Voice over Visuals

The Headhunters, The Bushbabies, (Archive footage)

N17, The ICF and The
Bushwhackers. What do all of
these names have in common?
Violence. Hard-core Football
Violence. There were around 100
football firms in Great Britain
in the late 20th century, but
where did it all begin?

We can trace football violence

back to the 14th century. In the
year 1314, King Edward II banned
the pastime of football. He
believed that the unruly
disorder surrounding the game
would eventually lead to social
unrest and even treason.

Fast forward 400 years to 1885,

and we reach the first
documentation of football
violence. Preston North End beat
Aston Villa 5-0 in a friendly
match. At the end of the game,
both teams were punched, kicked,
spat at and were pelted with
stones. The following year,
Preston fans fought with QPR
fans in a railway station.

Although football hooliganism

has been an issue for over 150
years, it only started to gain
media attention in the 50s. By
the 1960s, there were 25
reported incidents each year in
England alone. In the mid-60s,
the term football hooliganism
started to be used. Many people
argue that the mass interest
shown by the media encouraged
people to partake in football
hooliganism.

From then on football

hooliganism was at its height
and firms were created and there
were reports of violence at most
games.

It is the general consensus that

football hooliganism is near
enough extinct now, but I’m here
to find out if that is really
the case. I’m Owen Saunders, and
this is Britain’s Fiercest
Football Firms.

Loftus Road, The home of Queens

Park Rangers. For the past 3 (In front of Loftus Road)
years, QPR have been playing in
the EFL Championship, the second
tier of English football. In the
70’s and 80’s, when football
hooliganism was at its height,
The QPR Bush Babies dominated
the streets of White City. The
firm was notorious for causing
mass damage and fighting.

One particular incident brings

(In front of the Pocket Watch Pub)
us here. The date is 3rd January
2011. Following a 2-2 draw in
the Championship against Bristol
City, QPR and Bristol fans
caused 100’s of pounds worth of
damage in the pub here behind
me. Located on Uxbridge Road,
Shepherd’s Bush just a 10 minute
walk from the stadium, what was
then The British Queen was
ruined by stones, bricks and
planks of wood. Reports suggest
that the fight kicked off when
QPR fans refused to let Bristol
fans into the pub.

The next part of our journey (Outside Wembley)

takes place here, Wembley. Built
in 2007, Wembley has always been
notorious with football
worldwide. What used to be the
Twin Towers at the old entrance,
is now the iconic arch that
dominates the London skyline.
Tensions are normally running
high when games are played here.
Cup Finals, Internationals,
European games, this ground has
seen it all, which means it’s a
haven for football thugs.
In 2016, England played Scotland
in a World Cup qualifier.
However, tensions between the
two fans lead to isolated
incidents of violence and
vandalism. There was a scuffle
in the stadium after the game,
and two men were arrested in
Trafalgar Square which was were
the two sets of fans met up
before the game. There had been
incidents in most games between
these two sides in previous
years, and on one occasion the
two Trafalgar Square fountains
were filled with washing up
liquid. In previous years, the
two nations were banned from
playing against each other
because of the violence.

Now, It would be near impossible

to talk about football (Outside The Den)
hooliganism without mentioning
this club. Millwall Football
club have been synonymous with
football violence. Their firm,
the Millwall Bushwhackers is
nearly as well known as the
football team itself. The firm
was established in the 70s and
was originally called F-Troop,
but then changed to the
Bushwhackers. We’re outside the
Den where Millwall have been
since 1993. And it was here that
the well-known weapon got its
name. These sheets of newspaper
can be folded into a weapon
known as the Millwall Brick.
Now, newspaper is not illeagal
to take into a football ground,
whch is why its ideal to use. To
make the Millwall brick, you
have to tightly fold sheets of
newspaper like this and then
fold it in half, this makes a
club-like weapon to use in a
fight.
This ground has seen its fair
share of violence but it’s
normally on away days, when
Millwall really turn on the
violence, and there’s no bigger
away day than where we’re
heading to next.

West Ham United. We’re here

outside the Olympic Stadium,
Stratford. The new home of West
Ham United. Now, whilst this (Outside Olympic Stadium)
ground has played host to all of
the Hammers home games since
2016, and its been where the
Inter City Firm have dominated
in the Irons modern history. To
give you some context on the
ICF, its most famous leader was
a man called Cass Pennant. He
lead the firm in the 1970’s-
1980’s. He was eventually
sentenced to 4 years in prison
in 1980. After his four years
were up, he started a night club
security firm and was shot 3
times, he survived, and now
works a s a consultant on films
and documentaries about the ICF,
and the 2008 film Cass was a
story of his life. Another thing
that the ICF were famous for was
calling cards. After a fight,
the ICF placed cards, which they
pioneered themselves, on their
victims. The Cards read,
“Congratulations, You have just
met the ICF”. These cards were
later adopted by notorious firm,
The Leeds United Service Crew.
In order to understand the
football hooligan culture of
this club, we need to head to
the old ground where West Ham
played for 102 years.

The Boleyn Ground, In Upton (Outside the Boleyn Ground)

Park. Whilst it may not look
like much now, this stadium was
once a haven for English
football. And also a haven for
hooligans. We’re here on Green
Street, and just this name is
enough to evoke bad memories for
some. In fact, the 2005 film
Green Street, was based around
the ICF and was filmed in and
around the Boleyn Ground. It was
said to be one of the most
accurate representations of
football violence ever. But
that’s just films, but we’re
here to look at some real life
hard-core incidents. And we’re
going to look at one incident in
particular, an event which is
now known as the Upton Park
Riot. To give you some context,
It’s the 25th August 2009. And
the start of the 2009-10 season.
The League Cup second round draw
pairs Millwall and West Ham
together for their first pairing
in this competition. The first
signs of trouble appeared when
the police halved the number of
tickets given to 1,500. Before
the game, Millwall fans met with
West Ham’s outside of the
stadium. 20 were injured and one
Millwall fan was stabbed. During
the game, around 50 West Ham
supporters invaded the stadium
on 3 occasions leading to the
match being temporarirly
suspended once. West Ham won 3-
1 and progressed through to the
third round. But after the game,
several hundred West Ham fans
congregated outside of the
stadium and fought police with
crates and bottles. 200 riot
police, 20 mounted police and 1
police helicopter was present at
the game to try and contain the
violence. Hooligans were
attempting to rip out bollards
and were lighting small fires
sporadically around the stadium.
The trouble really started to
escalate in the tube station
about 600 yards from the
stadium, where Millwall fans
broke through the divide created
by the riot police to meet the
West Ham fans.