Inter City Firm

The Inter City Firm (ICF) is an English football hooligan firm mainly active in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, associated with West Ham United. The name came from the use of InterCity trains to travel to away games.[1]

Inter City Firm
Founding locationEast London
Years active1978–Present
TerritoryEast London
EthnicityWhite English
Criminal activitiesFootball hooliganism, riots, fighting, organised crime

Notable associates

One figure associated with the ICF was Cass Pennant,[2] who wrote on football hooliganism in the 1990s and 2000s. He is the subject of the film Cass, which was released on 1 August 2008.[3] In Congratulations You Have Just Met the ICF, Pennant, a black Londoner, maintains that the ICF was not racist or right-wing.

The main character in the film Rise of the Footsoldier, Carlton Leach, is also associated with the ICF. He, along with Pat Tate, Tony Tucker and Craig Rolfe, later started to get involved in the criminal underworld in London. They strayed away from the dangers of football fights, to focus on selling drugs and taxing dealers. Tate, Tucker and Rolfe met a brutal end when they were murdered in their Range Rover on a farm road in Rettendon, Essex.

In the foreword to Manchester United hooligan Colin Blaney's book Undesirables: The Inside Story of the Inter City Jibbers, Cass Pennant has stated that he is now friendly with members of various other firms,[4] including Manchester United and Manchester City, suggesting that some of the rivalries of yesteryear have now died down.

Calling cards

The ICF pioneered calling cards that were left on victims.[5] They read "Congratulations, you've just met the ICF". Similar cards were used by Leeds United Service Crew. This became, "Congratulations you've just met the famous ICF", when the ICF were the subject of a Thames Television documentary, Hooligan, which featured ICF members including Cass Pennant.

The ICF were the basis of Alan Clarke's 1988 film, The Firm. Gary Oldman plays Bex Bissell, the leader of the ICC - Inter City Crew. Members of the ICF were used as consultants on the film.[1] The 2005 film Green Street was based on the ICF, but not by name. Instead, the initials GSE (Green Street Elite) were used. The ICF make an appearance in Irvine Welsh's novellas Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance. The ICF are also suggested in the 2009 film Green Street 2: Stand Your Ground. The ICF also make a return as the GSE in Green Street 3: Never Back Down.

References
  1. Haley, A.J. (2001). "British Soccer Superhooligans, Emergence and Establishment: 1982-2000". The Sport Journal. United States Sports Academy. 4. Archived from the original on 2007-06-15. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
  2. "Cass Pennant Author & Hooliologist". casspennant.com. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
  3. "Cass". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
  4. Blaney, Colin (2014). Undesirables. John Blake. pp. x. ISBN 978-1782198970.
  5. "Violence at West Ham is proof that hooliganism has never gone away". www.timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-02-02.
  • Pennant, Cass (18 August 2003). Congratulations You Have Just Met the ICF. Blake Publishing. ISBN 978-1-904034-85-8.
  • Gardner, Bill; Pennant, Cass (25 August 2006). Good Afternoon, Gentlemen, the Name's Bill Gardner. John Blake Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84454-261-1.
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