"a stand-alone DVD, both under the BFI's auspices. The story was adapted by Nick Love into the 2009 film of the same name. The Firm (1989 film) The Firm is a 1989 British made-for-television drama film directed by Alan Clarke and written by Al Hunter Ashton for the BBC. It stars Gary Oldman, Phil Davis, Charles Lawson and Steve McFadden in his acting debut. The film is based on the activities of the Inter City Firm (billed as the ""Inter City Crew"") football firm of West Ham United during the 1970s and 1980s. The film, which courted controversy on release,"
"City (Hull City Psychos), Leeds United (Leeds Service Crew), Middlesbrough (Middlesbrough Frontline), Millwall (Millwall Bushwackers), Newcastle United (Gremlins), Nottingham Forest (Forest Executive Crew), Manchester United (Red Army), Portsmouth (6.57 Crew), Queen's Park Rangers (Bushbabies), Tottenham Hotspur (Yid Army), Sheffield United (Blades Business Crew), Shrewsbury Town (English Border Front), Stoke City (Naughty Forty), West Ham United (Inter City Firm) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (Subway Army). In 1974, when Manchester United were relegated to the Second Division, the Red Army hooligan firm caused mayhem at grounds up and down the country, and in the same year a Bolton Wanderers fan stabbed a young"
"the teams is deeply embedded in British football hooliganism lore and culture, and has been depicted in films that focused specifically on the animosity between the clubs' two hooligan firms, the Inter City Firm and the Millwall Bushwackers. Violence has occurred sporadically between the fans, once resulting in the death of a Millwall supporter in 1976. Most recently in the 2009 Upton Park riot, widespread disorder between supporters in and around West Ham's Upton Park ground led to numerous injuries and a Millwall fan being stabbed before the match began. In the last two games between the sides in the"
"installing fencing around the perimeter of the pitch. Millwall's hooligan firm, the Millwall Bushwackers was perceived as one of the most violent, so much so that a common weapon used in such occurrences became known as a Millwall brick. In March 1985, the Bushwackers were involved in a riot with Luton Town's firm the MIGs; of the 31 men arrested, many were found to be supporters of other London clubs such as West Ham and Chelsea. West Ham United have also been in receipt of bad publicity for their Inter City Firm, which received international notoriety after the release of"
"Red Army (football) 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 Harry Gibson states that there are also sub-divisions of the firm known as the Young Munichs, the Inter City Jibbers"
"leader of the ICC - Inter City Crew. Members of the ICF were used as consultants on the film. The 2005 film ""Green Street"" was based on the ICF, but not by name. Instead, the initials GSE (Green Street Elite) were used. The ICF make an appearance in Irvine Welsh's novellas """". The ICF are also suggested in the 2009 film """". The ICF also make a return as the GSE in ""Green Street 3: Never Back Down"". Inter City Firm The Inter City Firm (ICF) is an English football hooligan firm mainly active in the 1970s, 1980s and early"
"with a fight after the match between the Zulus and the ""Green Street Elite (GSE)"", the name used in the film for the Inter City Firm (ICF). The Zulus were also featured in a minor role in the 1989 film, The Firm. The Zulus have also been featured in the documentary series The Real Football Factories on Bravo. Birmingham Zulus The Birmingham Zulus are a football hooligan firm associated with English football club, Birmingham City. The Zulus first appeared in the late 1980s and the name came from a chant of ""Zulu, Zulu"" which Manchester City fans aimed at Birmingham"
"the ""English Disease"". From the 1970s, many organised hooligan firms sprang up, with most Football League clubs having at least one known organised hooligan element. Hooliganism was often as its worst when local rivals played each other. Supporters of teams including Arsenal, Chelsea, Leeds United, Millwall, Tottenham Hotspur, Portsmouth, West Ham United, Leicester City and Bristol City were among those most frequently linked to hooliganism. Racism became a major factor in hooliganism around the same time, as black players became a regular feature in English league teams from the 1970s. Black players were frequently targeted with monkey chants, and had"
"West Ham United. Dyer, a West Ham fan himself, meets with Cass Pennant, former top boy of West Ham's infamous Inter City Firm (the ICF). The firm takes its name from the InterCity trains utilised by the firm to travel to away games. Pennant describes the ICF's introduction of calling cards which would be served upon members of opposing firms. The episode also discusses the Cockney Rejects, which the ICF followed during its tours around England. Two of the band's members, Mick Geggus and Jeff Turner, described how during one show in Birmingham, it kicked off between the band and"
"Birmingham Zulus The Birmingham Zulus are a football hooligan firm associated with English football club, Birmingham City. The Zulus first appeared in the late 1980s and the name came from a chant of ""Zulu, Zulu"" which Manchester City fans aimed at Birmingham in 1982, due to their multicultural following. The Zulus have many members from different ethnic backgrounds (in stark contrast to most other hooligan firms which emerged around the same time, were almost universally white, and contained followers of far-right organisations including the National Front), Their main rivals are the fans of fellow Birmingham club, Aston Villa F.C. and"
"Hull City Psychos The Hull City Psychos are a football hooligan firm linked to the English Championship club, Hull City. The firm dates back to the 1960s and peaked during the 1990s. The City Psychos evolved from the original Hull skinhead gangs and the Kempton Fusiliers who were named after the east side railway stand at Boothferry Park. They were well known as tough representatives of Kingston upon Hull, a big tough working class port city. It was not unusual for the City Psychos to number over half Hull City’s away support during the years in the lower leagues at"
"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. Red Army (football) 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."
"with the even younger group known as the 'Under 5's'. Hull City Psychos The Hull City Psychos are a football hooligan firm linked to the English Championship club, Hull City. The firm dates back to the 1960s and peaked during the 1990s. The City Psychos evolved from the original Hull skinhead gangs and the Kempton Fusiliers who were named after the east side railway stand at Boothferry Park. They were well known as tough representatives of Kingston upon Hull, a big tough working class port city. It was not unusual for the City Psychos to number over half Hull City’s"
"supporters or members of the National Front. During the 1980s, clubs which had rarely experienced hooliganism feared hooliganism coming to their towns, with Swansea City supporters anticipating violence after their promotion to the Football League First Division in 1981, at a time when most of the clubs most notorious for hooliganism were playing in the First Division, while those living in Milton Keynes were concerned when Luton Town announced plans to relocate to the town, although this relocation ultimately never happened. On 1 May 1982, after a London derby between Arsenal and West Ham United, a supporter was killed in"
"hooliganism has been depicted in films such as ""ID"", ""The Firm"", ""Cass"", ""The Football Factory"", ""Green Street"", ""Rise of the Footsoldier"", ""Awaydays"", ""The Brothers Grimsby"" and ""Eurotrip"". There are also many books about hooliganism, such as ""The Football Factory"" and ""Among the Thugs"". Some critics argue that these media representations glamorise violence and the hooligan lifestyle. Football hooliganism Football hooliganism is the term used to describe disorderly, violent or destructive behaviour perpetrated by spectators at association football events. Football hooliganism normally involves conflict between gangs, in English known as football firms (the term derives from the British slang for a"
"themselves. Football hooliganism in England dates back to the 1880s, when individuals referred to as ""roughs"" caused trouble at football matches. Local derby matches would usually have the worst trouble, but in an era when fans did not often travel, roughs would sometimes attack the referees and the visiting team's players. During the 1970s, organised hooligan firms started to emerge, associating themselves with clubs such as Arsenal (The Herd), Aston Villa (Villa Hardcore), Birmingham City (Birmingham Zulus), Blackpool (The Muckers), Burnley (Suicide Squad), Derby County (Derby Lunatic Fringe), Charlton Athletic, (B Mob), Chelsea (Chelsea Headhunters), Everton (County Road Cutters), Hull"
"the street outside the restaurant singing ""I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles"". The name of the firm in film, the Green Street Elite, refers to Green Street in the London Borough of Newham, where West Ham's old home stadium, Upton Park was located. West Ham is supported by one of Britain's notorious hooligan firms: the Inter City Firm (ICF). The film received mixed reviews on release. It scored 46% on the film website Rotten Tomatoes and 55% on the website Metacritic. Roger Ebert gave the film a very favourable review, while the BBC described it as ""calamitous"". E! Online reviewed it as"
"Arsenal firm There are two Arsenal hooligan firms, 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 the 1980s and 1990s. However, the name is now used by most non-hooligan Arsenal supporters. The Herd was mainly active between the late 1970s and early 1990s, it still exists 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 1980s and in the present day are West Ham's I.C.F., Tottenham"
"first time starts the idea of uniting of all the smaller supporter groups which previously existed. This idea is realized on 12 March 1989, and the group was named Red Firm. The name was originally proposed by a Vojvodina supporter, known by his nickname Šima, all because of West Ham United’s Inter City Firm, where Inter City was replaced by red as the official color of Vojvodina. During the championship match against Dinamo Zagreb appeared for the first time the transparent Red Firm in front of 15,000 fans. A few days later, several youngsters established the group Firma (English: The"
"a criminal element within Manchester United's football hooligan gang, which was known as the Inter City Jibbers, and carried out armed robberies together in Holland. The photos page within the book includes a picture that claims to show a Quality Street Gang member at the wedding of Inter City Jibbers member John 'The Grid' McKee, who Blaney alleges was also heavily involved in the Dutch underworld, substantiating the link between the two groups. In 1986, John Stalker, Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, was suspended over accusations that, among other things, he had attended social events at which members"
"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 Dainton ""The Bear"" Cornnell) was considered a folk hero by many Arsenal fans, but died in a car crash in 2007, with 3,000 mourners attending his funeral including several ex players. 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. Arsenal firm There are two Arsenal hooligan firms, The"
"via Belgium. In 2000, Chelsea Headhunters formed a temporary alliance with other British hooligans supporting Linfield F.C., Rangers F.C., Cardiff City, Swansea City and Leeds United led by Arsenal's firm, The Herd, to attack Galatasaray fans in Copenhagen and Turkish fans in Brussels during Euro 2000 as part of revenge for the 2000 UEFA Cup semi-final stabbing of two Leeds United fans by a Galatasaray fan. Other allies were supporters of Lazio and Hellas Verona. Chelsea Headhunters 'top boy' ('top' indicating his position within the hierarchy of the hooligan gang) Jason Marriner also appears on a photo alongside Linfield hooligan"
"both sides as wartime guest players. The rivalry between the teams, specifically the clubs' two hooligan firms has been depicted on the big screen several times. In 1989 Alan Clarke directed ""The Firm"", starring real-life Millwall supporter Gary Oldman. He plays Bex, leader of the football firm the Inter City Crew, a fictional representation of West Ham's Inter City Firm and their violent exploits. In it Millwall's Bushwackers firm are depicted as The Buccaneers. ""Green Street"" was released in 2004, with real-life Hammers supporter Elijah Wood playing an American student who gets involved with West Ham's firm. The film builds"
"also includes pictures of Aston Villa hooligans and sections where Villa's rivals are ridiculed. In February 2014, an episode of the BBC series ""Inside Out"" followed officers from West Midlands Police as they attempted to combat football hooliganism at a West Bromwich Albion v Villa game in November 2013. Aston Villa Hardcore Aston Villa Hardcore (often shortened to Villa Hardcore or known as Villa Youth when referring to the younger element of the group) is a football hooligan firm associated with the Football League Championship club Aston Villa, based in Birmingham, England. The firm have been active since 1993, following"
"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"
"enjoyed considerable success, winning the FA Cup in 1964, 1975 and 1980. They also won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1965. Over four decades the sides were only in the same tier of the Football League for three seasons, in 1946–47, 1947–48 and 1978–79. They played two cup games against each other in the Southern Professional Floodlit Cup in 1959 and the Full Members Cup in 1987. Football hooliganism reached its height in the 1970s and 80s. West Ham's Inter City Firm and the Millwall Bushwackers firm were at the forefront of the trouble, not just against each other,"
"Aston Villa Hardcore Aston Villa Hardcore (often shortened to Villa Hardcore or known as Villa Youth when referring to the younger element of the group) is a football hooligan firm associated with the Football League Championship club Aston Villa, based in Birmingham, England. The firm have been active since 1993, following on from previous Aston Villa hooligan firms the Steamers, C-Crew and Villa Youth. The name ""Hardcore"" reportedly arising from a Metropolitan Police offer announcing on his radio: ""Here come Villa's hardcore"" following the firm's emergence from a train station before an away match against West Ham United. The Hardcore"
"Baby Squad The Baby Squad is a football hooligan firm linked to the English Premier League team, Leicester City. The Baby Squad have had a number of fights with the Chelsea Headhunters who follow Chelsea. In August 2000, Leicester were listed as the second most violent football club in England and Wales. In November 2001, the Baby Squad were ambushed by hooligans from Luton Town, called the MiGs, at Leicester railway station before police split up the two groups. In February 2008, eleven men were arrested after up to 100 hooligans were involved in running battles between fans from Leicester"
"another firm associated with Blackpool, Bennys Mob stated that “Blackpool is full of mobs, especially in the Summer. You could easily be fighting every week.” Whilst many other Firms have retained the same name throughout their history such as the Chelsea Headhunters or the Inter City Firm who follow West Ham, there have been a number of names for the various firms who follow Blackpool – Rammy Arms Crew, Bennys Mob, BISONS (or Bisons Riot Squad, and now The Muckers. In 1985, when hooliganism was rife in England, the BBC Six O'Clock News had a special report in which they"
"not proud of his past, having moved on from the violence of football hooliganism. Naughty Forty Naughty Forty (Naughty 40 or N40) is a football hooligan firm linked to the English team Stoke City F.C. At their height, the firm had over 700 members and were among the more violent football hooligan firms in England. In January 1998, dozens of hooligans invaded the pitch at the club's new Britannia Stadium at the end of a 7–0 Division One defeat by Birmingham City and several seats were thrown onto the pitch. This was one of several traumatic events in one of"
"but against the police and firms associated with other football teams. In 1972, the two clubs played each other in a testimonial match for Millwall defender Harry Cripps, who began his career at West Ham. The game was marred by intense fighting between the two club's hooligan firms, both inside and outside the ground. Four years later, a Millwall supporter, Ian Pratt, died at New Cross railway station after falling out of a train during a fight with some West Ham fans. After the incident West Ham hooligans constructed the chant, ""West Ham boys, we've got brains, we throw Millwall"
"with hooligan supporters of local rivals Liverpool F.C.. Andy Nicholls, a former 'general' in the County Road Cutters throughout the 1980s and 1990s, who was branded a category C football hooligan by the National Football Intelligence Unit (NFIU), the highest NFIU rating, claims that the Cutters had strong rivalries with hooligan firms of the two Manchester teams, Manchester United F.C. and Manchester City F.C., as well as with the Chelsea Headhunters, a firm associated with Chelsea F.C., and the Millwall Bushwackers, a firm associated with Millwall F.C.. As of 6 October 2003, Nicholls was banned for life from Goodison Park."
"Chelsea Headhunters The Chelsea Headhunters are an English football hooligan firm linked to the London football club Chelsea. There is 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"