New book takes us beyond issues of violence and crowd control to political resistance and action

Hans K. Hognestad
University of South-Eastern Norway

This edited collection on social control and disorder in football is a relatively short book with an introduction by the editors, followed by six chapters that each works as a case study from different corners of the footballing world. The study of social control and violence in football is a well- established niche in football sociology. Ever since Ian Taylor (1971) in the early 70’s and scholars such as Eric Dunning (1988) at Leicester University in the late 1980’s and Gary Armstrong (1998) in the 1990’s, numerous analyses of the causes and understanding of social control, hooliganism and disorder in football have been produced. Richard Giulianotti (1999, 2002) was a leading figure in the broader contextualization of football fandom around the turn of the millennium, viewing football violence more as one of many expressions of identity in an era marked by an accelerating globalization. This book takes us into a contemporary climate that extends beyond issues of violence and crowd control by including examples of political resistance and action.

During the last couple of decades, numerous studies of more nation- and culture-specific football have been published, such as the studies on Polish football over the last decade, led by Radoslaw Kossakowski, who also has a chapter in this collection. Kossakowski analyzes changes in the legal tools applied by governing bodies on mass sport events in Poland and sees a clear trend towards stricter measures for crowd control applied on Polish football fans, partly instigated by politicians wishing to score short-term political goals. While recognizing the need for ‘peace and security’ for spectators, Kossakowski sees an increased focus on crowd control as a result of the growing commercialization of the game. With a few illuminating examples of the ‘politization of fandom’ and the responding fan activism, he points to the need to care for a diversity of spectators and avoid draconian measures by penalizing the most passionate ones.

The negative media narratives about the conditions for migrant workers and various legacy issues are well known and led to a sense of ‘soft disempowerment’ for the 2022 World Cup hosts.

Ian Woolsey takes a philosophical approach towards understanding authenticity in the social spacing of modern football, with a particular focus on travelling fans of Sheffield Wednesday. In an entertaining text Woolsey goes on a search for the novel experiences generated by the drinking and socializing among fans travelling en masse to away games, locating spaces where fans protect themselves from the social control embedded in modern football.

Joel Rookwood scrutinizes security issues around the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar but also draws empirical data from observations at previous events hosted by the Qataris, such as the 2011 Asian Cup and the 2019 FIFA World Club Cup. The negative media narratives about the conditions for migrant workers and various legacy issues are well known and led to a sense of ‘soft disempowerment’ for the 2022 World Cup hosts.  Rookwood interviewed fans at the 2022 World Cup about their experiences of security management. While strict fan identification and different measures were taken to guarantee social control, such as the banning of alcohol consumption at stadiums, he shows how fans generally echoed the purpose of these measures by feeling safe and comfortable throughout the tournament.

Renan Petersen-Wagner has analyzed the legalization of alcohol consumption inside stadiums at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, a nation known for its hedonistic carnivals and vehement social life. By looking at specific media narratives about the connections between alcohol consumption and fan violence he concludes that, while there was little evidence to suggest direct links between alcohol consumption and fan violence during the Cup, media outlets found ways to confirm such links, while he concludes that FIFA impositions largely ignored the local, Brazilian situation.

In chapter 6, Christie Scanlon analyzes new challenges in the expression of sectarianism in Scottish football by taking debates on social media into account. Scanlon questions the criminalization of sectarian loyalties, as specific social groups seem to be targeted in the process, rather than treated as part of wider societal issues.

Chris Henderson and Pratik Nyaupane takes us into the world of  Major League Soccer (MLS) by specifically looking at fans of Portland Timbers FC, Timbers  Army, and how their anti-fascist banner with the Iron Front mark was banned before the 2019 season from MLS games first, before the ban was extended to also include to their team in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), Portland Thorns FC. and their fans, The Riveters. In a fascinating analysis, Henderson and Nyaupane show how subcultural resistance among the most devoted fans of the club eventually contributed to the overturning of this decision by the MLS and NWSL management. With references to left liberal football cultures in Europe the authors demonstrate how soccer in Portland include unique celebrations of queerness and diversity, as opposed to what the authors see as a case of “homogenous whiteness” inside a more controlled MLS environment. The fan cultures of Portland have thus evolved into a strong political platform for protesting against marginalization and white supremacy ideologies.

The book is rounded off with a chapter by the editors about resistance, opposition and campaigns, thus underlining the examples provided in the different chapters of how fans in a variety of local football cultures navigate in a highly commodified footballing culture, often aimed towards maximizing profits by controlling and disciplining fan behaviors accordingly.

Social Control and Disorder in Football is recommended for anyone interested in crowd management, policing and social control in general, as football in many places remains one of few public platforms for expressing not only patriotic identities but also various forms of political resistance.

Copyright © Hans K. Hognestad 2025