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| The Subway Army were a Hooligan firm associated with Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
(Wolves) during the 1970s and 1980s. The firm rose to fame during the 1970s by
ambushing rival fans in subway leading to Wolves home ground, Molineux, a tactic which earned them their Subway Army
tag. The firm
eventually dispanded and were replaced with the Bridge Boys
The self styled leader of the Subway Army, under the alias Lennie(also Stingy
Lee), achieved notoriety when unwittingly taking part in a BBC Two undercover expose on hooliganism in the UK,
entitled Hooligans. In the programme, Lennie was seen in the midst of a
post-match fight between the Subway Army and the West Bromwich Albion firm,
Section Five. The Subway Army were getting the worst of the fight and had
scattered everywhere. One of the WBA Section Five firm came up to Lennie, asking
"Are you Wolves", to which Lennie replied, "Nah, mate, West Brom". Then as soon
as he turned away, Lennie hit him from behind, but his punch failed to move him,
whereupon Lennie turned and ran. An action which earned Lennie the tag in the
Sunday Mirror newspaper of "Lennie, the king of the cowards".
Many of the firm were arrested in dawn raids, under the code names "Operation
Growth" or "Get Rid Of Wolves Troublesome Hooligans". The Subway Army have been known to clash with supporters of rival clubs
including West Bromwich Albion, Walsall, Aston Villa and Birmingham
City, although they have also fought with the fans of other clubs, including
Millwall. On 31 October 2001, members of the Subway Army were in the Feathers pub, near
Molineux, in Wolverhampton
before a home game against Millwall, when a group of up to 250 Millwall
Bushwackers burst through the police lines at Wolverhampton railway station.
They attacked the Feathers pub, and two Wolves fans were slashed in the face
with stanley knives. The
groups were split up before the rest of the Wolves hooligans could get
there.
On 5 April 2002, in the return fixture, the Subway Army arrived in Paddington trying to get revenge.
However, they were spotted by two police officers, and their coach was escorted
to The
Den. A policing operation of over 300 police officers prevented the Millwall
and Wolves groups from clashing. Police were though pelted with bricks, bottles
and fireworks by Millwall fans attempting to get to the Wolves fans.
On 21 April 2002 Wolves were playing away at Sheffield
Wednesday. Before the game, members of the Sheffield United hooligan firm, the
Blades Business Crew attempted to ambush Wolves fans at the railway
station. 14 people were arrested. During the game about 500 Wolves fans who had
got into a section of home seating at Hillsborough were moved into an empty
corner of the stadium. After the match the trouble continued with the three
rival groups of fans roaming Sheffield city centre looking for trouble. Two police
officers and a steward were injured during clashes.
In September 2003, an article in The Guardian mentioned a new firm, the Diamond
Army. They were said to be named after the nickname of their leader,
Diamond. Members of the firm were said to have received banning orders of
between five and eleven years
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