NME: From The Bender Squad to The Gremlins; Inside Newcastle's Football Hooligan Firm

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And on October 25 2008, he was involved in trouble at the Stadium of Light after the Wear- Tyne derby clash. As a result of the club's rivalry with Sunderland, the Gremlins have been in various altercations with the Seaburn Casuals. In March 2002, hooligans from both firms clashed in a pre-arranged fight near the North Shields ferry terminal in what was described as "some of the worst football related fighting ever witnessed in the United Kingdom". Both of the firms' leaders were both jailed for four years for conspiracy, with 28 others jailed for various terms. On 2 April 2003, about 95 fans were arrested when around 200 fans of Sunderland and Newcastle clashed in Sunderland city centre before an UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying match between England and Turkey in the city.

Rival soccer thugs used this network of mobile phone calls and text messaging to rally support for a vicious fight on Tyneside. People often drift away from hooliganism when they get a older and settle down. People with a wife and children have more to lose. It adds: "Bryan Hird can be then seen to gesture with his left hand and apparently shout ‘come on’ towards the Sunderland fans. He then appears to mouth the words ‘ ****ing ******s’."He got his first in March 2005, which expired on March 1 2007 and just two days later, he was involved in bother again. But the hooligans had not realised their goading text messages and taunting calls were to lead police straight to the organisers. After this rumour came out he left the Newcastle football scene,” he said. “I think it’s safe to say he hasn’t shown his face in Newcastle city centre for the last three years and no one really saw or heard from him. I think that’s how he started following Gateshead. Because he wasn’t welcome at Newcastle.” His solicitor argued that committed Gateshead FC fan Hutchison simply could not resist the opportunity to see his team play in the once in a lifetime fixture. Dozens of calls and text messages then went to and from the Casuals contingent until a posse were rounded up and headed by ferry from South Shields to the North Shields quay.

A notorious Tyneside football hooligan bombarded his ex-girlfriend with aggressive and sexually abusive messages during an eight-week campaign of harassment. This sort of football hooliganism is something that is very much under reported. This type of meeting is something that still goes on and seems to be on the increase. NME, From the Bender Squad to the Gremlins, attempts to cover every major event in the world of Newcastle football violence over the last five decades. April 2003 - Away match at Fulham. Mann arrested before game and released afterwards without charge. Mennim was accepted into the Bender Squad’s fold. And with this firm, and later the notorious Gremlins, he travelled the country looking for fights.

Young is known to have a tattoo on his left leg which has both The Stone Island badge and the words ‘Newcastle Gremlins’ on it. The result of it all was one of our lads was in a coma on Saturday night in a bad way but came too yesterday afternoon. Among those in the celebration was the convicted football hooligan Noel Renton and other banned supporters, including Darren Fryer, Bryan Heron and Simon Chollerton. Dr Geoff Pearson, lecturer at the University of Liverpool's Football Research Unit, writes for the Chronicle.

Today, the Chronicle can reveal the extent of the planning by the ringleaders of the Newcastle Gremlins and Seaburn Casuals to arrange the clash on North Shields New Quay ferry landing which terrorised a community.

It is very difficult to police because it happens away from the grounds. There is a lot of organisation and planning that goes into these meetings.

The banning application said: “At approximately 12.35pm the escort reached The Dog public house at the junction of Westmoreland Road and Marlborough Crescent. He said: “His conviction in 2001 relates to the most serious and organised incident of football violence I have seen in 15 years of policing football.” The statement detailing the build-up to the Stoke violence continued: “The Newcastle risk group are known to have left in small groups by taxi to another pub nearby, the Seven Stars, High Street, Wrekenton.” Entitled NME, From the Bender Squad to the Gremlins, Inside Newcastle’s Football Hooligan Firm, the book, penned by Mennim with Steve Wraith and Stuart Wheatman, aims to set the record straight about Tyneside’s firms.Two year later, CCTV footage later captured Suttle during a fierce confrontation in which he threw fists at a rival fan less than an hour before the Tyne-Wear clash on October 31 last year. More than nine years on and Jary, of Horsley Hill Road, South Shields, was caught causing trouble at the Tyne Wear derby at St James’s Park in February. It’s like a window into history from a first hand point of view. It isn’t there to glamorise it, it’s to tell the story.”