Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Violence on Green Lanes
Sorry but I am not a fan of the 'glorious game' of football. Never have been and never will be. Just want to make that clear from the outset.
'Why?' I hear all the blokes cry in incredulous disbelief as they crack open their breakfast can of Stella. Ok.
a) it's really dull. No. It is. Really. Think about it.
b) it spawns thuggery and drunken violence and
C) and that's an upper case 'C', this is the second time this month I have turned up at my front door on Green Lanes to be confronted by vast hordes of chanting, bottle throwing, flag-waving imbeciles. I would like to think they're not actually picking on me personally but it does seem to be a hot spot just outside MY FRONT DOOR.
Oddly, my neighbour has noted that most of the bottle chucking is being done by women. Frankly, in my limited experience, as I scurry to safety, flitting like a bat from shadow to shadow trying to get home, I have noticed that there IS a goodly proportion of young women who are definitely winding the whole process up.
Alright, this may not be ALL about football. It maybe has more to do with... er... Kurds and Turks? Answers on a postcard. All I know is that running battles with police on a night when a GAME has been played converts the otherwise lovely, friendly and vibrant environs of Green Lanes in to a war zone.
If someone has a better understanding of what is going on, please feel free to inform me and put me right.
'Why?' I hear all the blokes cry in incredulous disbelief as they crack open their breakfast can of Stella. Ok.
a) it's really dull. No. It is. Really. Think about it.
b) it spawns thuggery and drunken violence and
C) and that's an upper case 'C', this is the second time this month I have turned up at my front door on Green Lanes to be confronted by vast hordes of chanting, bottle throwing, flag-waving imbeciles. I would like to think they're not actually picking on me personally but it does seem to be a hot spot just outside MY FRONT DOOR.
Oddly, my neighbour has noted that most of the bottle chucking is being done by women. Frankly, in my limited experience, as I scurry to safety, flitting like a bat from shadow to shadow trying to get home, I have noticed that there IS a goodly proportion of young women who are definitely winding the whole process up.
Alright, this may not be ALL about football. It maybe has more to do with... er... Kurds and Turks? Answers on a postcard. All I know is that running battles with police on a night when a GAME has been played converts the otherwise lovely, friendly and vibrant environs of Green Lanes in to a war zone.
If someone has a better understanding of what is going on, please feel free to inform me and put me right.
Replies are closed for this discussion.
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by alistairj on
-
You have my sympathies - you might want to be out (or get some earplugs) for the next one on Wednesday...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/euro_2008/7363524.stm -
-
Permalink Reply by Birdy_Too on
-
God I dislike the middle classes some times. At most levels it's a great sport for normal people.
Go to a proper game once in a while and you'll find that the middle class / media stereotype is no more than a hand full.
Football is a glorious game and as I have said before, builds bridges the world over. I have watched football in about fifteen countries around the world and feel qualified to make these conclusions.
Maybe they should celebrate with a traditional "bravo" or to crack open a bottle of crisp Chablis? -
-
Permalink Reply by Jimbo on
-
God I hate football fans sometimes. However, I take your point. Football is a game I detest but I do see its positive side as well.
A 'bravo' and a bottle of crisp chablis. Nah. Let's start a riot and throw bottles at cars. I guess that's your preference.
You seem to have missed the point as well. Whatever you think of the game it DOES, and did last night, produce a deal of violence. Read what I said again and you will see I was trying to find out what the problem was last night.
Crack another Stella and think about it. -
-
-
I can't stand Stella as it happens, real ale for me, sorry to ruin you distorted, prejudiced illusion.
Around three quarters of a million people watch live football in England alone every week, when was the last time you heard of a major disruption?
“Whatever you think of the game it DOES, and did last night, produce a deal of violence” – welcome to society, it happens all over not just at football matches, it’s just that you have such a bee in your bowler hat about football for whatever reason.
The problems are between the Turks and Kurds not football fans per se. It does happen amongst other sections of society. Football is the excuse given to people who can’t think beyond the stereotype.
There are youth gangs in Harringay, pub brawls, criminal gangs, immature youths who cannot control themselves, this is not a football related issue and you need to leave your personal Janet Street-Porter-esq dislikes for the sport and any one who follows in the dark ages. -
-
-
I agree with a lot of what you say but you still missed the point. I can feel your anger from here. My gripe is not really with football. I just wanted to know what the hell was going on out there last night. Football is a by-product... like human waste. Now calm down and drink your pint of Scribblers Old Numbnuts or whatever it is you fuel your anger with.
-
-
-
Too right I'm cheesed off. I’ve followed football for over thirty years and being part of numerous projects to eradicate prejudices in the game and rid football of the bad element only for people who know little about the game, the culture and the behind the scenes organisations to take cheap swipes. Sorry for jumping, but hey there’s codpieces all over shop, even some in football so I here?
These cretins have long being throwing bottles at each other well before Turkey even got in the FIFA top 100. If Turkey were to play Cricket or Rugby, I am sure that would be fare game for a pitch battle.
It use to happen down here loads more than it does now when there was no football game.
Thankfully the police and the authorities have stopped a lot of the rabble causing trouble.
I wonder if the Russians and Dutch in the area will be kicking off tonight : ) -
-
-
I honestly didn't mean to piss you off. I guess I haven't made a friend. I admire anybody who holds a passion for anything ...including football. If we should ever meet, I'll buy you a pint of Old Numbnuts and I'll have a glass of Chablis. I'd still like to know if it was a Turkish/Kurdish thing though. Cos I'm only guessing.
-
-
Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
-
I don't think you pissed him off at all. I wish I'd been involved in this, I don't think much of "football" (although I am a boring male sports fan) and I like free beer.
Birdy... I remember in the 1999 Rugby World cup being on a train going to Wakefield. It was full of rugby supporters, some of them drinking. The driver congratulated us when we got off for being so well behaved. It had not occurred to us to throw bottles or chant songs. There really is a problem with football and you are just throwing in examples of how half of it is lovely and wonderful... yet half of it (generous?) is not. -
-
Permalink Reply by matt on
-
> I wish I'd been involved in this
Wot! You desiring to throw bottles at leary, hairy men. John, I never knew. ;) -
© 2024 Created by Hugh.
Powered by
