Hooligans 2 (Back to Scrapbook)
Canaries' hooligan past remembered
DAVID BALE
16 February 2008 11:32
Violence involving Norwich City fans is fortunately a rare thing these days - but it wasn't always the case.
And now a new book has delved into the murky past of football hooliganism - recalling numerous tales of trouble between city and opposition fans.
Hooligans 2 is a follow-up to the popular book Hooligans: The A-L and features the history of football hooligans at clubs alphabetically from M to Z. And its 10-page section on Norwich City is packed with incidents from football's bad old days.
Colin Ward in his seminal terrace autobiography Steaming In said it was hard to find a punch-up in the city, but Andy Nicholls, co-author of the new book and an ex-football hooligan himself, said he understated the activities of the hooligan minority at Norwich City.
He writes: “While they've never been in the Premier League of thugs, they have often been active. And the city's nearness to Yarmouth and relative closeness to London has ensured a steady stream of travelling mobs coming into town.”
The book recalls that football disorder was first nationally noted at Norwich in 1967 when home fans clashed with Crystal Palace supporters.
But Norwich hit the national news in December 1975 when the visitors were West Ham and their fans ran amok after the Canaries were awarded a penalty late in the game.
As recounted in the book, dozens of Hammers fans had infiltrated the Barclay stand and remained unnoticed until the referee's decision. They then charged the home crowd.
Hundreds of fans were forced on to the pitch to escape the fighting, though many of the injuries were caused when fans were crushed by the stand barrier.
Thirty-one people were arrested and 34 injured and The Evening News said at the time the scenes resembled a “battlefield” noting it was “probably the worst instance of crowd trouble ever seen at Norwich”.
Soon afterwards more trouble flared up when Manchester United visited, with fighting breaking out with locals soon after their arrival, with one United fan stabbed.
During the game a United fan famously scaled the stand roof at the Barclay Stand and then fell through it, plummeting to the concrete terrace, only to be attacked by home fans as he lay injured on the ground. Thirty people, including eight police officers, were injured and 19 United fans were convicted following the game.
Violence at Norwich continued down the years, though on most occasions it was caused by visiting fans, and police are now firmly on top, especially for the bigger games.
THE OLD RIVALS
The Canaries and Ipswich Town have been rivals for decades, and each match between the two sides, whose grounds are about 45 miles apart, is a potential flashpoint for trouble.
In recent years, though, with the general behaviour of fans improving and policing levels stepped up, flare-ups have been few and far between.
The book spends several pages detailing the fierce rivalry between the clubs. The rivalry flared up in 1985 when Norwich were drawn against Ipswich in the semi-final of the Milk Cup.
Norwich fans got into the Pioneer Stand, where the Ipswich mob based themselves, and before long violence erupted.
Ipswich won the game by a single goal, and at the return leg at Carrow Road, the Ipswich crew commandeered the Woolpack pub. But a heavy police presence prevented anything more than a few bottles before thrown.
Another match in the early '80s saw Norwich fans occupy a pub close to Ipswich train station, well tooled up courtesy of some rubble from roadworks.
Leaving the pub the Norwich fans were faced by a mob of 150 locals and missiles were exchanged.
The trouble resurfaced last year when at least 10 Ipswich Town fans were arrested after being involved in a pre-arranged fight against Norwich supporters at Ipswich railway station on March 31.
Canaries' fans returning from their game at Colchester clashed with Blues' fans who had been at home to Plymouth on the day.
Both sets of fans are believed to have pre-arranged the violence and as the 7pm train from Liverpool Street pulled into Ipswich at 8.10pm the fighting broke out.
Several people were assaulted including railway staff. Families with young children fled the violence as rival supporters clashed. The train had to make an emergency stop when Ipswich hooligans tried to get through the windows as it pulled away.
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