Beating the "Sassenachs"!

Relations between England and Scotland today are very good but sometimes there are problems at sporting events between the two countries. At the end of every football season England plays Scotland, and every two years the game is played at the famous Wembley Stadium in north London. Some Londoners, however, are sure that the Scots have never really forgotten that terrible defeat at Culloden. They believe that the trip to London is part of the Scottish revenge on the "sassenachs" - the Scottish name for the English or "Anglo-Saxons"!

The Police

British policemen (often called "cops") can easily be recognized by their unusually shaped helmets and dark blue uniforms. Unlike many police forces in the world, the British police do not carry weapons.

Although violent crime has increased in the 1980s, neither the police not the public want ordinary police constables to have guns. In fact many policemen have recently left their patrol-cars to walk the streets again. The sight of a policeman's friendly face lets many British people sleep peacefully at night!

Susan Sheerin, Jonathan Seath, Gillian White: Spotlight on Britain; Oxford University Press, 1985, page 82

British football fans have a very bad reputation in Europe for their behaviour. What in your opinion causes football hooliganism, and how would you prevent it?