Thug life kicking in

HOOLIGANISM reared its head again this week as Stoke fans dragged football back to the dark ages at Vale Park.

The Checkatrade Trophy clash between Port Vale and Stoke Under-21s descended into chaos, leading to the arrest of 11 fans and the League Two side having a big repair bill.

But were events in Staffordshire an isolated incident?

According to exclusive figures, as many as one in four English football fans have experienced violence at football – with 29 per cent believing that violence and riots among fans is still a huge problem.

If the problem is still alive and kicking in English football, it’s even worse in Europe.

The new European Football Benchmark study by Statista, suggests that 32 per cent of fans in Spain have seen hooliganism.

The figure rises to 34 per cent in Italy.

And half of all fans across Germany, Spain, Italy and France believe violence is a huge problem in stadiums.

The findings come as the Copa Libertadores final of Boca Juniors and River Plate had to be moved to Spain after fans’ violence.