Hooligans and the hooliganism in England

Green Street is a 2005 British/American independent fictional movie about football hooliganism in England. It was directed by Lexi Alexander and stars Elijah Wood and Charlie Hunnam. In the United States and Australia, the film is called Green Street Hooligans, while in the United Kingdom it has the title Green Street after initially being called Hooligans. In other countries, it is called Football Hooligans or just Hooligans. The name of the firm in film, the Green Street Elite, refers to Green Street in the London Borough of Newham, where West Ham's home stadium, Boleyn Ground (more commonly known as Upton Park) is located. West Ham is supported by one of England's notorious hooligan firms: the Inter City Firm (ICF). In the film, an American college student (Matt Buckner — played by Elijah Wood) falls in with a violent West Ham football firm (the Green Street Elite) run by his brother-in-law and is morally transformed by their commitment to each other. The story and screenplay were developed by former hooligan turned author Dougie Brimson. Throughout the film, the Green Street Elite fight other "firms" such as Tottenham Hotspur's Yid Army, Birmingham City's Zulus, Manchester United's Red Army and Millwall's Bushwackers. The Inter City Firm ('ICF') is an English football hooligan firm mainly active in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, associated with West Ham United. The name came from the use of InterCity trains used to travel to away games. The ICF was still active as of 2009. The Millwall Bushwackers are a hooligan firm associated with Millwall F.C. The original firm associated with Millwall was known as F-Troop. The hooligan firm still exists today. However, the firm is not as large as it was at its height in the 1980s. This is due in part to ex-Millwall chairman Theo Paphitis' introduction of a membership scheme following the events outside The New Den on the evening of the Birmingham City play off semi-final in May 2002. In January 1988, when Millwall were knocked out of the FA Cup by Arsenal in a third round match at Highbury, 41 Millwall hooligans were arrested after clashing with Arsenal's firm The Herd. In August 1993, Millwall relocated to the New Den and ended that season third in Division One, entering the playoffs to try and win a place in the FA Premier League. However, they were eliminated in the playoff semi-finals by Derby County, and the game at the New Den had to be halted twice due to pitch invasions by Millwall hooligans. There was also widespread fighting in the stands. On 2 May 2002, after the Division One playoffs brought another semi-final exit for Millwall, almost 100 police officers were injured when Millwall hooligans attacked them with missiles in the stadium and in the streets surrounding it. This was one of several major incidents involving Millwall hooligans during the 2001-02 season. On 4 August 2001, just before the season began, Millwall hooligans clashed with those of Tottenham Hotspur outside the Caulkers public house in Bermondsey, in which there were dozens of injuries; the casualties included 30 police officers, three horses and a man who needed treatment for stab wounds. 17 days later, also in London, Millwall fans ran riot in the streets surrounding The Den and caused damage to buildings and vehicles, as well as throwing missiles at police officers after a Football League Cup tie with Cardiff City. Four days afterwards, some 250 Millwall hooligans attacked Burnley fans as they arrived at Bermondsey railway station for a league game. On 31 October, a similar number of Millwall hooligans rampaged in Wolverhampton before a league clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers, which resulted in two Wolves fans suffering facial stab wounds. On 13 December, some 100 Millwall and Portsmouth hooligans clashed at the Windmill public house near Waterloo railway station. Every window in the building was smashed and most of the fixtures and fittings were damaged or destroyed, but all of the hooligans escaped before police could arrest them. On 16 March, Millwall hooligans pelted visiting Sheffield Wednesday fans with bricks and bottles during a league match at The Den; two police officers were hospitalised as a result of the incident. In October 2004, during a Football League Cup tie at home to Liverpool, Millwall fans taunted their Liverpool counterparts with songs making fun of the Hillsborough disaster which had claimed the lives of 96 Liverpool fans in 1989. This escalated into violent clashes between fans of the two teams. Seven months later, three Liverpool fans received three-month prison sentences and a further two avoided prison sentences but received banning orders. Three Millwall fans received three-month prison sentences and six-year banning orders. In February 2011, Millwall fans threw missiles onto the pitch during a Football League Championship fixture against Middlesbrough at the New Den, which almost led to the game being called off. A club spokesman warned in a statement released to the national press that anyone found guilty of involvement in the missile-throwing will be banned from the New Den for life.