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Football Hooligans: Knowing the Score GARY ARMSTRONG, 1998 Oxford and New York: Berg 361pp.; L39.99 hardback, L14.99 paperback ISBN 85973 952 0 hardback; 85973 957 1 paperback
The academic analysis of football has, in fact, been largely restricted to a discussion of `violence' around the game, and its main purpose has been to document and explain the activities and values of young, male fans. Recently, this fixation on hooliganism has melted into a new `postmodern' discourse about `identity', but, in crucial ways, this new literature is merely a continuation of the arid preoccupation with hooliganism, which has severely limited the scope of the study of soccer. Moreover, this material tends to lack methodological rigour. Most of the `hooligan' literature is based on what might be charitably called case studies, loose enthnographies, whose generalisability is asserted rather than argued. Armstrong's book, while not among the worst of its kind, exemplifies many of the general faults of a whole strand of scholarship. It is an account of `the Blades', a constantly changing group of around 100 young men, who engaged in violent behaviour while following their team Sheffield United. While he is a little coy about this, Armstrong seems to have been connected with the Blades for about 14 years-and well before he became any kind of university student. He claims that this gives him insights into their activities denied to `middle-class sociologists' or sociologists who "act as ... servants of power", as does his proud stance as an anthropologist; (he is now a university lecturer in sociology). However, despite the various advantages he claims to possess, his analytical aims are quite limited. He wants to "seek an `understanding' of the fans and their...