Rife Hooliganism

Danial Naqvi
Sep 9, 2018 · 3 min read

Attending the Wembley Stadium, packed full of more than 80,000 fans was electric, I honed my inner England fan and let go. Rife hooliganism.

Mum (right) and I in Wembley Stadium in London, UK

‘The referee is definitely Spanish’


My most recent football shirt is this 2012/13 Chelsea shirt.

Shows my dedication to the sport and my team.

Last night, we supported The Three Lions.

It was pitched as being the homecoming match after the triumphant World Cup campaign.

It was lacklustre at best.

I had visited Wembley Stadium some years ago as part of a school trip.

I saw Iker Casillas’ jersey, although my aspirations to be a goalkeeper were kept short by my height.

Nonetheless, this was an eagerly anticipated game.

Little did we know that our seats resided next to the Spanish supporters.

England lost by two goals to one on the night and the Spanish fans let you know about it.

England scored first with a goal by Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford, fresh from his headbutting antics.

Spain regained a foothold in the game with a goal.

Spain scored again and the battle continued for England.

England were outplayed and outclassed. The team that played majestic football in Russia had lost their luggage in Moscow it had seemed.

The atmosphere was electric.

The fans came out in true support.

We all boo’d Sergio Ramos, boo’d the ref for his awful decisions and prayed for Luke Shaw when he was stretchered off the field.

Despite the result, it was great to experience the stadium at near-full capacity.

We were seated much lower down than I had pictured.

It was a bit impossible to see what was transpiring upfield and but luckily we were on the right side when England scored.

We’ll have to do much better against Switzerland in Leicester on Tuesday.


As my birthday weekend draws to a close, I look to the strong positives.

All the people who wished me. All the people who took some time out of their day to care for my existence. It takes a lot.

Opening up the Facebook app, seeing the notification, posting on a timeline. There are three steps where the brain could just reject you.

That is not demonstrated to be sarcastic, but it shows that it does indeed take some effort to care.

I don’t care, nor am I too bothered, about anyone who didn’t wish me.

This birthday, I came to realise quite strongly, that one should count their blessings and shouldn’t wonder about others behaviour.

I say it constantly, people are busy.

People don’t have the time. People have hectic schedules. People might not care.

When you care more about the people who don’t do things for you, you forget about the people that already do so much.

This birthday, I really learnt gratitude.

The meaning and the embodiment.


Although the match was somewhat disappointing, glad I could hone my own football crazie in the moment.

Rife hooliganism.

Danial Naqvi

Written by

BA (Hons) QMUL Human Geography | MSc Science, Technology and Society Candidate

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade