Rise of the ‘schooligans’: how a wave of antisocial behaviour threatens non-league football

Teenage ultras are increasingly causing disorder and communities fear it will not be long before it becomes something more dangerous 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

Teenage ultras are increasingly causing disorder and communities fear it will not be long before it becomes something more dangerous 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?

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