Dear WSC
All of the articles in the last edition relating to the events in Rome were very illuminating but I can’t help feeling that just about every one of your commentators, not to mention David Mellor and the FA, seem to have missed one vital point. Is it not the case that the Italian police (and for that matter, police in this country) should be told by their masters that if somebody has done something which contravenes the law of the land then they should be arrested and dealt with accordingly? If they haven’t then they should be left alone. The overriding image that has stayed with me since the match (apart from of course the dire football played on the pitch) was of police officers battering English fans in a frenzy of sadistic pleasure. In particular I remember watching, mouth agape, as about half a dozen helmeted meatheads set about one man who just happened to be caught behind their lines. The poor man curled up into a ball while they set about him with their truncheons. I don’t know what they thought he had done, but nobody deserves that sort of treatment, least of all from members of the constabulary. It seems to be a growing attitude amongst the authorities, the police, and some of your writers that if you go to a football match, then you open yourself up to a possible battering from the police – that’s just your bad luck. Let’s get this event into some kind of perspective. Police the world over like hitting people – that’s why they become police officers – and football matches (like picket lines) gives them the perfect opportunity. To my mind it’s as simple as that. The responsibility for the mayhem inside the ground belongs undoubtedly to the police authorities who clearly told their men to go and crack some heads. It matters not a jot whether other fans were drunk, abusive or whatever. The fans inside the ground were used for a bit of fun by the Italian police, which is something that should be deplored by everybody, not just football fans.
Jeffrey Lamb, Brighton
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Stories
Mike Woitalla profiles the coach who successfully steered the US to France 98
President Ronald Reagan had returned from a tour of Latin America and revealed, “You know, they’re all individual countries.” Unfortunately, Reagan made that discovery after making a toast to his “Bolivian” hosts – while in Brazil. During his eventful stint as vice president, Dan Quayle visited Central America and gave the crowd what in the USA is an okay sign – index finger to thumb to create an ‘o’. But there, that means arsehole. Bill Clinton, conscious that US rulers often get cold receptions in Latin America, had a plan to ingratiate himself to Brazilians. He juggled a soccer ball with Pelé in a Rio de Janeiro favela, as they call the shantytowns that produce players like Romário.
Day 21 of the WSC advent calendar and we’re looking at Christmas football. These days it is something to look forward to but, in issue 131, January 1998, Olly Wicken‘s grandad claimed that this wasn’t always the case
I went to my first Christmas game in 1933, at the age of twelve. I’ll never forget it. It was a cold and bright Christmas Day morning (Christmas Day fixtures were the norm in those days). My Christmas stocking was still hanging unopened over the hearth when my father wrapped me up in my muffler, cap and overcoat and walked me along frosty pavements to the ground. Once inside, I was passed over the heads of the crowd down to the front of the terrace. From there I saw the local derby end in a five-all draw. Our inside-left – I forget his name now – scored all five. Then, on Boxing Day afternoon, my father took me to the return match across town, which we won by the odd goal in thirteen, making the aggregate score twelve-eleven over the two days. It was typical of Christmas fixtures back then. Both games were shit.
Not all the action was on the pitch. Richard Mason reflects on the reputation of the England supporters after they left Rome
The week that began on Sunday, 5th October and ended on Saturday, 11th October saw the re-emergence in all its complexity of the problem of football violence in Italy. First it was the home-grown variety, in connection with the Serie A fixture between Atalanta and Brescia, and then, of course, the much-reported – but perhaps less-understood – incidents which surrounded the Italy v England World Cup Qualifier at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
After England's recent goalless draw in Italy, Mike Ticher claims that we still haven't shaken off our reputation as football hooligans
“Multiculturalism is a divisive force… One cannot be loyal to two nations any more than a man can have two masters.” So said Norman Tebbit in the week before England qualified for the World Cup with an accomplished performance on the field and a hideous mess off it.