Hooliganism

Through basic research via Wikipedia, I have found that football hooliganism consists of destructive behavior, including brawls, vandalism, and intimidation by association of football club fans. Fights break out between the supporters of rival teams before or after matches, spontaneously during matches, or they take place at pre-arranged locations in order to avoid arrest by the police. The first recorded instances of violence that occurred away from the actual matches occurred when the Preston fans fought Queen’s Park fans in a railway station in 1886. Fights range from shouting to fistfights to riots. Some riots can get out of hand and include bats, bottles, rocks, knives or even guns.



Some firms are linked to politics or racism and are representative of all the supporters of their teams. Some examples of firms that are associated with political groups are the Headhunters that follow Chelsea, the Fine Young Casuals that support Oldham Athletics, and the Ultra Sur who follow Real Madrid. Some firms also consist of multicultural makeup’s, including Arsenal’s Gooners, West ham United’s Inter-City Firm (ICF), and Feyenoord Rotterdam’s SCF. Cass pennant is a well-known figure that came out of the ICF. As a black man he was able to climb to the top, and he eventually became one of the generals of the ICF. This is a remarkable achievement during the 1970s and 1980s, during a time when racism was very prevalent in Great Britain. Following his engagement in the ICF, he became an author to record his story. In his autobiography, he talks about his own stories of imprisonment. He also includes a fight that he started that occurred at a nightclub, where he was shot 3 times. It is interesting to see that despite racism among society, Pennant was able to find success among the Inter-City Firm.



The ICF supports West Ham United, was the inspiration for the movie Green Street Hooligans. West Ham’s home stadium is called Boleyn Ground and they are a football club out of East London. The main firm in Green Street Hooligans was the Green Street Elite, who also followed West Ham. West Ham firms began in the 1960s with the Mile End Mob, which were a group of supporters that thrived on the intimidation of their own fans as well as rival fans. The West Ham firms were some of the first to begin wearing casual clothing in order to avoid arrest. The ICF was the first to travel to inter city matches on regular trains opposed to tightly policed, football-based charters. Like in the movie, Millwall is West Ham’s strongest and oldest rivalry.

Pennant, Cass.
2000 Congratulations You Have Just Met the ICF. London: Pennant Books.