Smashing things up

[sar @sar Participant]

I thought we only smashed things up when we lost or were upset about something. It seems it’s also an expression of joy.

https://news.sky.com/story/london-ambulance-damaged-as-england-fans-celebrate-world-cup-quarter-final-win-11429810

It would be great to use the ‘power of social media ‘ to find some of these individuals and prosecute them!

[tigg @tigg Participant]

Just chatting about this with my 10-year-old, he reckons the culprits in all these and similar videos should be arrested and held in solitary ( no tv radio etc) from now until just after the final.

[cat @cat Participant]

Nice, Sounds like your son has a good creative concept of justice. My personal idea would be to include in their punishment a few night shifts with an ambulance crew picking up drunks around christmas time to show them really how hard it is for the NHS to sort out people without the extra hassle of having their vehicles smashed up.

With the quality of the photos it shouldn’t be hard to identify the culprits.

[skipper @skipper Participant]

Just send them the bill for the damaged vehicle.

For some people, football brings out the best for others football brings out the absolute worst in people.

[tigg @tigg Participant]

It’s not the football, it’s the tribalism. Football (or any pack culture) gives halfwits anonymity, with a crowd to hide in, and it gives them an excuse to indulge in things they’d never dream of doing alone.

[skipper @skipper Participant]

If it’s tribalism brought about by football, then isn’t if fair to say that ‘football culture’ is essentially to blame?

[SoccerGal @soccergal Participant]

If it’s tribalism brought about by football, then isn’t if fair to say that ‘football culture’ is essentially to blame?

Very interesting question. Not being a footie sort of person, I had no idea until I researched it just now that for years football hooliganism has been known as the “English Disease”. How mortifying.

But no, I’m not sure it’s either specifically English or related to football. In 12th-century France, for example, (as well as England), the tournaments held by the ruling aristocracy were organized riots involving thousands of men spread over many miles of countryside. Hundreds died or were injured and the surrounding area was trashed during the event by these state-sponsored hooligans. As well as being regarded as vital training for warfare it was considered a reasonable way of dealing with the rampant testosterone of angry young men with no cause to fight for. The Crusades were as much about channeling this kind of violence and weren’t anything to do with about religion, and I think the same is true of football hooliganism today.

[connie @connie Participant]

football brings out the absolute worst in people

More a sad indictment of the herd mentality of crowds. If people weren’t so sheep-like, en masse, then 90% of that crowd would have acted on their natural inclination and shouted those idiots down from the vehicle.

[Fi @fi Participant]

Perhaps football brings out the worst in a very, very small minority, but most people seem to be able to watch and enjoy it without doing any damage to anyone. Millions of people watched the match on Saturday (official BBC figures show almost 20 million viewers, but obviously that doesn’t account for those who had viewing parties or went to pubs/ big screens to watch it. The real figure is likely much higher), so to simply say “football brings out the worst in people” is a huge generalization and completely untrue. I hate the fact people are focusing on the actions of a few stupid individuals. I watched the match with a group of friends from work and there were four small children in the group. A good time was had by all and the worst damage done was a few crisps dropped on the floor!

As for fans of other sports – they are also capable of stupid behavior. Look at what happened when the New England Patriots won the super bowl last year! Different sport, different country…

[Sammy @sammy Participant]

I do hope these England ‘fans’ are sent to jail. This will give their idiot mates another opportunity to chant, ‘It’s Coming Home’ in a few months time.

[beckyE @beckye Participant]

I read on FB that they actually damaged the car so badly they wrote it off. What is wrong with people, the NHS are struggling with resources enough, now a car that could potentially save someones life is gone. I hope they get fined!

We actually also had an interesting debate at work, a domestic abuse charity has said they dread these sorts of competitions as statistics show there is always a rise in domestic violence at these times.

[bosworth @bosworth Participant]

I think that it’s incredibly sad that these few morons are spoiling things for the majority but I also believe that these aren’t incidents isolated to football. Unfortunately this kind of thing happens every weekend across British towns and it is being highlighted more because of the World Cup which just gives these clueless yobs an excuse.

They sicken me because this should be something for the nation to enjoy. Many of the young men on the England Team have worked extremely hard to perfect their talent. They are not kids that have had everything handed to them on a plate and I think it’s great for some children to see them and think that they could be the next big thing. Anyone can be a footballer, no matter what your race, religion or background and surely in a world where childhood obesity is a massive problem then we should be highlighting this rather than focusing on these idiots that would do this whatever the occasion!

The perpetrators should be dealt with harshly.

I’m not sure what it’s like in other parts of the Country but here in Derbyshire it’s refreshing to see a resurgence in National pride, something that we seem to have lost in recent years.

[hannnna @hannnna Participant]

Football caused the problem (well alcohol really) but football is sorting the problem. Millwall has raised over £5k to help pay for the ambulance. If the insurance pays out then the ambulance service keep the money as a donation regardless. Millwall are/were one of the most violent supporters mob in the country. Opposing fans have to get there via train and train only and walk through a protective cage to get into the ground. They aren’t as bad as they used to be though. Then when you had the guy running around stabbing people at London Bridge it was a Millwall supporter who said not in my town and took him on resulting in numerous injuries to himself but he protected a whole load more people from harm.

Sport and alcohol bring out the worst in everyone.

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