Police Officer Who Infiltrated England’s Toughest Firm Was ‘Scared for His Life’
A former police officer went undercover in England's toughest football firm for two years in a terrifying task which put him at risk on a regular basis.
As part of Metropolitan Police operation codenamed Operation Pegasus, James Bannon had to spend months pretending he was part of the fearsome Millwall firm called the 'Bushwackers'.
Back in 1987, Bannon, then just 21, posed as a painter and decorator called Jim Ford from Wandsworth and committed to the act by turning up to the Millwall pub in his overalls.
Hooliganism in English football was at its most rife at the time and ahead of the 1990 World Cup in Italy, the operation was set up to try and identify the biggest threats of supporters.
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Bannon was placed into the 'Lions Den' and had to go to extreme lengths to convince the hooligans that he was one of them - brushing up on his Millwall history and even getting involved in their fights.
“There were clubs that had reputations and you knew you were going to go there and meet opposing supporters that would want to have a fight,” Bannon told The Sun, discussing his appearance in the Channel 4 documentary Italia ‘90: Saving English Football.
“But if I was going to be any good at what I did, I wasn’t going to be in the family enclosure. So yes, I got involved in the violence.
“I never incited or started a fight, but I was there to gather evidence against nasty, horrible people who brought violence to football, to take them off the streets and make stadiums safer places for people to go and watch.
“It’s a fine line and undercover policing is not an exact science.
“You are thinking on your feet every second because you have to try and stay within the law, while being convincing at what you are.
“I would never run at somebody and hit them. But if somebody was coming at me who wanted to hit me then, trust me, I’m going to hit them first.”
Part of his story was that he had a girlfriend and a young baby and would go to the games with his brother-in-law, who was actually a fellow police officer.
What was the result of the operation?
He was nearly arrested during a battle with Arsenal in a 1988 mass brawl and was ambushed by "pretty tasty" Leeds fans on a train journey home from an Elland Road trip.
He was also unable to intervene when an innocent Crystal Palace fan was attacked on a train in front of his wife and children.
Officers were also placed in the firms of Chelsea, Arsenal, West Ham, Manchester City and Manchester United but Bannon's undercover operation was nixed in 1989 because scientists said they was a lack of evidence collected.
"They employed people to do some of this work who weren’t very good and some of the evidence had been made up,” he explained.
“A decision was taken by senior politicians that they couldn’t stomach another trial and lose face so all of the operations were disbanded overnight.
“It meant that two and a half years of my life were a complete and utter waste of f***ing time.
“We went from being doing a pretty elite job, which required huge sacrifices, both emotionally and personally, to ‘Thanks very much. Now go back to Orpington and drive a panda car.’”
He left the police force shortly after and had a number of different ventures, including writing a book, acting, running a property company and putting on a stand-up show.
Josh Lawless