SPORTSHYPE: The Rise of the SuperHooligan

There's a fascinating article at The Sport Journal on British football "superhooligans":

This process culminated in the emergence in the early 1980s of named ‘superhooligan' gangs such as the ‘Inter City Firm' (ICF) of West Ham United, the ‘Service Crew' of Leeds, and ‘Gooners' of Arsenal, the ‘Bushwhackers' of Millwall, the ‘Baby Squad' of Leicester and the ‘Headhunters' of Chelsea. The ICF can serve as an example. They were one of the first ‘superhooligan' gangs to emerge and they chose their name in order to signify the fact that they pioneered the tactic of eschewing travel on ‘football special' trains wearing club favours, choosing, instead, the regular ‘Inter City' service and what they regarded as ‘smart' but ‘casual' clothing with no club colours in order not to advertise themselves as football fans to the police. These successful tactics spread during the early 1980s until most major crews were practicing similar techniques.
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