Throughout the season, the Premier League keeps track of which clubs have the best behaved fans as well as the worst behaved fans. Last year, Chelsea was voted the worst behaved fans especially because of the way they abused Avram Grant most of the season, but so far this season they’ve zoomed up the charts and are now the fifth best behaved.

Here’s the complete list from best behaved to worst (with their average behavior score out of 10) up until October 29, 2008:

1. Arsenal, 8.50
2. Hull City, 8.50
3. Fulham, 8.22
4. West Bromwich Albion, 8.20
5. Chelsea, 8.10
6. Portsmouth, 8.10
7. Stoke City, 8.00
8. Manchester City, 8.00
9. Manchester United, 8.00
10. Middlesbrough, 8.00
11. West Ham United, 8.00
12. Liverpool, 7.90
13. Everton, 7.80
14. Bolton Wanderers, 7.80
15. Blackburn Rovers, 7.70
16. Wigan Athletic, 7.70
17. Newcastle United, 7.60
18. Sunderland, 7.40
19. Tottenham Hotspur, 7.40
20. Aston Villa, 7.40

It’s no surprise that Aston Villa is bottom of the league especially after the way one of their supporters threw a coin at Harry Redknapp, which hit the assistant referee instead.

Last season, both Sunderland and Newcastle were near the top of the best behaved fans chart. This season, they’re both near the bottom. The behavior of Sunderland and Newcastle fans in the recent derby definitely hurt both clubs.

Do you agree or disagree with the above chart? Are there any surprises that you’d like to point out? Click the comments link below and let us know.

Sunderland’s 2-1 derby win against Newcastle was marred with skirmishes before, during and after the game at the Stadium Of Light. The Football Association (FA) is investigating the trouble to determine if Sunderland will be fined.

Despicable incidents included a police horse being badly burned by fireworks before the game, and Joey Barton being pelted with objects while warming up along the touchline. After the final whistle, Sunderland fans invaded the pitch and fights broke out between home and away supporters.

Here are a couple of videos from the aftermath:

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Should Sunderland be forced to play a future Premier League match behind closed-doors as punishment for what happened yesterday? Click the comments link below and share your feedback.

Going to see a football match at Old Trafford, Goodison Park, Stamford Bridge or any other ground in the Premier League is a far different experience than what happened 20 years ago. No more terracing. No violence between the opposing sets of fans, and no more cheap tickets that would allow a larger percentage of kids or mischiefs to attend.

Visiting a Premier League ground for a match these days is such a sterile experience. Assigned seating on a piece of plastic. And you’re very unlikely to become the victim of hatred from opposing fans. The worst you’ll probably hear is a chant of “Same old [insert team name], always cheating.”

The fact is that you’ll experience more vitriol and anger online via football websites, blogs and forums than you will in a Premiership ground. Football fans are more likely to say and write things online that they would never dare utter at a football stadium.

A lot of this is due to the anonymity that fans feel online while the real football ground experience is guarded by stewards, police and fellow fans who can report inappropriate behavior.

The other argument is that most football fans, especially if they’re younger, can’t afford to buy tickets to matches so they end up congregating online and venting their anger there.

So the next time you read some hatred against football teams or players online, you’re experiencing the 21st century version of football hooliganism in the Premier League – from the safety of your own living room.

Cass, a new movie scheduled for release in the United Kingdom this Friday August 1, is a true story about a West Ham United supporter and his remarkable life.

Quite a few of the West Ham fans who responded to the articles about the violence at the recent Columbus Crew match mentioned the upcoming movie. See for yourself what the movie is about by watching the trailer below.

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If you ask an average American what words he or she associates with soccer, chances are that the first one uttered will be ‘hooligans.’

It’s a word that has long tarnished mainstream America’s view of the sport, but it’s always been perceived as “The English Disease.” That perception, however, will change if incidents such as the one at the Columbus Crew against West Ham friendly continue to spiral out of control across this country.

For me, it feels like deja vu. When the United States hosted the World Cup in 1994, many Americans breathed a sigh of relief that England didn’t qualify for the tournament. I was one of them. For the game to flourish in the States, the last thing the country needed was hooligans running through the streets.

Then and now, I still believe that the issue isn’t so much the hooligans but it’s the way they’re policed. Sure, there are plenty of idiots drunken on causing aggro whether they’re Englishmen or Americans. You’re never going to rid the world of those imbeciles, but what you can do is control it and reduce the chances of it happening within soccer stadiums.

In the late 1980′s and early 1990′s, I was extremely worried about the ability of the police and security in the United States to handle the onslaught of English football hooligans. Living in the United States, I had been to countless international and club matches in South Florida and saw first-hand how inept the police officers and security guards were.

I was at the Arsenal against Independiente friendly in Miami in 1989 when security had no idea how to handle a few hundred Gunners fans that had traveled from England. The armed police officers, presumably brainwashed by images of rioting English fans on U.S. TV, were poised to attack. They hassled the supporters at every opportunity even though all the fans were doing was standing up and singing to support their team. If the cops had such a difficult time handling a few hundred fans, imagine how inept they would be when they were faced with tens of thousands of supporters.

Other instances stick in my mind such as the first few home games for the Miami Fusion where armed police officers routinely went into the stands and created mayhem by brandishing their weapons. Then there was the away game I attended with Fusion supporters in Tampa where a Tampa policeman, obviously high on power, started arresting Miami fans inside the stadium because they were standing in the aisle instead of behind their seats. Conveniently, the police were nowhere to be seen after the game when a pack of ten Tampa fans ambushed us while we were exiting the stadium.

What it comes down to is poorly trained security officers who have no idea how to handle soccer fans. These are people who are not used to soccer culture and feel threatened by spectators who don’t behave like “normal” American sports fans.

By reading some of the accounts from the West Ham against Columbus game, it doesn’t sound like many of the neanderthals who disguise themselves as security guards have learned much since my first experiences with them from the late 1980′s. That needs to change and it’s something that the British police would be more than happy to teach the Americans.

Nothing much usually happens in Ohio. Last night was an exception, though. West Ham United beat Columbus Crew 3-1 in a preseason friendly at the Columbus Crew Stadium, but most of the action happened off the pitch, not on it.According to the Washington Post, a halftime brawl between more than 100 fans marred the match.

The fights, which overshadowed West Ham United’s 3-1 win, began when a handful of West Ham supporters, some wearing the team’s claret and blue colors, entered the northeast corner of the stadium where the Crew’s most boisterous supporters typically gather.

Crew supporters began directing chants toward the rival fans, and fights quickly broke out between more than 100 Crew fans and at least 30 West Ham fans. Columbus police officers and Crew Stadium security staff eventually separated the groups.

Highway Patrol officers arrested one fan outside the stadium for disorderly conduct, Patrol spokeswoman Anne Ralston said. A dispatcher didn’t know whether Columbus police had made any arrests inside the stadium.

Were you at the game and did you witness what happened? If so, share your thoughts below by clicking the comments link.

In the meantime, here’s a report from the game where it sounds like West Ham won with ease.

One of the pleasures of going to see a live match in England and continental Europe these days is the lack of fan segregation.

After leaving Wales in 1984 and returning to England in 2006 to attend a professional match again, I was shocked by how fans were allowed to mingle together in the streets outside the grounds. Inside the Premier League stadiums, the away fans were put in their corner surrounded by stewards. But before and after the games, the fans from both teams could be seen standing and walking next to each other with no aggro or insults traded.

Such is the difference between English football in 1984 and 2006. Not having been to a top tier professional match in England for so long I was stunned by how much things had changed.

I experienced the same thing at the Holland against Italy match at Euro 2008. While I didn’t expect the supporters to be herded into the different stands as was common in the late 70s and early 80s, I was surprised by how there was little to no segregation in the Wankdorf Stadium in Berne. Sure, there was the Italian end and the Dutch end both at opposite sides of the ground where the official supporters club stood. But throughout the remainder of the stadium Dutch fans sat next to Italian fans and neutrals.

This is definitely the modern day football experience where hooliganism is becoming extremely rare except for small clashes. Fans of all ages and races sitting together in stands without trying to attack each other.

All of this happens though with Big Brother playing a large part behind the scenes. In the build up to the Holland against Italy match, there were several helicopters circling around the ground conceivably looking for trouble or possible terrorism. There are also lots of security cameras in key locations watching for trouble. And there’s still quite a big police presence lurking from a distance and waiting to pounce if any trouble kicks off.

Watching the Turkey against Croatia match, it was hard not to notice the large presence of stewards behind each goal. Their presence seemed excessive especially the three rows of stewards standing in front of the Croatia end. There was a noticeably smaller presence in front of the Turkey end. Before and after the match there were some isolated clashes between fans, but looking at the large numbers of Turkish and Croats throughout the other parts of the stadium, everything seemed to be pretty calm, thankfully.

While it’s refreshing to see fans from both sides — whether it’s in the Premier League or Euro 2008 — attend a football match without the worry of violence happening, there is a little part of me that misses the tension and the abusive chants between opposing sets of fans. Now the atmosphere feels more like a company picnic party. Everyone’s there to have a good time but it’s all so sedate.

Please share your thoughts by clicking the comments link below.