Leeds United Service Crew
An LUSC badge featuring the British Rail symbol
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| Named after | Leeds United |
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| Founding location | Leeds, Yorkshire |
| Years active | 1974–present |
| Territory | Parts of North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire (formerly the West Riding of Yorkshire) |
| Membership | 240-300 |
| Criminal activities | |
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The Leeds United Service Crew are a football hooligan firm linked to the English Football League team, Leeds United A.F.C. The Service Crew were formed in 1974 and named after the ordinary public service trains that the hooligans would travel on to away matches, rather than the heavily policed, organised football special trains. The Service Crew have a reputation for being one of the most notorious hooligan firms in the history of English football.
In 1985 when football hooliganism was rife in England, the BBC Six O'Clock News had a special report in which they listed the worst football hooligan gangs creating mayhem across England and Leeds United were listed amongst the worst five clubs.
The club distances itself from any activities the Service Crew are involved in. During the height of the hooliganism, the Service Crew become one of the most notorious firms in European football, and in doing so nearly brought the club to its knees.
The first high-profile incident that Leeds hooligans were involved in came on 28 May 1975 at the European Cup final against Bayern Munich at the Parc des Princes in Paris, France. When striker Peter Lorimer had a goal disallowed in a game which ended in a 2-0 defeat to the West German side, and having already seen their team have two penalty appeals rejected by French referee Michel Kitabdjian, scores of Leeds fans ripped seats from the stands and threw them onto the pitch. Some of them clashed with the French police as they invaded the pitch. As a result of this incident, Leeds were banned from European competitions for four years - although this was later reduced to two years on appeal. Due to their on-the-field decline, however, it would be another 17 years before they tasted European action again. Leeds were the first English football club to be banned from a European competition.
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