Does a new movie glamorize football violence?
Byline: Tara Pepper Nick Love’s new film “the Football Factory” does not show a single football match. It focuses, instead, on the thuggish English fans, otherwise known as hooligans, who have earned a reputation around the world for their brutality on the terraces: Heysel, 1985; Germany, 1988; Sardinia, 1990. For football followers, these names recall the sport’s darkest days, when violence and death overshadowed the action on the pitch. Love’s powerful film follows a tribe of Chelsea supporters as they try to compensate for their mundane jobs and unsatisfying relationships by engaging in bloody, alcohol-fueled battles. It brings home just how synonymous English football has become with the “firms,” or loosely organized hooligan gangs, that support each team….
