01x10 - Hooligans

[bunniefuu]

Good morning,
Wrexham, and happy Sunday.

Rob and Ryan have left town.

It feels much quieter now,
doesn't it?

Very much so.

It's been a rather
remarkable week

with Rob and Ryan in town,
but there was a sour note.

Not only did the team
struggle on the pitch,

but the Torquay match ended

on a desperately despondent note

due to several acts of

v*olence from our supporters.

We just don't want to see this.

This club is getting more
and more high profile.

We've got strong family values.

We can't have this being
ruined by mindless idiots.

Well, there was
a couple of incidents

that have happened
at the railway station.

One gentleman,

who is actually a Wrexham fan,
stood on the platform.

Witnesses observed
a group of other Wrexham fans

approaching the railway station.

They engaged in some verbals
with him.

They were
shouting things over to him.

They then come over this bridge.

On this side of the platform

is where this all
was taking place.

And then out of the 20,

five, six, maybe seven, were
throwing punches towards me.

Every day, it's a-getting closer

Going faster
than a roller coaster

Love like yours
will surely come my way

A-hey, a-hey-hey

Every day, it's a-getting faster

Everyone said,
"Go ahead and ask her"

Love like yours
will surely come my way

A-hey, a-hey-hey

Love like yours
will surely come my way

This is what you become
a football fan for...

These sort of occasions.

Your club getting
the opportunity to perform

when the stakes are high.

It's nerve-racking,
but it's exciting.

The teams have come out.

You can hear the noise.
It's a fantastic crowd.

You'll have what people call
"the happy clappers."

- Oh!
- God!

When things are going
really, really wrong,

we'll still clap.

And it's like, just f*ck off.

You have moaning
supporters like me.

The amount of times
I've turned around

to say
"will you shut your mouth"

'cause I just can't bear it.

Let's go, Wrexham!

You get
incredibly passionate lads.

You're probably right.

You want it all?

Then fight for it

And every club has hooligans.

f*ck off!

So obviously,
we had heard of hooliganism,

or hooligans, over the years,

but we didn't really quite
understand what they were

or really what that meant
until now.

The word "hooligan"
popped up in the 1890s

in London, two references
to the name.

One was in a serial comics
publication called "Nuggets"

that depicted an Irish family
living in London

by the name Hooligans.

The other was in
the London newspapers in 1894,

referring to a street g*ng,
the Hooligan Boys,

that was committing violent
crimes in South London,

including one member
committing m*rder in 1898.

It's believed
they named themselves

after Patrick Hoolihan,

an Irish criminal
who m*rder*d a police officer.

While hooliganism is global,

it has often been called
the English disease.

Every club has
unsanctioned groups

of hooligan supporters
referred to as firms.

Firms act
as unofficial club enforcers.

They shout at, pick fights,

and chase down
opposing club supporters.

They've been known
to use things like rocks,

bricks, concrete slabs,

iron bars, and bottles,

as well as knives, flare g*ns,

and petrol bottles.

Because of heavy
g*n regulation in the UK,

luckily,
there are very few firearms.

But that doesn't mean
it's not brutal

and sometimes deadly.

While hooliganism
has been ever-present,

it rose to popularity
in the '70s and '80s.

The British economy was
reeling as it divested itself

of its empire and felt a
crunch of global recession.

Heavy industry
and blue-collar jobs

were going overseas.

In Wrexham,

coal, steel,
and breweries went away.

Young, bored, disaffected men
turned to v*olence.

Was what one might describe
as a lower working class

council estate.

These seem to be communities
categorized by...

Jesus Christ.

Not the sturdiest
that I've been on for this.

He's all right, yeah.

Yeah, he's a good lad.

You can be honest.

Are you sure?

I grew up in Brymbo in Wrexham.

It's a little village,
about ten minutes from town,

up in the hills really.

I grew up there with
my mum, dad, and my sister.

It was nice, 'cause
it was quite quiet up there.

There was never any trouble
or anything like that.

I used to have friends
across the road

that we used to play outside.

There was a field down the road
where we used to play football.

I was a bit of a tomboy
back in my day.

But then I turned
into a teenager,

and I went the girly way,
I suppose.

My dad's in a band called
James, and he's the drummer.

They were pretty popular
in America in the '90s,

so when I was younger,
he used to take me on tour,

and festivals, to
recording studios, and stuff.

I wanted to be a tour manager,

I think,
'cause I loved being on tour.

I just wanted to do it forever,
and I knew obviously,

eventually,
Dad won't be touring anymore,

so I just didn't want it to end.

Detective constable fast-track.

So you just got fast-tracked
to detective.

You didn't have to be...
Not a police officer first.

So I thought
I would give it a go.

Didn't think I'd ever
have a chance at getting it.

I just thought
I'd put my name down.

And I got the job.

I couldn't wait.
I was so excited.

Like, I'd watch England
on the sofa

or Wales on the sofa

and put it on
every three or four years,

but I wouldn't travel
on a Tuesday night

to do it in the freezing cold.

I'm just not that excited
about the club.

I'm dating a Wrexham supporter.

He's crazy about Wrexham,
but I just don't understand

how he's so crazy
about a football club.

The police were there, and
they were blocking the fans

from getting to the away fans.

I was sitting my car
waiting for the police to pass

'cause we couldn't leave the
car park until they'd gone.

And next thing, I just see
Jonny running down the road,

and I just thought,
what an idiot.

But you're banned.

Why?

So you're gonna keep
buying the season ticket

on the off-chance
they're gonna go up?

Yeah.

- Come on!
- Idiot.

Swung in right
for the great wall.

And it's 1-all.

f*cking hell!

Hooliganism has been responsible

for some very dark moments
in football.

One of them involved two of
the oldest firms in the world,

Glasgow Celtic
and Glasgow Rangers.

Their rivalry is based
on religious sectarianism

and interregional divide.

Their stadiums are only
seven miles from each other.

The Celtic supports are
primarily Scottish Catholics,

and the Ranger supporters
are Scottish Protestant.

This religious
and interregional divide

was the catalyst for the
1980 Scottish Cup Finals riot

that was seen by millions on TV

and triggered the ban
of alcohol at Scottish games

moving forward.

Another historically
tragic incident

was on May 29, 1985,

when Liverpool met the Italian
football club, Juventus,

in the European Final
at Heysel Stadium in Belgium.

At the moment, we don't know.

We're just going on reports
that are coming in.

At about 7pm,
before the game even started,

the barrier between
sections X and Z broke down.

Stadium and police forces
were overwhelmed.

Crumbling
insufficient infrastructure

and under-resourced policing

combined with the
worst elements of hooliganism

and produced a tragedy
that saw 39 fans k*lled

and 600 injured.

It's the most disgraceful scenes

I've seen at a soccer game live.

After the 1985
Heysel Stadium disaster,

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher

set up a w*r cabinet
to combat hooliganism.

Parliament subsequently passed

the Football Spectators Act
of 1989

and the Football Disorder Act
of 2000.

Laws such as these have helped,

but wherever you find
young men with time,

poor economic prospects,
and a love of football,

you'll find hooliganism,

which is why you find a heavy
police presence at every match

and entire sections
of empty seats

that separate opposing fans.

But even that
can't stop everything.

And after two years
of a pandemic

and economic uncertainty,

the question is,
will it make a comeback?

Would I say it's
on the rise again? Possibly.

These days,
most incidents tend to occur

at prearranged locations

as opposed
to the matches themselves.

They are preplanned.

I think a lot of the
issues that we tend to get,

at Wrexham, at this level,

is what we call
spontaneous disorder.

So initially,
we had bottles and coins

coming from this area,
so here to here.

And then, when Torquay scored
their goal late in the game,

we also had some bottles
and drinks thrown

from this section, so
above them in this area here.

As soon as we have identified
all the individuals,

the club will be
issuing interim bans

and revoking any season tickets

pending an investigation
by the police.

We were not made aware of that

until after we had gotten back
to the States.

And obviously
that's not something

we would ever condone
or tolerate,

and we took
the necessary actions.

It was just a shame
that it happened.

I think it's highly regrettable

that
a very small minority of fans

resort to the types of behavior
that are driven by...

You know, are driven by emotion,

and some acts of lawlessness,
really.

Of course, pre-COVID
and pre-takeover,

our crowds here at Wrexham

were somewhere between
3,000 and 5,000

depending on how the team
was performing on the pitch.

Now that we do have
these new high-profile owners,

the crowd has
pretty much doubled.

You know, so we're just
under 10,000 week in, week out,

which is fantastic to see,
great for the club,

but unfortunately, you know,

that element of people
who wanna cause problems

seems to have also
been attracted with it.

Let's keep that going.

Let's not spoil it.

There's no place
for v*olence anywhere.

Bread, if you want it.

- How long will this take?
- 10 minutes.

I don't see what
the fascination is with it.

Why would you want to get hurt?

And why would you want to hurt
someone else over football?

I don't understand.
I don't get it at all.

- Yeah.
- What were you thinking?

Yeah.

It affects
the relationship because

we're arguing about it,
he's lying to me.

I'm always checking up on him
when he's there

'cause I'm thinking,
what's he doing?

I don't... which ones...

I just hope
he'll start behaving himself

when his ban's lifted
so we can be

a bit more of a normal couple.

Well, there you go, guys.

Oh, thank you very much.

Well, it wasn't just me.

It was Steph as well, really.

- I helped her.
- Oh, thank you.

They don't want to change.

If they're only changing
for you,

then they're never
gonna properly change.

They need to want
to change themselves, I think,

or do it for themselves.

If he's like, "Oh, I'll change.

If we had a kid,
I'd be different."

Well, I'm not taking the chance
to have a child

just on the off-chance
you might change.

Yeah, I'm looking to do
a career change myself

to go into the police.

I got offered the job
as a detective.

And it was hard work.

There were so many tests
and interviews.

And I didn't think
I'd ever get the job.

And I got the job.

I can't carry on like this.

I just don't want a boyfriend

that's getting in trouble
with the police,

and I just find it embarrassing.

I genuinely don't think
he ever thinks I'll leave.

If he gets in trouble
with the police again,

then that will...
That'll be... that'll be it.

We'll win games.
We'll lose games.

I understand those

absolutely heartbreaking rules
of football.

But the real battle here
is not on the pitch.

It's in the town.

We pride ourselves here
on welcoming visitors,

um, and people coming here
having good...

Great experience
at the town center,

good experience at the ground,

you know, win or lose,

shake hands at the end
and you carry on, you know?

And if we're unable
to improve things

for the people of Wrexham,

if we're unable to inspire
them to a better future,

that's a real loss

'cause that's a human loss.

And it could be felt
for generations.

You don't get
another chance at it

next Saturday or next Tuesday.

Here they come,
the mighty champions

Raise your voices to the anthem

Marching like a mighty army

Wrexham is the name

Fearless in devotion

Fight, fight!

Rising to promotion

Fight, fight!