Football hooliganism has changed significantly since the Taylor Report of 1990. All-seater stadiums, 'Football Intelligence' and Closed Circuit Television in particular have meant that incidents of violence inside football grounds (particularly in the Premiership) are rare. In addition, arrests for football-related crimes have reduced dramatically since the late 1980's whilst attendances have risen. However, this does not mean that football hooliganism has reduced. Much football disorder has been 'pushed' from the stadium itself to other meeting places, where it is better organised and has the potential to be more violent. This means that violence will rarely be reported and that the Police will be less able to control it and make arrests.
There are two different phenomena that are called 'hooliganism'. First is the spontaneous and usually low-level disorder that takes place in and around stadia and when english teams travel abroad. In the UK, this is relatively rare considering the number of supporters attending matches. However, abroad, English fans have often been involved in disorder (e.g. Marseilles 1998, Charleroi 2000, Stuttgart 2006). Often the extent of this disorder is exaggerated by excessive media reporting and in many cases English supporters are the victims of attacks by local fans/police rather than the aggressors.
Second is the more serious disorder caused by hooligan 'firms' in the UK. Domestically this is still a huge problem, with most football clubs having groups of 'risk supporters' who wish to fight rival firms. UK police have to deal with the problem of organised firms trying to confront each other on a regular basis, although the disorder is rarely reported (due to the lack of coverage of incidents) and as it usually takes place far from the ground, 'normal' fans do not tend to be directly affected by it. One example of high-profile disorder between firms (which was reported), was the clash between Everton and Manchester United 'hooligans' in 2005.
