Greetings Kankas and Kankies.
You will recall our discussions on this Blog about Football Hooliganism during the past year, and in particular when members of The Football Factory visited Ankara last year and were met by Oz Kanka. More recently, this subject was also discussed in Nathan's Fenerbahce Blog.
I don't think I need remind you that the subject of hooliganism is somewhat glorified in the Football Factory programmes when all the emphasis is about a gang warfare culture and totally neglects to mention the majority of footie fans like you and me who abhor this senseless behaviour.
So, it was heartening to read a report in The Weekly Telegraph by an Ingallish Pom, James Wilson, who now lives in Oz. He was giving his opinion about fans behaviour at an Australian Rules Football match when he went to see Western Bulldogs play at The Telstra Dome in Melbourne. He said.......
QUOTE....... the atmosphere at the ground is very different to football in England. Violence between fans is unheard of and attending a game is very much a family day out. We saw many families dining on picnics. I can also speak from experience in saying that a home-made picnic is a better option than the dubious tradition of munching on a meat pie with sauce during the game.
There is no segregation of opposing fans and the atmosphere is highly charged but friendly. Both sets of fans reserve their hostility instead for the game's hapless umpires, who are held in almost universal contempt. UNQUOTE.
As an ex-Class 1 referee I can confirm that hostility to referees is probably a world wide pastime !!
Perhaps the English (and Turkish !!) FAs should send a fact finding mission to Oz and try to find the answer to preventing hooliganism at footie matches ?!
Actually, I have watched Essendon Bombers a few times on TV a few years ago and can confirm that most of the `physical stuff` was on the field of play. Not a game for wimps me thinks !!!
Well done you Aussies. You are in the news for all the right reasons !
All the best from Eski Kanka Jim
The Round Ball in Ankara! Dedicated to football lovers in Ankara (Except for those who follow Osmanlispor)
Australian Rules Football equals aerial ping pong.
ReplyDeleteTotal agree with your stance on the subject.
ReplyDeleteThe real Football factory is a clueless TV show, With little meaningful insight.
The whole focus on the Leeds incident was handled particularly badly.
I do not understand why the true facts on this matter have never been revealed.
Ali Demir and his gang of idiots were not Galatasaray supports.
The Leeds supports are notorious though out Europe and this was not the only case of stabbing of it's supports at away games.
Who where the 2 men killed, what records did they hold, were they even allowed to travel to matches?
The people interviewed on the show clearly had very low IQ's & the presenters name said it all. dyer
Great post. I wrestled with whether or not to post the show on my blog, but I decided to because I think people should see it, even if they disagree with it.
ReplyDeleteHooliganism is everywhere, and it obviously represents a tiny percentage of real fans of ANY team. We've even had small bouts of it here in America, and I was confronted physically and verbally after an away American football game here recently. It happens everywhere, especially when alcohol is involved. I think what happens in that show is no worse than anywhere else. In fact, as a Fener supporter, I was quite proud about how our team was portrayed at the end.
I wish I could say that we didn't have hooligan elements in Hibernian and Ankaragucu, but..... hand on heart........ I can't !!
ReplyDeleteThis is reality, but....... we can't and must NOT accept it.
alex, whilst I dont didsagree with your commnets about Leeds supporters the two guys that were killed had no record as far as recall could be determined at that time. Even if they had does that justify what happened to them? Remember that the Briish Govet routinely removes passports from hooligans to stop them from travelling and you still need a passport to get out of the UK. Th truth about what happened has been clearly stated as far as I know and the majority of people know that Ali Demir and his gang were simply out to casue trouble and had no links to GS.
ReplyDeleteAs for whether the two who died had a record just google Kevin Speight or christopher Loftus and draw your own conclusions.