Chelsea Headhunters

There was widespread racism amongst the gang and links to various white supremacist organisations, such as Combat 18 and the National Front. The gang also became affiliated with Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary organisations, such as the Ulster Defence Association and Ulster Volunteer Force^.
They were infiltrated by investigative reporter Donal MacIntyre for a documentary screened on the BBC on 9 November 1999, in which MacIntyre posed as a wannabe-member of the Chelsea Headhunters. He had a Chelsea tattoo applied to himself for authenticity, although the hardcore were surprised he chose the hated "Millwall lion" badge rather than the 1960s Chelsea erect lion one. He confirmed the racism in the Headhunters and their links to Combat 18, including one top-ranking member who had been imprisoned on one occasion for possession of material related to the Ku Klux Klan. The programme led to arrests and several convictions. One member of the Headhunters, Jason Marriner who was convicted and sent to prison as a result of the show, has since written a book, "Stitch-Up For a Blue Sole", claiming to have been set up by MacIntyre and the BBC. He claims that footage was manipulated to show him wiping out a small village and 'incidents' were manufactured and they were convicted despite having no footage of them committing crimes.
Nick Love's film The Football Factory presented the Headhunters in a fictionalized account. The film focuses mainly on the firm's violent rivalry with the Millwall Bushwackers. Jason Marriner was the subject of a DVD release 'Jason Marriner - Football Hooligan' directed by Liam Galvin (Gangster Videos).
Kevin Whitton, a high-profile member of the firm, was sentenced to life imprisonment on 8 November 1985 for violent assault after being found guilty of involvement in an attack on a pub on Kings Road, which was described as being some of the worst incidents of football hooliganism ever witnessed in England. After Chelsea lost a match, Whitton and other hooligans stormed into the pub, chanting "War! War! War!". When they left a few minutes later, with one of them shouting, "You bloody Americans! Coming here taking our jobs", the bar's American manager, 29-year-old Neil Hansen, was lying on the floor, close to death. Whitton's sentence was cut to three years on appeal on 19 May 1986. The fan responsible for the actual assault, Wandsworth man Terence Matthews (aged 25 at the time), was arrested shortly after Whitton's conviction and remanded in custody to await trial. He was found guilty of taking part in the violence on 13 October 1986 and sentenced to four years in prison. Matthews came to the public attention again in June 2002 when he and his 21-year-old son William received two-year prison sentences after they and another man were convicted of assaulting two police officers in Morden, Surrey.
A more recent incident involving the Headhunters occurred on 13 February 2010, when members of the firm clashed with the Cardiff City Soul Crew at the FA Cup fifth-round tie at Stamford Bridge. On 25 March 2011, 24 people were convicted of taking part in the violence, which resulted in several people being injured (including a police officer whose jaw was broken) at Isleworth Crown Court. All of those convicted received banning orders from all football grounds in England and Wales ranging from three years to eight years. Eighteen of them received prison sentences of up to two years.
Headhunters were involved in disturbances in Paris before a champions league quarter final between PSG and Chelsea on 2 April 2014. Around 300 hooligans were involved in pre planned violence around the city, with hardcore hooligans having avoided police detection by entering France via Belgium.

The Herd

 

The Herd

There are two Arsenal hooligan firms, named 'The Gooners' (a mutation of the club's nickname, The Gunners) and 'The Herd'.
The Gooners were a violent football hooligan firm mainly active in 1980s. However the name is now used by most Arsenal supporters (non-hooligans) who now consider themselves to be 'Gooners'.
The Herd is one of the Arsenal firms and was mainly active between the late 1970s and early 1990s, although it still exists today but prefers to stay undercover. The Herd are a violent football hooligan firm and have the distinctive war-cry E-I-E. The main rivals of The Herd in the 80s and in the present day are West Ham's I.C.F., Tottenham Hotspur's 'Yid Army', Chelsea's 'Headhunters' and Millwall's F-Troop (later known as the 'Millwall Bushwackers'). Although The Herd was mainly considered to be a violent firm, a few members were not physically violent. Dainton Connell (aka Denton 'The Bear' Connell) was considered a folk hero by many Arsenal fans but died in a car crash in 2007, where 3000 mourners attended his funeral. The Herd's two most notorious clashes were with Millwall fans at Highbury in 1988 and with Galatasaray fans in City Hall Square, Copenhagen in 2000.

Red Army

Red Army

The Red Army is a hooligan firm who follow English football club Manchester United. Although today the term Red Army is used mostly to refer to fans of the club in general, the hooligan firm have been one of the largest firms in British football. Firm members – and the firm itself – are sometimes known as the Men in Black, due to the members dressing in all black clothing. In his book Hotshot, Red Army hooligan Colin Blaney states that there are also sub-divisions of the firm known as the Young Munichs, the Inter City Jibbers and the Moston Rats. In his book Undesirables, Blaney has also stated that the ICJ that is dedicated to carrying out acquisitive forms of crime in addition to football hooliganism. He claims that members of the group have been involved in smuggling drugs to Europe and Asia from Latin America and the Caribbean, organizing jail breaks, carrying out armed robberies, travelling overseas to Asia and mainland Europe in order to steal jewellery and committing street robberies. It is the criminal wing of the Red Army

The Red Army was the name given to Manchester United away support during the 1970s. Most notoriously in 1974–75, when United had been relegated from the top flight of English football and played one season in the Second Division, the Red Army caused mayhem at grounds up and down the country, visiting stadiums where they would at times outnumber the home support. Together with a Bolton Wanderers fan stabbing a young Blackpool fan to death behind the Spion Kop at Bloomfield Road in Blackpool during a Second Division match on 24 August 1974, this led to the introduction of crowd segregation and fencing at football grounds in England.
The Red Army were featured in the 1985 documentary 'Hooligan', based around West Ham United's trip to Old Trafford in the FA Cup sixth round. It shows the Red Army fighting with the Inter City Firm (ICF) around Manchester. They were also featured in The Real Football Factories documentary series. An episode of the BBC drama, Life on Mars centred on football hooliganism by Manchester United fans in the 1970s.
Tony O'Neill, the man behind the firm and a former member, has released two books about the firm: Red Army General in 2005 concentrating on the 1970s and early 1980s; and The Men in Black in 2006 which told the history from the mid-1980s to the present day.
Their activities have declined since the late 1980s as football hooliganism in general has become a less prolific problem than it was for more than a decade before that.

6.57 Crew 

The 6.57 Crew is a football hooligan firm linked to the English Portsmouth F.C. The name, 6.57 Crew is taken from the time that the Portsmouth to London Waterloo train left Portsmouth and Southsea station. The firm were one of the most active firms in the 1980s and caused chaos wherever they went

On 22 September 2001, the 6.57 Crew fought with Coventry City fans both at the match and in Coventry city centre. Before the match hooligans from both clubs clashed in the city centre. During the match, some Portsmouth hooligans ripped up seats and threw missiles at Coventry fans. After fighting broke out in the stand, riot police were called in and restored order. Following the match, further violence broke out in Coventry again. Ninety-three people were arrested for their involvement in riots involving over 300 people before and after a match with South coast rivals Southampton F.C. on 21 March 2004. The police were attacked, shops were looted, and cars were vandalised. Of those arrested, 64 were given banning orders, and some were jailed. One of the arrests included a ten-year-old boy who became the youngest-ever convicted football hooligan in the United Kingdom, when he was found guilty of violent disorder. In August that year, 54 Portsmouth hooligans were banned for life by club chairman Milan Mandarić for their involvement in the riots at the Southampton game.

Newcastle Gremlins

 

 

Newcastle Gremlins

Newcastle Gremlins are a football hooligan firm associated with the English football club, Newcastle United F.C.
In March 2002, the Gremlins fought with hooligans from Sunderland's Seaburn Casuals in a pre-arranged clash near the North Shields Ferry terminal, in what was described as "some of the worst football related fighting ever witnessed in the United Kingdom". The leaders of the Gremlins and Casuals were both jailed for four years for conspiracy, with 28 others jailed for various terms, based on evidence gained after police examined the messages sent by mobile phone between the gang members on the day.
On 2 April 2003, about 95 fans were arrested when around 200 fans of Sunderland and Newcastle clashed in Sunderland city centre before an England UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying match against Turkey in the city. The fans then attacked the police, pelting them with missiles including bottles, cans and wheel trims. Some sources attributed these clashes to a resurgence in the conflict between the Gremlins and Sunderland Casuals.
On 9 January 2005, violence erupted after a home FA Cup match between Newcastle United and Coventry City. Shortly after 6 pm, several men entered the Three Bulls Heads pub in the city centre and attacked Coventry fans inside, with fights spilling onto the street. Police intelligence later concluded that the attack was carried out by members identifying themselves as Gremlins, who had been trying but had failed to arrange a fight with Coventry fans. Members of the gang were immediately arrested fleeing after being tracked by CCTV. After investigations and raids a total of seven men were charged as a group with affray and pleaded guilty. As all of the victims had fled and could not be traced, no more serious charges were laid.

Football Casuals

Casual

 The casual subculture is a subsection of association of football culture that is typified by football hooliganism and the wearing of expensive designer clothing (known as "clobber"). The subculture originated in the United Kingdom in the early 1980s when many hooligans started wearing designer clothing labels and expensive sportswear in order to avoid the attention of police and to intimidate rivals. They did not wear club colours, so it was allegedly easier to infiltrate rival groups and to enter pubs. Some casuals have worn clothing items similar to those worn by mods

History

 
British football support has had a strong fashion-led subculture element since the rise of the Teddy Boya in the mid-1950s. This continued with the mods of the early 1960s, the skinheads of the late 1960s (and later), and the mod revivalist of the late 1970s. The early 'casual' look [pre 1980] was a direct descendant of the mid 1970's 'soul boy' scene. A scene frequented by both black and white people united in their love of jazz funk/ soul music . South East London was a particularly strong area for this [as were others i.e. the 'Angel' area of London] and is a good example of how the 'look' evolved. In 1977 from a mixture of cultures and styles emerged what was the embryonic 'casual' . Straight jeans, trainers, polo shirts and tracksuit tops were combined to create the 'look'. Some of this group went to football and the scene grew from there. The early London 'casual' look from 1977 may have consisted of straight 'Fiorucci' jeans, Adidas, Gola or Puma trainers, Lacoste polo shirts, Gabicci jumper/cardigans, lambswool jumpers, tracksuit tops and a 'wedge' or plain, short 'side parting' haircut. It had no name at first and was just considered a 'smart' look . It evolved and moved on picking up pace and emerged post 1980 as a huge subculture characterised by expensive sportswear such as Fila , Tacchini and Diadora [and many others] reaching it's zenith around 1982-83 from where on the 'look' changed to be more 'designer' orientated eg. {stone island,Fred Perry and Lyle&Scott }.

1970s to 1980s Era

The clothing and fashion aspect of the casual subculture began in the late 70s after fans from Liverpool Football Club introduced the rest of England to European fashions that they somehow acquired while following their teams at European games. These fans returned to England with expensive Italian and French designer sportswear. They brought back many unique clothing brands that had not been seen before in the country. Soon, other fans were clamouring for these rare items such as Lacoste and Sergio Tacchini shirts, and unusual Adidas trainers. At the time, many police forces were still on the lookout for skinhead fans wearing Doc Martens boots, and paid little attention to fans in expensive designer clothing. Although most football fans associate the onset of casual clothing with Liverpudlian hooligans, Manchester United hooligan Colin Blaney has written in his autobiography 'Undesirables' that a subculture known as the 'Perry boys' came into existence in the mid-70s that acted as the precursor to this movement. It consisted of Mancunian football hooligans, who styled their hair up into a flick and wore sportswear and Dunlop Green Flash trainers. Fashion trends frequently changed, and the casual subculture reached its peak in the late 1980s. With their continual desperation not to be out-done and the arrival of the acid house, rave and Madchester music scenes, the violence of the casual subculture faded

 

1990s and 2000s Era

In the mid-1990s, the casual subculture experienced a revival, but emphasis on style had changed slightly. Including adding labels like Fred Perry, Stone Island, Ralph Lauren, Lacoste, Ellesse and Armani. Many football fans adopted the casual look as a kind of uniform, identifying them as different from the ordinary club supporters. In the late 1990s, many football supporters began to move away from the brands that were considered the casual uniform, because of the police attention that these brands attracted. Several designer labels also withdrew certain designs from the market after they became associated with casuals.
Casual fashion experienced an increase in popularity in the 2000s, with British music acts such as The Streets and The Mitchell Brothers sporting casual outfits in their music videos. Although some casuals have continued to wear Stone Island clothing in the 2000s, many have detached the compass badge so as to be less obvious. However, with the two buttons still attached, those in the know are still able to recognise the clothing items. Many casuals have adopted a more subtle and underground look, avoiding more mainstream clothing brands for independent clothing labels.
Casuals United, also known as UK Casuals United, is a British anti-Islamic protest group that formed in 2009. It is closely affiliated with the English Defence League, a far right street protest movement which opposes what it sees as the spread of Islamism, Sharia law and Islamic extremism in England.

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