In November 2013, The Guardian in the United Kingdom carried a story discussing the 30-year anniversary of a soccer game during which 150 England fans were arrested for vandalism, fighting and theft in Luxembourg.
The incident resulted in sports ministers from the Council of Europe convening to stop what they called “soccer terrorism.”
Nearly three decades later, the English football season of 2011-12 had the lowest arrest count on record.
In 2012-13, the count increased 4 percent, to 2,456 football-related arrests, according to the paper, but that was still a small number compared with the old days.
Now this isn’t to say jackassery isn’t still taking place at soccer games. There are still plenty of reports of issues, both in Europe and across the world, in which fans of their teams take things way too seriously and end up injured or dead from incidents.
But it does seem clear after a season’s worth of media reports that some of the “football hooliganism” has migrated to the United States. Yet another incident was reported Monday, although this one did not take place at the game. Apparently right around the time Seattle’s Richard Sherman was accusing Michael Crabtree of being a mediocre wide receiver, two people were being shot by a 49ers fan after he was taunted by Seahawks fans over the result of the game. This took place at a house party.
And this is just the most recent reported act of violence among fans to take place this season. Most of the ones that made the news actually took place outside the stadiums themselves.
- December 13 – At least three men were detained after an incident outside Sports Authority Field in Denver following a Broncos/Chargers game. The scuffle, possibly over something as important as a parking space, left at least three people with stab wounds.
- December 10 – A Lions fan who attended his favorite team’s game against Philadelphia alleged that he was attacked by a half-dozen Eagles fans as he was leaving the stadium. A Philadelphia Inquirer story indicates the man was first bombed with snowballs and “other projectiles” and was then hit with fists and kicks that left him unconscious.
- December 1 – A fan, Kyle Van Winkle, was beaten to death in a parking lot outside Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City during a game against Denver. Media reports indicate police are still investigating the incident, and that Van Winkle may have been beaten after having broken into or mistakenly gotten in to the wrong vehicle.
- October 21 – Video caught a male Jets fan punched a woman in the face after the Jets upset the Patriots on a late field goal. The alleged perpetrator reportedly had gone to jail previously for four years for stabbing someone to death, according to Metro New York Sports. Four people were charged with simple assault and disorderly conduct, it reports.
These incidents, it seems, have been taking place with increasing regularity – or at least being reported more frequently — roughly since a San Francisco Giants fan was put into a coma for several months following an incident after a Giants/Dodgers game in 2011, where he was beaten to the point of being in a coma for several months.
Whether it is an actual increase in incidents, or merely an increase in the reporting of incidents is unclear. But I would have to guess that with the increase in the number of incidents being written about that it stands to reason there would be a corresponding increase in incidents taking place that reporters never find out about.
I’ve not read any incident reports, but one would also could make a fairly educated guess that the culprit in many, if not most, of these cases is a bunch of loud-mouthed drunken idiots either picking on the wrong person or getting picked on and retaliating.
Perhaps teams that are making money hand over fist could consider subtracting a quarter of their beer sales and cut them off midway through the third quarter?
Perhaps Roger Goodell could take a small slice of the $30 million in annual salary he reportedly collects and put it toward outdoor foot patrols outside the stadiums, most of which are heavily publicly subsidized anyway?
Perhaps people could take an ounce of personal responsibility and not start drinking at 8 a.m. for a 3 p.m. kickoff and … well, I may be hypocritical to say this, as I have been a tailgater many times, but never once have I been so drunk walking into or out of a sporting event that I ever thought of A) punching someone who cheers for the other team, B) shooting someone, C) stabbing someone, D) tipping over cars and lighting them on fire, E) conducting myself in any manner that would put me in bad stead with stadium security or law enforcement in or around the stadium.
No, these incidents are not the only reason why my attendance at NFL games over the years has declined dramatically. My team also plays in an outdated stadium with narrow concourses, poor restroom facilities and crowded concessions. And I’m an avid fantasy football player, so to the extent that I can, I enjoy keeping an eye on as many games as possible from the couch in my family room.
But if I did have tickets on a regular basis, I’d think twice before renewing. I remember being in Chicago for a Bears/Vikings game one time in college. My group was decked out in Vikings gear. We meant nobody any harm and, during the game, we received some good-natured razzing – which we all expected, as out-of-towners wearing the opposing team’s garb.
Minnesota won in the last seconds of that game and when we reached the parking lot there were a number of angry fans on the prowl. We were accosted by one man who made a couple smart-ass comments and tried to make off with the Vikings head gear one of us had worn to the game. We chased him down and retrieved it.
Not sure I’d bother these days. You never know when that guy is carrying a knife or a gun or might take a swing and really get something started.
Roger Goodell and some of the owners are pledging this offseason to talk about things like playoff expansion and eliminating the extra point.
They might want to take a look at fan attendance and violence during, before and after games. I know weather was a factor in why there were a number of playoff games the first week of the postseason that barely sold out. But I wonder if all the recent headlines aren’t making families think twice about taking their kids to NFL games for fear of falling prey to some random act of drunken idiocy.
Goodell may want to take a couple steps to curb drinking and tomfoolery before the U.S. Congress, in all of its single-digit popularity ratings, decides to convene a “Council of America” to discuss possible solutions for “football hooliganism.”
Because nothing good could come from that.
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