Football hooliganism in the United Kingdom

Beginning in at least the 1960s, the UK had a reputation worldwide for football hooliganism; the phenomenon was often dubbed the English Disease. However, since the 1980s and well into the 1990s the UK government has led a widescale crackdown on football related violence. While football hooliganism has been a growing concern in some other European countries in recent years, British football fans now tend to have a better reputation abroad. Although reports of British football hooliganism still surface, the instances now tend to occur at pre-arranged locations rather than at the matches 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, Charlton Athletic, (B Mob), Chelsea (Chelsea Headhunters), Everton (County Road Cutters), Hull City (Hull City Psychos), Leeds United (Leeds Service Crew), Middlesbrough (Middlesbrough Frontline), Millwall (Millwall Bushwackers), Newcastle United (Gremlins), Forest Executive Crew (FEC), Manchester United (Red Army), Portsmouth (6.57 Crew), Queen's Park Rangers, 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).

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