Rage, fury (violence) in the Games of Football in the Bamenda Grassfields of Cameroon, 1980-2005

One of the visible fallouts of European imperialism in the contemporary Bamenda Grassfields is football. From its introduction and popularization in England, football games and competitions became an endearing practice among rural and urban folks. This game strangely inaugurated streams of passions and sensation among African folks to an extent that it almost became a major source of long-standing conflict instead of impacting social fluidity and fascination that was its prime goal. From the analysis of data combed from primary and secondary sources, this paper examines the context of the rage and furry (violence) that unfortunately animated football games and competitions during the 1980s and 90s in the Bamenda Grassfields of Cameroon. It submits that (a)the context of the time,(b) the nonchalance of the officiating officers of most matches,(C) the opaque nature of match programming and (d) the accumulated grievances of ignorant match spectators plus (e) the weakness of the institutions that governed the games, combined to make acts of violence like – desecration of playing grounds-threats, fighting or beating of match officials after matches-refusal of some teams to participate in some competitions as well as open fighting during and after matches. From this it offers that despite the odds and violent social and political climate that characterized the polities of the Cameroon Grassfields today, football has undergone significant paradigm  shifts through and within which peace and harmony now prevails which is a marked departure from the violence and sensation that accompanied football matches and competitions in the past. Indeed, a team spirit and collective civility has built a culture where defeats and victories are accepted with no qualms as determined by the match officiating ministers.

Keywords: Rage, Furry, Violence, football, Grassfields, Cameroon, New Deal Era.