It is five past three on Saturday afternoon and the teenage ultras of Hednesford Town are running late. They have arrived in Chester for their team’s National League North fixture and have hailed taxis, determined to make their presence felt at the ground. But word appears to have got out about their arrival.
As one car turns away from the city’s charming half-timbered houses and into narrow residential streets, half a dozen local youths appear, haring round the corner in balaclavas. They try to attack the cab and chase after it as it pulls away. The smell of pyro is everywhere.
As the taxi finally gets clear, the Chester gang stops in the middle of the road, shouting and gesticulating. One lad, no older than 16, pulls a long blade from inside his trousers and brandishes it. The incident ended there and no one was hurt, though a police investigation has been launched.
The match went off without trouble too and the Hednesford gang – known at home as the “schooligans” – were escorted safely back to the station by Cheshire police. It was just another weekend in English non-league football, where a wave of antisocial behaviour is causing concern and leading the UK Football Policing Unit (UKFPU) to declare it its “most important” priority. As the disorder continues, a question remains: how long will it be before teenage trouble-making becomes something more dangerous?
This year clubs from the south coast to the north-east have reported disorder caused by supporters under the age of 18, some seemingly as young as 10. In February, Aldershot Town experienced a series of disorderly incidents involving young people that included brawls outside the ground, behaviour the club described as “wholly unacceptable and [which] will not be tolerated”. In August, Enfield Town said they were “concerned and disappointed” by young fans at a fixture in Lewes.
Two weeks ago, a Gloucester City fan was hit by a rock thrown by teenagers at Redditch United during an FA Trophy tie. Even Soham Town Rangers of the ninth-tier Eastern Counties League urged parents to ensure their children make “sensible choices” ahead of a match against Mildenhall Town. Hednesford have experienced consistent trouble for a number of seasons and in August their owner and chair, Craig Gwilt, attempted to face it down.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
