The Quality Street Gang operated in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, England, in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Although considered by some senior officers in the
Greater Manchester Police
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England.
, Greater Manchester Police employed 6,866 police officers, 3,524 memb ...
to be the instigators of much of Manchester's major crime, many others believed that the gang was nothing more than a social friendship between a group of men, most of whom came from
Ancoats
Ancoats is an area of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. It is located next to the Northern Quarter, the northern part of Manchester city centre.
Historically in Lancashire, Ancoats became a cradle of the Industrial Revolution and has ...
.
Name
The group was reportedly named after a 1960s TV advertisement for
Quality Street confectionery which showed an eclectic and smartly dressed group of people. Once when the "gang" walked into a pub someone supposedly shouted "Hey it's the Quality Street Gang" and the name stuck.
Another story says the name came about because most of the gang members were overweight.
History
The gang is supposed to have existed from the 1960s through to till the 1980s. There is an urban legend that says some of them met the
Kray twins
Ronald Kray (24 October 193317 March 1995) and Reginald Kray (24 October 19331 October 2000) were identical twin brothers, gangsters and convicted criminals. They were the foremost perpetrators of organised crime in the East End of London, Engl ...
at persuading them to return to London, which they did the next day.
However, senior members of
Greater Manchester Police
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England.
, Greater Manchester Police employed 6,866 police officers, 3,524 memb ...
have said that in the entire time the gang was supposed to exist not a single member was ever arrested or convicted of any crime, making some doubt the Quality Street Gang were ever a group of organised criminals.
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
football hooligan Colin Blaney claims that members of the Quality Street Gang had links to a criminal element within the gang associated with the club known as the Inter City Jibbers, and carried out armed robberies together in Holland. His book includes a photograph alleged to show a Quality Street Gang member at the wedding of Inter City Jibbers member John "The Grid" McKee, whom Blaney alleges was also heavily involved in the Dutch underworld.
In 1986,
John Stalker
John Stalker (14 April 1939 – 15 February 2019) was a British police officer who served as Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police. He headed the Stalker Inquiry that investigated the shooting of suspected members of the Provision ...
, the Deputy Chief Constable of
Greater Manchester Police
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England.
, Greater Manchester Police employed 6,866 police officers, 3,524 memb ...
, was suspended over accusations that he had attended social events at which members of the gang were present. Stalker was later cleared.
References in contemporary culture
Alex Murphy referred to
Salford
Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...
's successful rugby league team of the 1960s and 1970s as the Quality Street Gang.
The
Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or some ...
song "
The Boys Are Back in Town
"The Boys Are Back in Town" is a song by Irish hard rock band Thin Lizzy. The song was originally released in 1976 as the first single from their album '' Jailbreak''. It is considered by ''Rolling Stone'' to be the band's best song, placing it ...
" is believed to be a reference to the Quality Street Gang, as also was their song "
Johnny the Fox Meets Jimmy the Weed". Jimmy the Weed was the nickname for Jimmy Donnelly, who was for many years associated with the gang.
Philomena Lynott
Philomena Lynott (22 October 1930 – 12 June 2019) was an Irish author and entrepreneur. She was the mother of Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott. Her autobiography, ''My Boy'', documents their relationship. She was the proprietor of the Clifton ...
, the mother of
Phil Lynott
Philip Parris Lynott (, ; 20 August 1949 – 4 January 1986) was an Irish singer, bassist, and songwriter. His most commercially successful group was Thin Lizzy, of which he was a founding member, the principal songwriter, lead vocalist and ba ...
, the singer/songwriter of the band, ran the Clifton Grange Hotel in
Whalley Range at the time and it was there that some of the alleged gang members met, along with showbusiness people and sports stars such as
George Best
George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United. A highly skilful dribbler, Best is regarded as one of the greatest pla ...
. The band became friendly with these people.
References
Further reading
*
*
*{{cite book , title=Street Fighting Man: The Inside Story of Britain's Greatest Mob , first=Jimmy , last=Swords , publisher=Mainstream Publishing , year=2010 , isbn=978-1-845966-20-1
Organizations established in the 1960s
1960s establishments in England
Organizations disestablished in the 1980s
1980s disestablishments in England
Organised crime groups in England
Gangs in Manchester