[talkSAFT]

My mind got wondering after reading some comments re the Burnley yobs (in the Match Thread).
Does hooliganism still really exist at football? I don't go to Away games, and only manage a few Home games, but I haven't seen, or read, about it much at all.

Are we just really well-Policed these days, and the Yobs can't be bothered? (If so, I wonder whether Police cuts might be something to be wary of).

Those dark days of the 70s/80s almost killed the Game off for many families, and you pray they never return.

[pieandabovril]

I havnt seen any trouble at the Hawthorns for a long time.Two things in my mind put off the hooligan support.Cost of a ticket and all seater stadiums. Who wants to spend £40 on a ticket and end up in the nick for the night?

I have no doubt that the hooligan element are still lingering around though.I still have my Doc Martins just in case!

[silverbaggie]

I'm not sure about the situation in the UK. I'd like to believe that with a few exceptions (Leeds & Millwall) perhaps we have turned the corner.

It's certainly not so abroad if the events in Equatorial Guinea are anything to go by.

[Tom_Wba]

Police are on top of it mainly plus the heavy sentences handed down have put off a few but there still is crowd trouble away from grounds not as frequent as it used to be. Before the Fa Cup game at Blues police escorted a decent sized group of Albion fans from the City Centre i was drinking with my Blues mates down Digbeth and seen groups of Blues fans running down side streets armed with bottles etc. (don't think anything actually happened though). Last season when we played West Ham and Birmingham played Leeds there was a bit of trouble in Birmingham City Centre it wasn't a nice atmosphere that day pubs usually dead at 10:30am were full of either West Ham or Leeds with all the usual gear on i think they clashed at the Windsor in Cannon Street