with expulsion from tournaments because of poor fan behaviour abroad – 2,500 England fans were banned from Euro 2004, and closer to home one off incidents between league clubs have broken out, clashes usually being between local rivalries or high profile clubs such as Manchester United, Cardiff vs. Swansea, Birmingham vs. Villa and Leeds United; the clubs with the most notorious firms.

One fixture in particular sent shockwaves through the nation in an event that felt like a dormant volcano unexpectedly erupting after thousands of years of inactivity, except it wasn’t quite unexpected. Many had condemned infamous rivals’ Millwall vs. West Ham cup tie in 2009 as soon at it had been announced; a fixture which resulted in rioting, cars being turned over, pubs trashed, multiple arrests and injuries, culminating in a forty year old man being stabbed. Horrific clashes had ensued between fans before the first whistle and eventually the supporter’s tensions boiled over into pitch invasions and chaos. In the wake of the poisonous fixture, the football authorities, police, government and the Football Supporters' Federation all emphasised the general reduction in hooliganism over the last 20 years. They are also realistic enough to accept there remains a risk of it happening. The Home Secretary vowed that “a hooligan minority will not be allowed to shame the name of football. The dark days of violence on the terraces in the 70s and 80s are now behind us, thanks to targeted policing, proper crowd control, football banning orders and a change in attitude amongst fans themselves.” This may be true to some extent, though it still does remain.

Because of the dismal ritual of organising fights away from grounds in order to avoid today’s more intense policing, hooligans have now been forced to use more efficient ways of organisation; namely the internet. Websites run by supporters have the air of humorous fanzines, paying homage to their clubs and providing a forum for fan's views. On the other hand, they can be outlets for supporters to threaten rival supporters, and incite organised carnage. The instantaneous element that comes with technologies such as mobile phones and the Internet is now crucial to their fighting habit, despite the image of a six foot four skinhead tapping away on a keyboard a strange one!

Yes, football hooliganism has diminished in the last twenty years or so, but it is still surviving the severe penalties imposed on the partakers. Assistant Chief Constable Paul Nicholas said a worrying 182 out of 187 people arrested or reported for hooliganism so far this year did not have a previous record for the offence; giving evidence that there is now a perturbing new generation of hooligan; one ready to draw blood for their beloved club.