Luke Davies
A football hooligan expert and author previously named a little-known Scottish firm as the ‘toughest’ ahead of Celtic and Rangers.
Crowd violence at football matches was commonplace in the 1980s, with most clubs boasting groups known as ‘firms’.
The most notorious English firms included Chelsea’s ‘Headhunters’, West Ham United’s ‘Inter City Firm’ and Manchester United’s ‘Inter-City Jibbers’.
Meanwhile, north of the border in Scotland, the so-called ‘football casuals’ also often engaged in fights both inside and near football stadiums.
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Scotland’s most supported clubs, Rangers and Celtic, were and remain fierce rivals both on and off the pitch, with crowd violence overshadowing several ‘Old Firm’ matches between the sides.
After the 1980 Scottish Cup Final, which was later dubbed the “Battle of Hampden Park”, crowd trouble erupted among the fans after Celtic ran out 1-0 winners.
Before the game, the Scottish Football Association (SFA) installed ten-foot-tall fences around the pitch’s perimeter as a way of controlling fans. However, some Celtic supporters scaled the wall and ran towards the Rangers section.
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This sparked a furious response from the Rangers fans, who then began fighting with the Celtic supporters – although there are several accounts from the day suggesting both sets of fans had a hand in starting the trouble.
As reported by Glasgow World, only a dozen or so police were at the final and could not contain the fans before officers positioned outside of the stadium provided backup on horseback and ran through crowds with truncheons.
100 people were reported injured, and 160 fans inside Hampden were arrested. And the 1980 final was just one of many occasions when Rangers and Celtic fans have come to blows.
Despite both sets of fans having a fearsome reputation in Scotland and around Europe, a Scottish football hooligan expert claimed that another firm was the toughest back in the 80s.
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Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh witnessed Hibs’ Capital City Service (CCS) during the peak of football hooliganism and claimed that Aberdeen had the “most dedicated” firm.
Speaking in the book 'Terrace Legends' by Cass Penant and Martin King back in 2005, Welsh said: “Celtic and Rangers would come through to Edinburgh and swamp us in the 70s. They weren’t all dedicated hoolies, though it seemed that way at the time! For hardcore hooligan numbers, probably Aberdeen in the 80s [had the most].
“In general, though, some of the firms I saw in London, for numbers and organisation, were very impressive. Now I think that Cardiff City and Manchester United seem to have the biggest and best mobs.
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“You couldn’t really compare Scottish firms (or most English ones) in size, but Aberdeen, I would say - and this is largely anecdotal - have the most dedicated hoolies at present."
He added: “Hearts [were our biggest rivals], though we both now probably hate Rangers and Celtic more as they have so much cash, but we still always like to beat each other.
“Hibs and Rangers have always had a rivalry, but the worst rows are probably still before, during and after the first Edinburgh derbies of the season.”