Soccer Riots and British Character
New York Times, May 18, 1986
Brawling is as British as shepherd’s pie. Murder isn’t.
One year after the Brussels soccer riot and on the eve of the World Cup in Mexico City the British national character takes center stage.
On May 29, 1985, fifteen months after moving to London from New York, I watched a live broadcast of British soccer fans running amok in Brussels before the game between Liverpool and Juventus, from Turin, Italy had even begun. When it was over, the body count was 39 dead and hundreds injured. Continue reading