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Hooliganism, Intro

Football in Scotland has been no different from any other country when it comes to hooliganism. While the crowd invasions of the 1970s at Wembley were perhaps fuelled by a misdirected patriotism, the scenes of violence seen at the 1980 Scottish Cup Final between Rangers and Celtic were fuelled by religious bigotry. One aspect of this game was the banning of alcohol consumption inside football grounds. While there has always been a police presence at all games, increased policing at games is not common place.

Football violence has not been restriced to the fans, however, with players sometimes resorting to settling matters themselves.

While football has had a reputation for causing conflicts, or at least reflecting existing social divisions, it has also been able to be a force for uniting people.