Euro 2022 shows us that football crowds don’t have to be angry and threatening

As soon as you dilute the maleness of football crowds, you lose the edge; Euro 2022 has acted as a filter for toxic masculinity.

I used to love boxing. The big heavyweight clashes of the 70s and 80s seemed unreal, beamed via satellite from distant lands in magic realist colour.

But these days I no longer see the entertainment value in watching two people hitting each other in an attempt to render the other unconscious. What brutalism is this? Two massive bears in incongruously delicate silk shorts, beating at each other while a baying mob scream at them. The fact it is controlled violence makes it, if anything, more unpalatable. ‘Will hurt people for money’ is not a philosophy I can get with. Although it is obviously consensual, nonetheless it feels barbaric and appeals to the worst elements of human nature, as people cheer every punch that lands and hurts. Look, he’s rendered him semi-conscious, whoo-hoo!!

Similarly, there was once an exciting thrill of going to football when you had to have sixth sense for trouble and plot your way around the potential danger. It was like trying to solve a riddle. My youth was shot through with avoiding getting a kicking. It was a way of life, not just at football but when walking to school, when walking into town, when doing pretty much everything. You had to have good peripheral vision, and be able to sprint fast at a moment’s notice. I was good at it and squeezed away from many potential conflicts by virtue of being able to do the 100 metres in 10.8 seconds. It always felt like a win if you got home safely. But there’s only so long you want to have that gnawing worry of impending violence in the pit of your stomach. Eventually you grow up and realise that fear is no substitute for peace and no way to live.

Maybe I’m just going soft as I get older. But is that so bad? Life in general seems plagued with what is very largely male violence. Violence against women, violence against men, violence against children.

This is where women’s football provides a radical contrast and insight. Big crowd or small crowd, people going to games report enjoying the refreshing absence of the threat of trouble, the lack of boorish male behaviour, the lack of abuse, aggression and swearing. The threat of violence and intimidation is gone. You can relax. You can have a good time, like a normal person. You can take the kids without worrying that some raging fella will be screaming that the referee is a paedo and making…