- Joined
- Feb 15, 2012
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- 28,182
For us too it's hard to really care about geographical rivalries. I get the bad blood between United and their hated enemies, and I get sports rivalries, but I guess I don't get that. I mean, I know the historical reasons for hating Liverpool and Leeds, and I know what their fans have done, etc., but we don't have that mentality in most cities where you want to bash rival fans. Occasionally fights happen, people being people, but nothing like I've seen in England or Europe. I went to a HSV match in Hamburg (Ruud was playing!) and the way the cops were on horses and everything was barricaded up and we were pushed through like cattle - was actually alarming. The opposition fans were nowhere to be seen, either.
The vast majority of that sort of stuff is long gone it's all mouth and very little action now. Yeah the rivalries still exist on the pitch but between fans it's very different now hooliganism has been and pretty much gone in the UK (had a bit of a recent rise).
You're just as likely to see fans fighting with their own as you are the opposition.
This is mainly down to very aggressive policing which has seen hooligans banned and once you get one of these banning orders it really does mess your life up as it restricts where you can go on match days or travel. They also do a lot more to keep away fans away from home fans now not just in the ground but around it.