Derby Lunatic Fringe

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The Derby Lunatic Fringe (DLF) is a hooligan firm that has been active in Derby, England since the early 1970s.

DLF members have been known for mocking rival football hooligans with threatening calling cards. The DLF is the first football firm in England to have an Asian member.[citation needed] They have had a rivalry with supporters of Nottingham Forest F.C..[citation needed] The DLF began as small gangs of violent skinheads, usually under the influence of drugs and or alcohol.[citation needed]

Contents

[edit] 1970s: Origins

In 1970, there were two reported outbreaks of football violence involving Derby supporters. The first took place at a match against Manchester United. The Derby Evening telegraph's headline was "Car Burnt in Skinheads' Derby Rampage."[citation needed] At the Watney Cup Final with Derby County and Manchester United, after Derby scored against Manchester United, the two teams' hooligan elements charged at one another. In 1973, "Match Of the Day" televised the mayhem that occurred after a match with Derby County and Chelsea. The police struggled to keep the hooligan elements at bay, but violence erupted between the two team's hooligan firms.

At a 1974 match between Derby and Manchester United, police officers escorted members of firms associated with Manchester United around the back of the pitch, to avoid conflict with the Derby firm.[citation needed] Derby hooligans met with West Ham United supporters at Wembley stadium in 1975.[citation needed] Derby County fans have often fought against Nottingham Forest fans, and on January 16, 1978, the DLF fought against the Nottingham Forest Executive Crew.[citation needed] Five police officers were injured and 33 football hooligans were arrested in that incident.[citation needed] The remaining unarrested hooligans left a trail of destruction in their wake on Shaftsbury Street.[citation needed]

[edit] 1980s: Golden age

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On January 31, 1983 the DLF and the Chelsea Headhunters rendezvoused at a Derby County v Chelsea match. Whilst the Chelsea ChairmanKen Bates pleaded with his fans to "Stop it" he later suggested that Margaret Thatcher should deal with the problem.[citation needed] Meanwhile the fans took to removing seats from the stadiums and attacking one another with them. In February 7, 1983 the DLF set off to "intervene" in an up coming match Chelsea v Derby County. After ingesting drugs and alcohol the hooligans persistently caused mayhem on the coach and were eventually forced to get off by its driver. The disgruntled DLF were left at another football match Barnet v Ilkeston, the rest was history. Police reinforcements with dogs were called in after fighting broke out among fans. Bottles were used as weapons and many hooligans took to the pitch during the pre-match warm up by players.I February of 1983 Ilkeston firms and Enfield firms charged one another at the 79th minute of a top-flight FA trophy match. One policeman was hurt when attempting to restore order to the crowd. Two children were taken to hospital and 15 arrests followed.[citation needed]

May 10, 1984, the DLF brought madness and mayhem to Cassandra's Nightclub. 25 DLF youths raised hell in an Ashbourne nightclub. Glasses and chairs were hurled at Portsmouth fans in a rage. One youth had a splinter of glass removed from his eye. 4 members of the DLF were arrested and later pleaded not guilty to causing affray in Cassandra's Nightclub. June 6, 1984 an all out war broke out between Nottingham, Derby and Leicester Firms in the Nottingham City Centre. Which was left looking like a scene from Northern Ireland. In December 5, 1984 a football supporter was slashed with a knife and a mounted policeman was hit by a flying brick as the Derby Lunatic Fringe met with the Portsmouth Skull Patrol. The DLF would later almost cause a riot in Ashbourne. In October of 1985 the DLF went on a rampage in Leicester which caused the worst riots the City had ever seen. Hooligans were seen hurling petrol bombs at the police. A national manhunt was later staged to hunt down the riot's perpetrators. Later that month a crowd of 4,500 DLF members reaked havoc against the Baby Squad and 500 policemen.[citation needed]

[edit] 1990s: End of an era

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Millwall met Derby on August 27, 1994. It was the second home game of the new season at Millwall's New Den and a match which is loaded with significance for the club. The team they play today are Derby County - a club who beat them in the First Division playoffs just two and a half months earlier, denying Millwall the chance to play for promotion to the top flight.

That fixture saw an explosion of the type of crowd violence which has dogged Millwall for decades; a problem which many at the club hoped had disappeared. It hadn't. On May 18, during a bad-tempered and bitterly fought match, the pitch was invaded twice and two Derby players were, allegedly, attacked on the field.[citation needed] There was a running battle with Derby fans at the local Surrey Quays tube station. After the game, a Radio Derby car broadcasting from the game was set upon in the club's car park and turned over. This was the Millwall everyone's heard about.

Where reputation and folklore have combined to make a football club that has spent just two seasons of its 109-year history in the top flight, where the gates for last season averaged just over 9,000, arguably more famous across the country than any other team save, perhaps, Manchester United. It's a reputation that has inspired plays, documentaries and books, and the headlines "Mill-war" and "Mill-brawl" have become etched in the psyche of the nation. The newspapers loved the violence at the Derby game, made a big deal of it in a told-you-so kind of way. And Millwall supporters retained their tag as the most violent supporters in the land.

In 1997 more than 100 police succeeded in keeping rival Firms DLF and the Forest Executive Crew apart. One member of the Forest Executive Crew was charged with assaulting a police officer. In the the 1999/2000 season, DLF members faced 3,035 arrests while travelling to matches or already present at matches.[citation needed]

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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