@Enchantress, football has been a big part of English life for more than a few years
And the disgusting rabble you refer to that bring the reputation down with their thuggery were way more apparent in the 70s than today (We were banned for years from European games following the Eissel Stadium (sp?) disaster). That said, there are still many underground organisations that adopt the football shirt to get involved in the violence that exists outside of the game, this is a sad fact. They probably get their hype from the group hysteria of a game, then with their underground connections actually
arrange meetings with rival supporters purely to get mean. These groups know who they are, and generally leave the innocent supporters alone - but not always. One thing that has been done to improve ground safety since the Hillsborough disaster (though to me it has killed the atmosphere of the game somewhat) has been to make grounds all seater (Taylor Report) this in turn has probably gone some way to curb violence at the grounds, since it is nowhere near as prevelant as it used to be. I recall clubs such as Luton and Millwall having electrified fences around their pitches to put of pitch invasions
On more than one occasion I have been to see my own team play a London club, and I have stood in the home stand in my own colours. Admittedly I exercise careful choice here, and accept that if I were male (or supported any other team than Wednesday
) I might get more than a friendly ribbing
