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Anyone who wants to understand soccer hooliganism must read "Among the Thugs". It's a first-person account of a journalist assimilating into a group of the violent.
They do have designated leaders, but it's not like they democratically elect someone and hold board meetings. They have alpha males just like any pack, and the alphas have learned how to manipulate mob situations through years of weekly experience.
The book also describes, in horrific detail, what you get if you cross Italian police: a beating worse than any of the violence that comes from the mob. The author found himself on the receiving end when he didn't follow the mob correctly. Clearly the cops enjoyed the violence just as much as the hooligans.
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