Many of us will be familiar with the somewhat disturbing but priceless photo of the little English football fan who is expressing his immense dislike for what seems like perhaps a bad call on the refs part against England, or a general hatred for the opposing team. After going to watch an English football match south of London, this picture popped up in my mind which I feel more or less sums up the experience of watching football hooligans in their natural habitat. And I say habitat because yes, it was more or less like being at a zoo. Looking at this picture I like to think that this little fan is the ultimate poster boy for English football. Classy, polite and gentle natured, this little kid represents his fellow football fans by showing us what a true adoring fan acts like when displaying his patriotism and love for his country.
On Saturday, 26th November I went and saw a Champion's League football match between Crystal Palace and Millwall at Selhurst Park in South Norwood. The game itself wasn't too eventful with a 0-0 draw, but the lack of goals was made up for with a display of an upstanding display of English football behaviour...just as I'd (secretly?) hoped.I witnessed Millwall fans throw bottles and other forms of rubbish at a Crystal Palace player when he was tackled near their stand, a Millwall fan hide among the Palace fans until Palace missed a penalty at which point he made himself known, started a massive brawl and when getting escorted out by police got spat on numerous times by Palace fans. Yep, just a typical English football game in all its glory. Most of the songs and chants the fans sung I couldn't really make out (I just joined in on the clapping), except a personal favourite, which the Palace fans yelled and screamed at the Millwall fans so aggressively I thought their heads red with rage and spitting all over the people in front of them might explode and their arms might fall off due to the verocity in which they were pointing at their much hated rivals yelling: "You're the scum of South London." Simply lovely. And seriously, when did little kids start swearing like that?!
Due to the nil all draw the mood at the end was pretty mellow, but this didn't stop the ridiculous amount of police out in force directing the Millwall fans in a completely different direction to the Palace fans. At one point walking to the car we looked up a street to see six police fans with sirens flashing, and in their shadows heading as far up the hill as you could see were dark hooded figures marching down the road chanting, "Millwall, Millwall" over and over again. It was actually pretty fricken frightening! The way the police watched us all as we left made me feel like I should have pulled my hood down, put my hands in my pockets and walked 'subtly passed' as many people were doing around us. Let me just say, as much as people criticize 'Green Street Hooligans' (2005) directed by Lexi Alexander to be a Hollywood version of what actually goes on at an English football match, I personally think the movie is pretty spot on in terms of what actually happens and how the football fans, or should we say hooligans? act. My cousin who is usually a gentle, friendly, upstanding British citizen spent the whole day with a menacing look on his face and constantly referred to Millwall as 'imbred (insert swearwords)' and 'dirty scum' to give just a couple examples. I think he was joking, but he asked Lucy's boyfriend Mat whether his boots had metal caps in them. Really....?There were, I admit, points at which I did feel quite nervous, but at the same time I thought it was fantastic, the whole thing. And I only got to experience it once, these people live and breath football. It's a life choice, a calling, a religion I am told. There are many stereotypical and iconic aspects that one thinks of when they think England; Big Ben, the Queen, the rain and Jason Statham to name a few. Football however, well This is England!
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