Ex/Reformed Football Hooligan wanted for Case Study

[Ram-Alf]

There's those that know and there's those that don't, If you weren't there in the 70s and 80s then you read the books or watched the films 🙄, Football hooliganism died decades ago, There's a multitude of reasons why both male and females fought going to and at football stadia, The 70s was a mad decade if you turned up at the wrong place you'd get a smack, The 80s we had Thatcherism and organised hooliganism...names were given, DLF, The FEC, Soul Crew, MIBs, Urchins, Zulu's, Naughty 40, Service Crew and 657 were just a few of 92+, The 90s saw the authorities and all seater stadiums quell the trouble of hooliganism.

What was it down to, There's a multitude of reasons, Socio economic, The buzz, The chase(no not the TV game show), Aggression, The fun, Notoriety, Sticking 2 fingers up at authority and more much more, International Hooliganism was different to League, Those you Faught on a Saturday were your "comrades in arms" most of the time against those who wanted the same, All the books and Films that are out there are for the Fairies full of imaginary stories that are made to get some juices flowing. 

Clothing had very little to do with the above, Fashion was every where, Today you'd get your Gran to stitch a couple of buttons on the left arm of your best jumper from Oxfam and a Stone Island badge from eBay and boom you're a hooligan, None that I knew wore their best on Saturday or a Wednesday to a game, That was left to a Saturday night when you were dressed to impress.

 

 

 

  

[NottsRam]

20 hours ago, utisbug said:

Hi,

 

I'm a Psychotherapist and am currently looking for an ex/reformed football hooligan to take part in a short interview discussing their motivations and experience.

 

This would be voluntary and you would remain anonymous in the report. The findings will be produced as part of a study looking into the lived experience of football hooligans. The interview will take no longer than 50 minutes and can take place over zoom or in person.

 

If you have any questions please let me know

 

Thank you for your time

 

Curtis

Might be worth visiting the Neptune on a match day, a lot of the old school DLF don't go to the games regularly (some are banned still), and you would probably bump into some there.

[TheHomunculusLives]

I always used to find the hooliganism easier to avoid at home games, travelling away was always more risky as if you walked into the wrong pub or down the wrong street as a visiting football supporter, you became a target irrespective of whether you were involved in organised hooliganism or not. I think it was still pretty prevalent in the early 1990s as well as the 1980s.

[IslandExile]

7 minutes ago, TheHomunculusLives said:

I always used to find the hooliganism easier to avoid at home games

Not that easy at the BBG. The route for home fans to the bus station was the same as the route for away fans to the railway station.

For a bona fide coward like myself, I expected to have to 'run away' as part of the matchday experience.

[Eric the half a ram]

I got chased away from a pub in Derby on my first visit to the BB in the 80s, never been before, so I saw a group of Derby fans drinking outside, so asked them for directions to the ground, was met with abuse, threats and a couple of badly aimed pints! Didn't even stop to consider that i was born and raised on the South Coast so have a southern accent and the opponents that day were Charlton! Probably thought I was a cheeky cockney trying to wind them up!! Never run so fast in my life!! 😂👍🏃

[Eargasm]

34 minutes ago, IslandExile said:

Not that easy at the BBG. The route for home fans to the bus station was the same as the route for away fans to the railway station.

For a bona fide coward like myself, I expected to have to 'run away' as part of the matchday experience.

You're not on your own, I recall running for my life from the BBG from a bunch of Newcastle fans , think Keegan was their manager at the time, and they finished the game with 8 men !.... I needed a clean pair of underpants that day when I got home ! 

[one_chop]

I shouted obscenities out of a moving train window at some Leicester fans back in the 80's if that counts ?

[GB SPORTS]

2 hours ago, Ram-Alf said:

There's those that know and there's those that don't, If you weren't there in the 70s and 80s then you read the books or watched the films 🙄, Football hooliganism died decades ago, There's a multitude of reasons why both male and females fought going to and at football stadia, The 70s was a mad decade if you turned up at the wrong place you'd get a smack.

 

 

 

  

I smiled at the Females bit, One day going to watch the rams at Birmingham c1973, with my old man.

We saw  two Brum lads with a girl waiting at a bus stop in Sutton Coldfield. My Dad being a kindly soul stopped and gave a lift in the back of the car, a bit of banter one the lads asked if the lads from Derby were rough and would there be trouble, no my dad says, it's the girls you have to watch, they all work laying the track for British Rail!!

[Mucker1884]

54 minutes ago, Eric the half a ram said:

I got chased away from a pub in Derby on my first visit to the BB in the 80s, never been before, so I saw a group of Derby fans drinking outside, so asked them for directions to the ground, was met with abuse, threats and a couple of badly aimed pints! Didn't even stop to consider that i was born and raised on the South Coast so have a southern accent and the opponents that day were Charlton! Probably thought I was a cheeky cockney trying to wind them up!! Never run so fast in my life!! 😂👍🏃

Still... we can all laugh about it now eh?  👀

 

[Mucker1884]

36 minutes ago, one_chop said:

I shouted obscenities out of a moving train window at some Leicester fans back in the 80's if that counts ?

I did similar out of a moving mini-bus window down the Kings Rd, after a night match at Stamford Bridge... and then the lights went red!

 

... And then my mate ran a red light!  🤣

[Mucker1884]

I was walking in a group of a dozen, maybe 15 of us.
Down one of those niggly little terrace street leading to Kenilworth Road.

Arms aloft... roaring the "Derby, Derby" chant.

Well, my scarf nearly took a Luton fans eye out!  If it hadn't been made of silk, it could have left her with a nasty graze!

That was the day I decided never again shall I tie a scarf to each wrist!

 

Regards, Anon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Archied]

1 hour ago, Eargasm said:

You're not on your own, I recall running for my life from the BBG from a bunch of Newcastle fans , think Keegan was their manager at the time, and they finished the game with 8 men !.... I needed a clean pair of underpants that day when I got home ! 

Tottenham at home was my first scary one , I was only about 12 or 13 , couple of us got ambushed on london road by a group much older , chased us ducking miles 😂

[Foreveram]

Being a teenager in the early seventies it was part of the match day “ experience “🤕

[Stive Pesley]

1 hour ago, one_chop said:

I shouted obscenities out of a moving train window at some Leicester fans back in the 80's if that counts ?

A drive-by shouting?

[IslandExile]

2 hours ago, Eargasm said:

You're not on your own, I recall running for my life from the BBG from a bunch of Newcastle fans , think Keegan was their manager at the time, and they finished the game with 8 men !.... I needed a clean pair of underpants that day when I got home ! 

Yeah, I was at that game. 3 players sent off for Newcastle and I think we only won one-nil.

The time that sticks most in my mind was a game against Chelsea when all routes back to the bus station were closed off.

Ran a lot of miles that day. Still, I suppose it helped keep you fit.

[MadAmster]

Early 70s, L**ds away. Me, my mate and our GFs. The only 4 Derby fans in the end opposite the Gelderd. 10 minutes or so before the end we heard a shout from behind us away to our left. 30 to 40 "laddos" screaming let's get the barstewards or words to that effect. We start to head to the bottom right and the exit. I was shouting "coming through" or words to that effect. 2 blokes wouldn't move and the adrenaline saw me remove them from our path. Outside, we began the run back to the station with the brave Yorkshire ****s a good 50 yards back. We let the girls get ahead of us so, if we were going to get caught, we could have a couple before the eventual good kicking, giving the girls more time to make the station in safety. They never caught us. Slowed to a walk as the 4 of us approached the station. Loads of L**ds looking for "fun". We sent the girls on ahead and they got through. We had to endure a short skirmish to get past the "laddos". Took less than we gave and avoided any painful blows.

The Roger Davies Cup replay at Spurs. Managed to avoid the running fights getting back to Seven Sisters for the tube to the train. Got on the Ramaway. Some of Spurs finest then jumped the barriers and got on the train. A fight ensued but the Cheeky Cockney Chappies didn't stay on the train long as they weren't winning the scuffle.

ICF at Wembley, 1975. First few Derby out of the stadium were women and kids mainly and they took a hit. Then a contingent of South Derbyshire mineworkers were next out together with a fair few of what would have been DLF lads had the term been coined back then. The fight lasted a few seconds and the 'ammers decided the odds weren't right and did a runner.

Had the odd fight at football but never started one.

[secretsquirrel]

Saw plenty 70-80s but vividly remember the first occasion i witnessed anything was as a really young kid coming away with my Grandad after a 3-3 draw with Millwall (need we say more)-

[TheHomunculusLives]

I'm just glad it's mostly a thing of the past now. Hooliganism hasn't done football or society any favours and everyone should be free to enjoy supporting their team without worrying about getting punched in the face.

[DarkFruitsRam7]

20 minutes ago, MadAmster said:

Early 70s, L**ds away. Me, my mate and our GFs. The only 4 Derby fans in the end opposite the Gelderd. 10 minutes or so before the end we heard a shout from behind us away to our left. 30 to 40 "laddos" screaming let's get the barstewards or words to that effect. We start to head to the bottom right and the exit. I was shouting "coming through" or words to that effect. 2 blokes wouldn't move and the adrenaline saw me remove them from our path. Outside, we began the run back to the station with the brave Yorkshire ****s a good 50 yards back. We let the girls get ahead of us so, if we were going to get caught, we could have a couple before the eventual good kicking, giving the girls more time to make the station in safety. They never caught us. Slowed to a walk as the 4 of us approached the station. Loads of L**ds looking for "fun". We sent the girls on ahead and they got through. We had to endure a short skirmish to get past the "laddos". Took less than we gave and avoided any painful blows.

The Roger Davies Cup replay at Spurs. Managed to avoid the running fights getting back to Seven Sisters for the tube to the train. Got on the Ramaway. Some of Spurs finest then jumped the barriers and got on the train. A fight ensued but the Cheeky Cockney Chappies didn't stay on the train long as they weren't winning the scuffle.

ICF at Wembley, 1975. First few Derby out of the stadium were women and kids mainly and they took a hit. Then a contingent of South Derbyshire mineworkers were next out together with a fair few of what would have been DLF lads had the term been coined back then. The fight lasted a few seconds and the 'ammers decided the odds weren't right and did a runner.

Had the odd fight at football but never started one.

Were the "scuffles" always fists or did it involve bottles, coins, etc?

[Ram-Alf]

35 minutes ago, MadAmster said:

ICF at Wembley, 1975. First few Derby out of the stadium were women and kids mainly and they took a hit. Then a contingent of South Derbyshire mineworkers were next out together with a fair few of what would have been DLF lads had the term been coined back then. The fight lasted a few seconds and the 'ammers decided the odds weren't right and did a runner.

Had the odd fight at football but never started one.

As you know ICF/DLF were not around then, Tho the Mile End Boys were...WHU, We had a beating in the Greyhound Pub at the back of Wembley Stadium 50 of us on the coach against many more.

Just before the game had finished we could see WHU fans leaving the ground, All Derby stayed behind to cheer Roy Mac and the lads with the Shield, By that time we got to leave the ground half of London was outside there waiting for us, It didn't look good, But we had a fella in Kev O'Reilly as hard as they come, Stood on the steps and screaming at us to move forward, We had 2 choices...do as he said and get a beating or go back in the ground and get a beating when back in town, We chose the 1st option, It wasn't very good as our numbers were still coming out of the ground but soon enough the numbers were getting on equal terms...then numbers in our favour, As you said it was the Derbyshire Miners that helped take the day...and night in Old London Town.

A very hot day with dust clouds all over the place, The police just couldn't cope, You say it lasted a few seconds not where we were concerned, It was payback for the Greyhound incident, Scaffolding poles and planks were at hand, Bottles from inside the ground were used by both sides...probably the worst violence I've seen or been involved in as a 19 year old

Years later talking to some "ICF" lads who were there, They admitted it was our day, Bill Gardner who was their top lad admitted through gritted teeth that "Derby had WHU on their toes".