ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an initial quantitative estimate of the incidence of hooliganism in Italy for the Football League seasons during the period 1970/71 – 1988/89 for divisions A and B (the two professional divisions of the Italian Football Association). Football hooliganism is the combination of acts of vandalism and systematic, often bloody aggression, carried out by specific groups of young fans against others like themselves inside and outside the grounds. In Italy this form of violence first appeared at the beginning of the 1970s and was closely linked to the birth of the groups of young fans who are known as ‘ultras’. The ‘ultras’ appearance represents an important new beginning in the history of football supporters in Italy. The ‘ultras’ showed that their organization was less spontaneous, more stable and with a clearer hierarchy: within each group there was often a clear allocation of roles and tasks.
