This football violence points not to a subculture but the lack of one | Alex Niven

At Millwall and Newcastle the mindlessness of the few is fuelling a vigorous rightwing campaign against working class 'idlers'

At the end of a long week of simmering anger, the mood turned truly sour in Britain's marginal fringes this weekend. Despite rumours in the rightwing press that they were planning to confront anti-Thatcher demonstrators in central London on Saturday, supporters of Millwall Football Club ultimately turned against each other at Wembley, as violent clashes marred their FA Cup semi-final defeat to Wigan Athletic. In the north-east on Sunday the internecine violence was even worse: 29 Newcastle United supporters were arrested for violent disorder following a miserable 3-0 defeat to local rivals Sunderland.

It should go without saying that there is no excuse for pissed-up thuggishness in this vein. However, while we shouldn't try to apologise for the behaviour of a minority of idiots, we should at least try to explain why there has been a resurgence of football-related violence. It seems that something is stirring on the fringes of popular culture, an atmosphere of inchoate rage, confusion and bewildered fury, of which the violence this weekend was merely an extreme expression. We dismiss these smoke signals at our peril.

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