Why the Ugly Spectacle of Fan Violence Has Returned to Soccer

The photograph would deserve a place on somebody’s wall were the context not as bleak. In focus is an England supporter, his sunglasses no protection from the cloud of teargas, clasping a bottle of beer while reeling from the chaos around him. In the foreground rests a pile of scattered debris; a ripped-open pack of Heineken and similar ephemera. And most spectacularly, caught in mid-motion through the smoke, a chair flying through the air, its destination a lingering question.