Hooligans of Merseyside rivals Liverpool and Everton once joined forces against a notorious English firm.
Football hooliganism is most associated with the 1980s, but every so often, violence still erupts near British football stadiums.
The so-called ‘casuals’ movement started in northwest England – mostly Liverpool and Manchester – in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Wearing expensive clothes became something synonymous with the movement as well as football violence.
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However, since the 1990s, rates of hooliganism have decreased, given the greater security and surveillance in and around football stadiums.
But sometimes, violence still takes place, and this was the case back in 2005.
On February 19, 2005, Wayne Rooney made a winning return to Goodison Park as he led Manchester United to a 2-0 win in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
Despite Quinton Fortune and Cristiano Ronaldo’s strikes, the evening was overshadowed by crowd violence.
After the match, which kicked off at 5:30 pm, there were clashes between fans, leading to 33 arrests and five police officers being injured.
As reported by the Liverpool Echo at the time, United fans had already been involved in scuffles with Leeds fans at Piccadilly Station before embarking on their journey to Liverpool Lime Street Station.
Several were arrested while others continued their journey to Liverpool and carried on drinking.
As the Red Devils supporters were escorted from north Liverpool to the city centre after the game, they were pelted with bricks and bottles, among other objects thrown from Everton fans.
Chief Inspector Chris Armitt claimed “around 300 rival supporters” were involved in the confrontations.
Four police officers were injured, with another taken to the hospital for five stitches and a broken hand.
The Liverpool Echo suggested that Liverpool fans also joined forces with Everton supporters against United after the travelling fans sang distasteful songs about the city.
Speaking about the events of that day during an episode of ‘The Real Football Factories’ with Danny Dyer, former Everton hooligan Andy Nicholls claimed: “30 of their [United’s] main lads peeled off [from the larger group] and called it on… Everton had 200 and filled them in.”
In the same episode, Eddie ‘Beef’, a former member of United’s ‘Red Army’ firm, had a different take.
He said: “Man United stood their ground and got beat up… not beat up, there were fewer numbers, and I wasn’t there personally myself, but a few of my friends were. We got hijacked off about 200 people… and that’s why [Everton hooligans] thought they done Man United but they didn’t really. Seriously, they never did and never did because… we’re hard as f****** nails.”
Nicholls disagreed with Eddie and said he was “talking s****”.
Welshman Nicholls received a two-year football banning order preventing him from attending every football ground in England and Wales in October 2003.
Topics: Liverpool, Everton, Manchester United, Millwall
Luke Davies