Ugly behaviour still needs to be stamped out... but football fans have never been such a force for good

THE past year has felt like a pretty dire one for the reputation of football fans.

- BRIAN READE

Dreadful scenes at last summer’s Euros final gave way to a season marred by pitch invasions, projectile-throwing, assaults on players, racial abuse and drug-fuelled violence outside grounds which saw a big leap in arrests.

And although excuses were offered , such as clubs struggling to recruit stewards, a euphoric post-pandemic sense of release, social media ratcheting up hate, the truth is that a very small minority are dragging the reputation of football fans back to the dark days. And we need to get a grip.

But as a fully-paid up member of dark days stretching back to the trainsmashing, head-banging, Stanley-knife wielding 1970s, I can honestly say that hooligan behaviour has never been less representative of the wider British fan culture than it is today.

Indeed, I’ve never seen so much good being done by fans, and such solidarity between rival tribes, as now exists.

This summer has showcased that solidarity.