Subway Army

The Subway Army were a Hooligan firm associated with Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. (Wolves) during the 1970s and 1980s. The firm rose to fame during the 1970s by ambushing rival fans in subway leading to Wolves home ground, Molineux, a tactic which earned them their Subway Army tag.cite news
last = Chaudhary
first = Vivek
coauthors =
title = Younger generation out to raise the stakes in football violence
work =
pages =
language =
publisher = The Guardian
date = 2003-09-02
url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/footballviolence/article/0,2763,1033928,00.html
accessdate = 2007-08-13 ] The firm eventually dispanded and were replaced with the Bridge BoysFact|date=May 2007.

Background

The self styled leader of the Subway Army, under the alias Lennie, achieved notoriety when unwittingly taking part in a BBC Two undercover expose on hooliganism in the UK, entitled "Hooligans".cite news
last = Kelly
first = John
coauthors =
title = Woz on the telly: Bunch of cowards
work =
pages =
language =
publisher = The Sunday Mirror
date = 2002-05-19
url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_20020519/ai_n12843434
accessdate = 2007-08-13 ]

In the programme, Lennie was seen in the midst of a post-match fight between the Subway Army and the West Bromwich Albion (WBA) firm, "Section Five". The Subway Army were getting the worst of the fight and had scattered everywhere. One of the WBA Section Five firm came up to Lennie, asking "Are you Wolves", to which Lennie replied, "Nah, mate, West Brom". Then as soon as he turned away, Lennie hit him from behind, but his punch failed to move him, whereupon Lennie turned and ran. An action which earned Lennie the tag in the Sunday Mirror newspaper of "Lennie, the king of the cowards".

Many of the firm were arrested in dawn raids, under the code names "Operation Growth" or "Get Rid Of Wolves Troublesome Hooligans".cite book |last= Giulianotti |first= Richard |coauthors= Norman Bonney, Mike Hepworth |title= Football, Violence and Social Identity |publisher= Routledge |year= 1994 |isbn= 0415098386 |pages=208]

The Subway Army have been known to clash with supporters of rival clubs including West Bromwich Albion, Walsall, Aston Villa and Birmingham City, although they have also fought with the fans of other clubs, including Millwall.

On 31 October 2001, members of the Subway Army were in the Feathers pub, near Molineux, in Wolverhampton before a home game against Millwall, when a group of up to 250 Millwall Bushwackers burst through the police lines at Wolverhampton railway station. They attacked the Feathers pub, and two Wolves fans were slashed in the face with stanley knives. The groups were split up before the rest of the Wolves hooligans could get there.cite news
last =
first =
coauthors =
title = Hooligans troublespots - Millwall
work =
pages =
language =
publisher = BBC News
date =
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/programmes/2002/hooligans/diary/millwall.stm
accessdate = 2007-08-13 ]

On 5 April 2002, in the return fixture, the Subway Army arrived in Paddington trying to get revenge. However, they were spotted by two police officers, and their coach was escorted to The Den. A policing operation of over 300 police officers prevented the Millwall and Wolves groups from clashing. Police were though pelted with bricks, bottles and fireworks by Millwall fans attempting to get to the Wolves fans.

On 21 April 2002 Wolves were playing away at Sheffield Wednesday. Before the game, members of the Sheffield United hooligan firm, the "Blades Business Crew" attempted to ambush Wolves fans at the railway station. 14 people were arrested. During the game about 500 Wolves fans who had got into a section of home seating at Hillsborough were moved into an empty corner of the stadium. After the match the trouble continued with the three rival groups of fans roaming Sheffield city centre looking for trouble. Two police officers and a steward were injured during clashes.cite news
last =
first =
coauthors =
title = Hooligans troublespots - Wolverhampton Wanderers
work =
pages =
language =
publisher = BBC News
date =
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/programmes/2002/hooligans/diary/wolverhampton_wanderers.stm
accessdate = 2007-08-13 ]

In September 2003, an article in The Guardian mentioned a new firm, the "Diamond Army". They were said to be named after the nickname, Diamond, of their leader, Diamond. Members of the firm were said to have received banning orders of between five and eleven years.

ee also

*Casuals
*Chelsea Headhunters
*Football hooliganism
*Inter City Firm
*List of hooligan firms
*The Muckers

References

Further reading

* Shaw, Gilly; Martin King (2005). "Gilly: Running with a Pack of Wolves ", Head-Hunter Books, ISBN 0954854217