Representation of football culture in contemporary fictionIn 'Understanding Soccer Hooliganism' John H.Kerr talks about a group of Chelsea supporters called 'Chelsea Headhunters'. Some members of the group were normal people, doing normal jobs that you wouldn't really associate with hooliganism. “For example, the ages of the convicted gang leaders ranged from twenty-three to thirty-one, well into their teens; all four worked and one was a former Royal Navy cook and Falklands War veteran. Indeed, journalists seemed surprised that the gang's "field commander", Terry Last, a slim non-drinker, worked as a clerk for a major London solicitors' firm and therefore "hardly fit the conventional image of the hooligan of football like a brainless lout." '” explaining that these were people you wouldn't associate with this type of behavior. He goes on to explain how one of the main characteristics of 'Headhunters' hooliganism was the amount of thought and planning required to arrange meetings with other rival hooligan firms. It was never spontaneous, as the clash had been organized beforehand. But both rival groups could gather a few hundred people in total, marching through the streets as if they were part of the armed forces. These matches were planned weeks in advance, if not months depending on the opposing group, if the rivalry was that great. For away games, the police had set up special operations so they were ready for hooligans. They did everything, stopping in places where trains to London normally didn't stop. The gangs also planned diversions for the police to keep them busy, so they wouldn't get caught. They did it around the Chelsea football stadium. “In other words, designing a... middle of paper...... to reconcile men with the loss of social power and taboo at least in middle class society. Sport is considered natural and displays the natural abilities and qualities of males, and aggression is seen as a male characteristic, not something that can simply be learned. So does sport allow these types of males with these strong characteristics to practice aggression in a controlled environment? Evidence shows that violence in sport is something that can be learned, aggression seen in sport is therefore projected outside the sporting world. Works Cited Mackinnon, Kenneth. 'Sport and Masculinity', Representing Men: Maleness and Masculinity in the Media', Arnold, Great Britain, 2003.Kerr, John H. 'Understanding football hooliganism', Open University Press, Great Britain, 1994.http://www. scribd.com/doc/4007339/45/Telic-and-Paratelic-states 06/01/2011