During the late 1990s, both authors worked in combating domestic violence in the Middlesbrough community (United Kingdom) when they noted a marked upswing in demand for domestic violence services first during February through June 1997 and then during February through June 1998. These time periods corresponded to escalating excitement over football in the community. The main goal of the subsequent research was to analyze the gender power dynamics that link football/public violence with private violence in patriarchal societies. The authors extend the notion of “permissions” for violence in analyzing the link between football-related violence in the public sphere and domestic violence; these permissions grant acceptability to the “brutish” culture of masculinity. Discourses on football-related violence are analyzed and the social context of the Middlesborough community is assessed in terms of its contributions to “permissions” for male violence. Finally, the movement to “feminize” football is analyzed in terms of its sexualization of women or its co-opting of women as “mothers of sons.” Policy implications are discussed and include intervention strategies that would increase constraints on sportsmen’s actions. Notes, bibliography