“Frank” has been a football hooligan throughout his adult life.
The toddler’s father describes violent, organized fights – occasions when he was stomped on the head.
– We are completely normal people like everyone else, it’s just that we have a damn crooked hobby, he says in Niklas and reality.
The problem with disturbances and violence in connection with football matches is escalating in Sweden. That was stated by the Swedish Football Association’s chairman Fredrik Reinfeldt on Tuesday.
The issue has been brought up again after Sunday’s scandalous derby at the Tele2 Arena, when masked supporters threw in bangers and flares, before several of them stormed the pitch and clashed with police.
In Niklas and realitywhere the journalist Niklas Källner meets Swedes from controversial subcultures, the hooligan “Frank”, whose real name is someone else, tells about his violent life.
– If you’re going to be afraid of us? No I do not think so. We are completely normal people like everyone else, it’s just that we have a damn crooked hobby, he says.
– I am a completely ordinary person. I have a family, I have children, I have work.
“May the best man win”
“Frank” belongs to the hooligan company Djurgården’s fine guys, DFG. He talks about how they match up with other groupings and what rules then apply.
– We contact each other and go through where we should meet, how many we should be. If we say 25 against 25 then we drive 25 against 25. If we say under 20 years, then it is guys under 20 who will drive. It must be fair, the conditions must be the same for both and the best man must win.
The football hooligan believes that the fights in recent years have taken on an increasingly sporting mindset, that they should keep it “fair”. It is not uncommon for someone involved in the fights to be seriously injured.
“Frank” has also been hit hard.
– I was injured this year after a settlement. I was stomped on, kicked at, beaten. It is a situation where you are very exposed when you are in these contexts. If you lie down, things can go badly.
How long do you think you will be active?
– It is not a perfect, healthy world where you climb forward in life. You understand that, but at the same time this is my sport, it’s what I’ve been doing. It’s not just putting it down after such a long activity. It is one’s entire identity. If you’ve done this your whole adult life, it’s pretty hard to know who you are without it too.