About this episode

This episode explores the history of hooliganism in English football and its impact on national identity.

Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel' explores the meaning of England and Englishness through the history of the England Men’s Football team. This is a social and cultural history as much as a sporting one, examining the story England tells about itself and how it's changed, via the medium of the international game. In episode three, David tackles the ‘English disease’ of hooliganism and looks at how it was, if not cured, then certainly treated. England fans are not defined by hooliganism, but it’s impossible to look at the story of the England team without examining the headline grabbing behaviour of some of its fans. As applause for the 1966 World Cup faded away, the England story didn’t take long to add violence and extremism to its mix of patriotism, enthusiasm and natural sporting tension. Contributors including Cass Pennant, Kevin Day, David Goldblatt, and Roy Williams, share their experience of English football’s violent surges through the seventies and eighties, before a charting a change in fan behaviour as football emerged into the 1990s. The series delves deep into how national myths are both forged and reflected in the fate of eleven young men with three lions on…

People in this episode

Host: David Baddiel

Topics covered

• hooliganism
• English football
• national identity
• social history
• cultural history
• fan behavior

Keywords

• hooliganism
• England football
• David Baddiel
• social history
• cultural identity
• 1966 World Cup
• fan behavior

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: England Men’s Football team, BBC Radio 4

Places: England, Wales, Argentina

More episodes of The History Podcast

• Sixty Years of Hurt: 2. England v Mavericks · May 23, 2026 · 28 min
• Sixty Years of Hurt: 1. England v The World · May 15, 2026 · 28 min

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