English Media Representation of Football-related Disorder: ‘Brutal, Short-hand and Simplifying’?

Abstract

The study examines the English media coverage of what is popularly labelled ‘football hooliganism'. While there have been studies of this nature in the past, this remains a relatively under-researched area. By revisiting some of the findings of previous studies, this essay investigates the media construction and representation of the ‘football hooligan’ in contemporary English society through an exploratory textual analysis of the coverage of recent football-related disorder. The analysis focuses specifically on reported incidents of the now infamous public disorder involving English supporters during the 1998 World Cup (France 98) and the 2000 European Championships (Euro 2000). Stuart Hall's seminal 1978 study of the press treatment of ‘football hooliganism’ found it to be ‘brutal, short-hand and simplifying’; with the press implicated in ‘generating and keeping alive societal reactions’ to the phenomena. From the analysis of the reporting of football-related disorder during France 98 and Euro 2000, it would appear that little has changed in the media agenda over two decades on.

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