This article originally appeared on VICE UK.
The US doesn't have great form when it comes to soccer hooliganism. Besides, of course, American journalist Bill Buford's Among the Thugs—arguably the definitive book on the topic—the first things that come to mind are: the 2005 film Green Street Hooligans, the Little Britain sketch of a hooligan movie; and the time those MLS fans threw garbage bags at each other in New York.
Still, this hasn't deterred Florida-based Derek "Diablo" Alvarez from founding the "Miami Casuals" and posting WWE-style call-outs of British hooligan gangs on social media. His best-known video features him, dressed in casuals clothing, goading Millwall's gang with the words: "You want to act like the hardest gang in the whole world, brother? How come you ain't never come down to Miami or South Florida?"
Strange as it might seem, Alvarez has managed to gain respect from some within the UK hooligan community for his passion and enthusiasm for terrace culture and all things soccer violence-related. He plans to gain further acceptance via a series of hooliganism-related ventures, including a scheme to transform match-day thuggery into a combat sport and a hooligan-themed cooking show. I caught up with him to find out more.
What about your hooligan cooking show? How did you come up with the idea for that?
I’m a member of the Football Hooligans Banter Facebook group. I don't know if all British guys do this, but people on there are always posting pictures of their food. Somebody started saying, "What's up, Alvarez? How come you won't show us your dinner?" I thought, I don't want these fuckers thinking I’m not eating right, so I put some Cuban food out on a tablecloth and took a picture. When I put it up online, these guys said, "It looks as if you shat it out and put it back on the plate." I said, "Alright, you fuckers. You criticize my food? I’ll learn how to cook your food and do it better than you. As a matter of fact, I'll make a hooligan cooking show." They didn’t know what the hell I meant, and I didn’t know either, but I thought, Okay, I’m going to do it. In the end, I did some hooligan bantering and drank beer while cooking some British food that hooligans eat. Maybe everybody else there eats it too, but whatever!
Finally, what other hooligan-related plans do you have for the future?
I want to establish a joint UK and US firm for World Cup matches, to get revenge against the Russians for what happened in Marseilles, France. British hooligans had travel bans, which meant there was no retaliation in Moscow. Americans have always backed up the British. It's up to me to breathe new life into the UK hooligan scene by getting them doing all the training that the Russians do and getting them away from drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes. I’m looking to transform the British scene.
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