Football firm
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
A football firm is an organized gang – mostly supporting a football club – that engage in fights with firms supporting other clubs. The fights mostly take place far away from the football grounds to make it as hard as possible for police and other law enforcement to interrupt. Football firm violence has in many countries replaced the more unorganized violence related to sports, though in the public eye both forms of violence are considered hooliganism.
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Clothing
- Main article: Casuals
To avoid attracting the attention of police, many UK hooligans began to wear expensive European designer clothing in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Designers popular with UK football firms include Abercrombie & Fitch, Aquascutum, Burberry, Lacoste and many other. A BBC investigation in 2002 suggested that the most popular label of them all back then was Stone Island.
The culture revolving around the clothing style became known as Casual, and the wearers of designer clothing became known as Casuals.
UK football firms
England/Wales
- Arsenal - The Herd, Gooners
- Aston Villa - Villa Youth
- Birmingham City - Zulus
- Bolton Wanderers - Cuckoo Boys
- Bradford City - Ointment
- Braintree Town - The Iron Crunchers
- Brentford - Brentford Casuals
- Brighton & Hove Albion - Headhunters
- Bristol City - CSF (City Service Firm)
- Bristol Rovers - GHS (Gas Hit Squad)
- Burnley - Suicide Squad
- Cardiff City - Soul Crew
- Chelsea - Headhunters
- Chesterfield - CBS (Chesterfield Bastard Squad)
- Derby County - DLF (Derby Lunatic Fringe)
- Doncaster Rovers - DDR (Donny Defence Regiment)
- Everton - ECM (Everton Charming Men)
- Grimsby Town - CBP (Cleethorpes Beach Patrol)
- Hartlepool United - Blue Order
- Hull City - City Psychos, Hull City Service(HCS)
- Leeds United - Service Crew
- Leicester City - Baby Squad
- Lincoln City - LTE (Lincoln Transit Elite)
- Liverpool - Urchins
- Luton Town - MIGS
- Manchester City - City Guv'nors
- Manchester United - MIB (Men In Black)
- Middlesbrough - Boro Frontline
- Millwall - Bushwackers (cited by a BBC undercover producer investigating football firms as "by far the most dangerous football firm in Britain")
- Newcastle United - Gremlins
- Northampton Town - NAT (Northampton Affray Team)
- Nottingham Forest - Red Dogs, Naughty Forties, Trent End Boot Boys, Forest Executive Crew (FEC)
- Oldham Athletic - FYC (Fine Young Casuals)
- Oxford United - SMHS (South Midland Hit Squad)
- Peterborough United - Blue Division
- Plymouth Argyle - The Central Element
- Port Vale - VLF (Vale Lunatic Fringe)
- Portsmouth - 6:57 Crew
- Preston North End - Paras
- Queens Park Rangers - C-Mob
- Reading - Reading Casual Firm
- Sheffield United - BBC (Blades Business Crew)
- Sheffield Wednesday - OCS (Owls Crime Squad)
- Shrewsbury Town - EBF (English Border Front)
- Southampton - The Uglies
- Southend United - CS Crew
- Stockport County - EVF (Edgeley Volunteer Force)
- Stoke City - Naughty Forty
- Sunderland - seaburn Wariors
- Swansea City - Jacks
- Tottenham Hotspur - N17 Yids
- Watford - EJL (Elton Johns Loverboys)
- West Bromwich Albion - Section Five
- West Ham United - ICF (Inter City Firm)
- Wigan Athletic - Goon Squad
- Wolverhampton Wanderers - Subway Army
- Wrexham - Frontline
Scotland
- Aberdeen - ASC (Aberdeen Soccer Casuals)
- Airdrie United - Section B (inherited from the city's former club Airdrieonians)
- Celtic - CSC (Celtic Soccer Casuals)
- Dundee - DUC (Dundee Utility Crew)
- Falkirk - Falkirk Fear
- Hearts - CSF (Casual Soccer Firm)
- Hibs - CCS (Capital City Service)
- Motherwell - SS (Saturday Service)
- Partick Thistle - NGE (North Glasgow Express)
- Rangers - ICF (Inter-City Firm)
- St Mirren - LSD (Love Street Division)
German football firms
- Alemannia Aachen - Asoziale Randgruppe
- Arminia Bielefeld - Ostwestfalenterror
- Bayer Leverkusen - Mad Boyz, Young Boys
- Bayern Munich - Service Crew
- Borussia Dortmund - BorussenFront
- Borussia Mönchengladbach - Sturmtruppen, Alte Borussen
- MSV Duisburg - Forever DU
- BFC Dynamo - Koma Kolonne
- Eintracht Braunschweig - Alten Kameraden
- Eintracht Frankfurt - Adlerfront, Brigade Nassau
- Fortuna Düsseldorf - First Class Fighters
- Hamburger SV - HH Ultras
- Hertha BSC Berlin - Hertha Frosche, Endsieg
- Karlsruher SC - Destroyers, BadenKorps
- Kickers Offenbach - Anti-Sozial-Front
- 1. FC Köln - Streetfighters, Ultras CCCA, Northside Boys
- FSV Mainz 05 - MZ-Army
- 1860 München - Chaoten
- 1. FC Nürnberg - Red Devils
- FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt - EF-Parolis
- Rot-Weiß Essen - Essener Löwen
- Schalke 04 - Gelsenszene
- VfB Stuttgart - Commando Connstatt
- SV Waldhof Mannheim - City Boys, Kurpfalzfront
- Werder Bremen - Mad Crew, CityBoys
Other football firms
Various teams from former Yugoslavia have strong and organized hooligan elements amongst its factions of fans. Many Greek and Turkish teams have also powerful elements of hooliganism amongst its fans. Polish hooligans (called szalikowcy, pseudokibice, or kibole) are likewise very strong. In Spanish-speaking countries hooligans are known as barras bravas, and they are particularly strong in South America and Mexico.
Argentina
- Boca Juniors - La 12
Bosnia and Herzegovina
- FK Sarajevo - Horde Zla
Chile
- Universidad de Chile - Los de Abajo
Croatia
Denmark
- Brøndby IF - Southside United
- FC København - Copenhagen Casuals
- Odense BK - Odense Fight Club
- Aarhus GF - Ultras White Pride
- Aalborg Boldspilklub - Boys Republic Ultras Aalborg
The Netherlands
- Ajax Amsterdam - F-Side, AFCA Youth
- Feyenoord Rotterdam - SCF, FIIIR
- FC Utrecht - Bunnik Side, FCU Youth, UHF
- ADO Den Haag - North Side
- PSV - Oostfront
- FC Groningen - Z-Side
- NEC Nijmegen - HKN (HazenKamp Nijmegen)
- Vitesse Arnhem - Rijnfront Arnhem
- Fortuna Sittard - Vak N
- Sparta Rotterdam - Castle Maniacs
- FC Omniworld - OmniArmy
Russia
- CSKA Moscow - Red-Blue Warriors, Kids
- Dynamo Moscow - Blue-White Dynamite, Patriots
- Lokomotiv Moscow - Ultra Loko, Vikings
- Spartak Moscow - Flint's Crew, Gladiators, Mad Butchers, Clockwork Oranges
- Torpedo Moscow - West 5 Action Group, Supporters Group, Troublemakers
- Zenit Saint Petersburg - Jolly Nevsky, Coalition, Crazy Fans, Nevsky Front
Serbia and Montenegro
Sweden
- AIK - Firman Boys, Young Boys, Baby Boys
- Djurgårdens IF - DFG (Djurgårdens Fina Grabbar), DYG (Djurgårdens Yngre Grabbar), DMG (Djurgårdens Mindre Grabbar)
- GAIS - GM (Gärningsmännen)
- IFK Göteborg - Wisemen, GYD (Gothenburg Youth Division), YCG (Youth Crew Gothenburg)
- Hammarby IF - KGB (Kompisgänget Bajen), BBS (Bajen Baby Squad)
- Helsingborgs IF - Frontline
- Malmö FF - Bulldogs
- Linköpings HC - Linköping Finest
- Västerås SK - VC (VSK Casuals)
Relations with extreme right political groups
Football firms, especially southern and eastern European firms, are often linked with extreme right political groups. The firms of the following teams are well-known for their relations with extreme right political groups: Chelsea (Headhunters) (although chelsea's most famous hooligan Babs was black), Real Madrid (Ultra Sur), Lazio Roma (Curva Sud), Ferencvaros and Berlin club BFC Dynamo (Koma Kolonne).
Other firms are known for their multicultural make-up, like the firms of Arsenal (Gooners), Tottenham Hotspur(N17 yids), West Ham United (Inter City Firm), Ajax Amsterdam (F-Side) and Feyenoord Rotterdam (SCF). In the past there have been some occasions where Feyenoord supporters have shown up at demonstrations and get togethers of Neo Nazi groups to invoke clashes.
See also
Media
External links
- Three-part BBC2 investigation on football firms from 2002
- Running with the 'Naughty Forty', part of the BBC2 2002 investigation