Polaroid
I need a tittle
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- Jan 21, 2010
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Soccer is a game which, with more than a little help from the British Empire, was exported all over the world and an exported externality of that was soccer hooliganism. Most notorious in the game through the 1970s and 1980s, it is still far from being eradicated and it has a habit of rearing it's head in the most unusual of situations.
Take the example of China during the 2002 World Cup where thousands of Chinese fans in the city of Fuzhou rioted for over two hours after an outside television screen failed, or which the police reportedly turned off, which was to have shown the Brazil Vs China match. Even more bizarre was an incident in North Korea during a World Cup qualifying match against Iran in a game where Korea were coming off two straight losses and needed a win to have any chance to make the 2006 World Cup Finals. After a questionable decision in favor of the Iranians, a Korean defender pushed over the referee and was duly sent off and for ten minutes, the Korean home fans littered the pitch with bottles, chairs and anything they could get their hands on. Following the match, where North Korea finished 2-0 losers, there was a two hour long riot between fans and police with the Iranian players unable to find safe passage to leave the stadium. That just shows that you might live in arguably the most oppressive, Stalinist regime in the world but put on a soccer match and all hell can still break out.
And so we return full circle back to Britain where there was a playoff match on Monday between Luton Town and York City as both teams met in the second leg of a matchup where the winner would take part in a single elimination game to get the chance to move up from the fifth tier of English football to the fourth tier. After York won the game 1-0, and winning 2-0 on aggregate over the two legs, the Luton fans took great offense. Perhaps they were disappointed they they won't be watching their team in fourth tier league play next season; more probably it was the frustration that as recently as 2007 they were playing in the English second tier. And almost certainly alcohol played a part in the proceedings.
The fifth tier of English soccer it's serious business.
.
Take the example of China during the 2002 World Cup where thousands of Chinese fans in the city of Fuzhou rioted for over two hours after an outside television screen failed, or which the police reportedly turned off, which was to have shown the Brazil Vs China match. Even more bizarre was an incident in North Korea during a World Cup qualifying match against Iran in a game where Korea were coming off two straight losses and needed a win to have any chance to make the 2006 World Cup Finals. After a questionable decision in favor of the Iranians, a Korean defender pushed over the referee and was duly sent off and for ten minutes, the Korean home fans littered the pitch with bottles, chairs and anything they could get their hands on. Following the match, where North Korea finished 2-0 losers, there was a two hour long riot between fans and police with the Iranian players unable to find safe passage to leave the stadium. That just shows that you might live in arguably the most oppressive, Stalinist regime in the world but put on a soccer match and all hell can still break out.
And so we return full circle back to Britain where there was a playoff match on Monday between Luton Town and York City as both teams met in the second leg of a matchup where the winner would take part in a single elimination game to get the chance to move up from the fifth tier of English football to the fourth tier. After York won the game 1-0, and winning 2-0 on aggregate over the two legs, the Luton fans took great offense. Perhaps they were disappointed they they won't be watching their team in fourth tier league play next season; more probably it was the frustration that as recently as 2007 they were playing in the English second tier. And almost certainly alcohol played a part in the proceedings.
The fifth tier of English soccer it's serious business.
.
