The Red Army is a
hooligan firm
Hooligan firms (also known as football firms) are groups that participate in football hooliganism in European countries. For groups in Latin America, see barra brava and torcida organizada.
Belgium
* Club Brugge – East Side
*RSC Anderlecht ...
who follow
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
football club
Manchester United. Although today the term Red Army is used mostly to refer to fans of the club in general, the hooligan firm has been one of the largest firms in British football. Firm members – and the firm itself – are sometimes known as the Men in Black, due to the members dressing in all black clothing. In his book ''Hotshot'', Red Army hooligan Harry Gibson states that there are also sub-divisions of the firm known as the Young Munichs, the Inter City Jibbers (ICJ), the M58 Firm and the Moston Rats. In his book ''Undesirables'', Colin Blaney has also stated that the ICJ is dedicated to carrying out acquisitive forms of crime in addition to football hooliganism. He claims that members of the group have been involved in smuggling drugs to Europe and Asia from Latin America and the Caribbean, organizing jail breaks, carrying out armed robberies, travelling overseas to Asia and mainland Europe in order to steal jewellery and committing street robberies. It is the criminal wing of the Red Army.
Background
The Red Army was the name given to Manchester United away support during the 1970s. Most notoriously in
1974–75, when United had been relegated from the top flight of English football and played one season in the
Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
, the Red Army caused mayhem at grounds up and down the country, visiting stadiums where they would at times outnumber the home support. Together with a
Bolton Wanderers fan stabbing a young Blackpool fan to death behind the Spion Kop at
Bloomfield Road
Bloomfield Road is a single-tier football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the At ...
in
Blackpool during a Second Division match on 24 August 1974, this led to the introduction of crowd segregation and fencing at football grounds in England.
The Red Army were featured in the 1985 documentary ''Hooligan'', based around
West Ham United
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
's trip to
Old Trafford in the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
sixth round. It shows the Red Army fighting with the
Inter City Firm (ICF) around
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 ...
. They were also featured in ''
The Real Football Factories
''The Real Football Factories'' is a documentary series shown on the Bravo television channel in the United Kingdom and created by Zig Zag Productions. The show looks at the in-depth life of football hooligans and hooligan firms. Interviews a ...
'' documentary series. An
episode
An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a series intended for radio, television or streaming consumption.
The noun ''episode'' is derived from the Greek term ''epeisodion'' (), meaning th ...
of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
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...
'' centred on football hooliganism by Manchester United fans in the 1970s.
Tony O'Neill, the man behind the firm and a former member, has released two books about the firm: ''Red Army General'' in 2005 concentrating on the 1970s and early 1980s; and ''The Men in Black'' in 2006 which told the history from the mid-1980s to the present day.
Their activities have declined since the late 1980s as football hooliganism in general has become a less prolific problem than it was for more than a decade before that.