Samenvatting

Large-scale violations of public order occur regularly in the Netherlands. The most startling riot of the last decade took place last summer on the beach of Hoek van Holland during the dance festival Sunset Grooves. In this riot as well as in other riots, hooligans play more and more a negative role. Put differently, they do not confine themselves to the riots at football matches, but they also show up at events, parties and in entertainment centres to disturb the peace. The article argues that the phrase ‘hooligan’ is in fact inappropriate. It is better to speak about notorious disturbers of the peace; people who are consciously looking for a stage and an opponent to disturb the peace.