Wednesday 26 August 2009

Who's Cocktail?


I am not quite giving you my full attention at the moment as I am posting with one eye on the Arsenal Celtic match. Celtic have just scored a consolation goal.

So then, what on earth went on last night in and around Upton Park?

It seems there was an explosive cocktail of factors which resulted in a recurrence of the violence that used to beset football on a much more regular basis.

Does this mean the beginning of a serious return? Is our beautiful game going to be stolen away from us to act as a vehicle to showcase some of the darker sides of our society?

Or do we have enough information to reduce the likelihood of further occurrences?

Lets see. What were the key factors last night?

Well firstly, there is the bitter rivalry between the two sides.

Then there is the fact that the match was not a league match and therefore an increased number of seats were available for non-regular fans (the regulars choosing not to attend what they see as a less important match).

Couple these with a reported upsurge in football violence 'pornography' and a society with an increased number of people with little to lose as the anesthetic of material wealth on credit card debt starts to wear off.

And some bad decisions about match arrangements .

Like putting away fans in the lower tiers instead of the upper ones.

And not having sufficient police presence.

Most of these things football can't fix on its own.

So anyone out there thinking of pointing a finger at the game and telling it to sort itself out needs to think again.

This is not just a problem for football. It is a problem for our society.

1 comment:

Derek said...

Is it not about time the players led by example? The penalty that Arsenal conned the ref. into was clearly a dive. Wenger, as usual, saw nothing wrong. Let's get back to some diclipine on the pitch and then the stands will follow!!!
Spitting, shirt pulling, diving, pretending to be dead to get the opposition a yellow or red card. None of this was apparent until we imported players from other countries in OUR game. Last night at the Arsenal there were players of 15 yes 15 different nationalities on the pitch.