The English Disease | Legacy
Description
Football hooliganism is a dirty phrase in England. Say it and people will think of the 80s – the dark old days. Today, those terraces look very different. But the stories – of organised fights, of pub brawls, of banning orders – haven’t gone away.
We see them everywhere on our social media timelines: a steady stream of violence swallowed by smartphones and regurgitated for hungry eyes online. This series digs deeper – beyond the stereotypes and tabloid headlines – to understand this violent subculture and why it’s forced its way back into our society in 2024.
Embedded in our national sport, this is a story of class consciousness, rebellion, and adventure turning to embittered violence, tribalism, and greed. It is a story of what happens when society disenfranchises its people, dismantles its social structures, and pits them against one another.
This is the untold story of The English Disease.
From Stak, this is Season Two of the award-winning Legacy. Extraordinary sporting stories that really matter.
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As a working class fan since 1990, who travelled home and away and experienced violence first hand, I struggled with this podcast. I felt it tried to sugar coat 'hooligans'' as misunderstood protagonists in a class war against an establishment that seeks to limit the opportunity and ambition of those from the working class. In my experience they were nothing more than testosterone fuelled thrill seekers with an inferiority complex and limited intelligence.