Spotlight on football violence

Friday 15th February 2008, 11:23AM GMT.

Co-author Andy Nicholls A new book that details the darker side of football features a look at Shrewsbury’s hooligan element and its rivalry with gangs following Wrexham and Telford.

Hooligans 2, which is written by Nick Lowles and Andy Nicholls, features a 15-page chapter dedicated to Shrewsbury Town.

The book details the firms and rival gangs associated with football clubs from M-Z, following a previous volume which looked at the first half of the alphabet.

It also features a history of soccer violence in the town.

The book says violence in Shrewsbury related around the English Border Front and its rivalries with Wrexham and Telford.

It says: “Organised football violence arrived late in the Shropshire market town. There had been the odd outbreak of disorder dating back to the mid-Sixties but it was essentially random.

“When the football casual movement finally caught on in the town, in the mid-Eighties, the name English Border Front was adopted by Shrewsbury’s soccer gang.”

The book outlines examples of football violence in the town, including the visit of Chelsea to the Gay Meadow in the late 1970s.