LEEDS UNITED SERVICE CREW
The club distances itself from any activities the Service Crew are involved in. During the height of the hooliganism, the Service Crew become one of the most notorious firms in European football, and in doing so nearly brought the club to its knees
In the 1982–83 season, in the clubs first game in the Second Division, some Leeds fans went on what was described in The Sun newspaper as "an orgy of drinking, looting and fighting" in Cleethorpes, where 600 Leeds fans had stayed the night before the match. In October, two Newcastle United players were hit by missiles at Elland Road and the FA ordered another enquiry.
Modern day crackdowns on football hooliganism and the heavy use of CCTV at grounds have, as with other firms, largely curtailed the activities of the Service Crew. While hooliganism continues at Leeds United, the nature of it has changed since the 1970s and 1980s. Improvements to security in Elland Road as with all grounds in England have led to confrontations more usually taking place away from stadiums.
On 28 April 2007, during the Championship game at Elland Road with Ipswich Town, about 200 home fans spilled on to the pitch and forced a 30-minute delay after a late Ipswich equaliser all but sealed Leeds' relegation to League One. Around 100 of them ran toward the South East stand where the away supporters were located. Eight wheelchair-using Ipswich fans suffered injuries including a cut face and bruising after they were trapped pitchside by the hooligans who showered them with coins, bottles and abuse. In January 2008 thirteen Leeds United fans were handed football banning orders totalling 45 years after they pleaded guilty to affray in connection with the pitch invasion.
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