May 6, 1967: The Modern Age of Football Hooliganism Begins

May 6, 1967: The modern age of "football hooliganism" begins. And it's in celebration of one of the best soccer teams in English history.

Matt Busby managed Manchester United to the Football League Division One title in 1956 and 1957. After the Munich Air Disaster of 1958, he had to rebuild his team almost from scratch. But they managed to finish 2nd in 1959. It was an outlier: The next 4 seasons, they finished 7th, 7th, 15th and 19th, barely avoiding relegation to Division Two in 1963, although they did manage to win the FA Cup.

By that point, the players known as "The Trinity" were in place: English forward Bobby Charlton, Scottish forward Denis Law, and Northern Irish winger George Best. In 1964, they finished 2nd. In 1965, they won the League again. In 1966, they finished 4th. In all 3 seasons, they reached the Semifinals of the FA Cup. In 1966, as his ill-fated "Busby Babes" did in 1957 and 1958, they reached the Semifinal of the European Cup. And in 1967, they went into the final game of the season, on May 6, needing a win or a loss by Nottingham Forest to clinch the title.

All this success, both before and after the Air Disaster, made them a popular team beyond the Manchester area: Television coverage made them nationally popular, especially with Charlton having helped England win the 1966 World Cup; and Best's long hair, skill and personality making him the most popular player in the country.

This success did not necessarily transfer to their national teams: Although Charlton and midfielder Norbert "Nobby" Stiles were members of England's 1966 World Cup winners, Law's Scotland and Best's Northern Ireland did not qualify for that tournament. Scotland, with Law, did famously beat England, with Charlton and Stiles, 3-2 at Wembley Stadium in London on April 15, 1967, but the Scots' claim of being "Unofficial World Champions" was not taken seriously.

By 1967, Man United were probably the most popular team in England. They were also, arguably, the 4th-most popular team within London's M25 motorway (their equivalent of a road "beltway"), behind North London's Tottenham Hotspur (League and FA Cup "Double" winners in 1961, Cup winners again in 1962 and 1967, European Cup Winners' Cup winners in 1963), West London's Chelsea (not very successful, but popular among denizens of the city's nearby theatre district), and East London's West Ham United (1964 FA Cup winners, 1965 Cup Winners' Cup winners, and the darlings of the working class).

By this point, North London team Arsenal, which hadn't won the League since 1953 or the Cup since 1950, and were nearly relegated in 1966, were considered just about irrelevant. Little did anyone know that their rebuilding effort would result in a Double in 1971.

Best certainly enjoyed taking the train down from Manchester to London to enjoy the capital's delights, its "wine, women and song," which would ultimately ruin his health and lead to his death in 2005, not quite 60 years old. His shenanigans are also the best way to deny later United manager Alex Ferguson's statement that, had Paul Gascoigne left Newcastle for him, instead of for Tottenham, he could have kept him on the straight and narrow, in Manchester and out of London. Carousers will always find a way.

There had always been "firms" of "hooligans" following English soccer teams. In the East End, West Ham had already developed one of the most fearsome, which would become the Inter-City Firm (ICF). Manchester United had the Red Army. But their London following was big enough that they had a separate firm of Londoners, "The Cockney Reds."

This infuriated West Ham fans: While pretty much everybody from outside the M25 thinks of everybody from inside it was a "Cockney," the word has a specific definition: A person born "within the sound of Bow Bells," meaning the bells of the Church of St Mary-le-Bow, on the street known as Cheapside, a mile and a half from Central London -- but only a 5-minute walk from the much larger St. Paul's Cathedral. Both churches were rebuilt after the Great Fire of London in 1666, and both were designed by the greatest architect of the age, Sir Christopher Wren.

On May 6, the next-to-last weekend of the League season, Man United needed to win 1 of their last 2 games to clinch the title. The suspense ended early: Charlton scored in the 2nd minute, Pat Crerand in the 7th, and Bill Foulkes in the 10th. Best scored in the 25th, and Law in the 63rd (on a penalty) and the 79th. The Irons' only goal came from John Charles, who, 4 years earlier, became their 1st black player. (He should not be confused with the John Charles who starred for Leeds United, Juventus, Cardiff City, and the Wales national team.)

But after the game, the Cockney Reds began throwing bottles, rocks, and whatever else they could get their hands on, at anything damageable: Windows, cars, people. According to local newspapers, 20 people were hospitalized, and 12 were arrested.

As one member of West Ham's ICF put it in a book about their doings, in particular their relationship with Man United: "Attitudes changed toward them. They had some respect after the Munich air crash, and many an old boy round our way admired the way they had rebuilt after that. After 1967, any respect they had went out the door, and it hasn't changed to this day."

Over the late 1960s, the 1970s, and the early 1980s, things would continually get worse and worse. By the mid-1970s, "perimeter fencing" was put around the fields at many stadiums, to prevent "pitch invasions." The idea was, if the fans were going to act like animals, the authorities were going to put them in cages. But that didn't prevent fighting in the stands, and it certainly didn't prevent it outside the stadiums.

*

May 6, 1967 was a Saturday. It was the day my parents got married in their hometown of Newark, New Jersey. It rained that day, which was said to be a good omen for a marriage. Theirs lasted 47 years. My parents couldn't have cared less about soccer, even though America's 1st top-flight soccer league had just begun play. Their old neighborhood didn't care, despite being mostly Italian-American: People there didn't care much about what was going on in "the old country." The neighborhood sure cares about it now, as it's populated mostly by Central and South Americans.

Elsewhere in English football that day: Arsenal beat Staffordshire team Stoke City, 3-1 at Highbury in North London; Liverpool and the other North London team, Tottenham Hotspur, who would go on to win the FA Cup 2 weeks later, played to a 0-0 draw at Anfield in Liverpool; Everton, also of Liverpool and the defending League Champions, beat Aston Villa, 4-2 at Villa Park in Birmingham; Manchester City and Yorkshire team Sheffield United played to a draw, 1-1 at Maine Road in Manchester; and Midlands team Leicester City beat North-East team Newcastle United, 4-2 at Filbert Street in Leicester.

On the same day, Scotland's league finished its season. The Glasgow derby, "the Old Firm," between Rangers and Celtic, was played to a 2-2 draw. They had a "ruck" (or an "off"), too: Among the fans, 50 were injured, and 39 were arrested. Celtic won the League, and went on to win the Scottish Cup, and the League Cup, and became the 1st British team to win the European Cup: A still-unique "Quadruple": No other team in European soccer has managed that.

American football was out of season. The NHL season had ended 2 days earlier, with the Toronto Maple Leafs beating the Montreal Canadiens for the Stanley Cup. The NBA season had ended on April 24, with the Philadelphia 76ers beating the San Francisco Warriors. Both of those Finals went to 6 games.

These games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-3 at Atlanta Stadium (later Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). Pete Rose went 3-for-4 with a solo home run. Hank Aaron went 1-for-4 with 2 RBIs. Joe Torre went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-5 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. George Spriggs singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-4. Bill Mazeroski went 3-for-5. Willie Stargell did not play. For the Giants, Willie Mays went 0-for-4 with a walk. Jack Hiatt, starting at 1st base in place of Willie McCovey, went 2-for-4 with a home run and 4 RBIs. McCovey later pinch-hit, and went 0-for-2.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 2-0 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Joe Horlen pitched 7 innings of 3-hit shutout ball, and Bob Locker pitched 2 perfect innings to finish it.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 4-1 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Al Kaline hit a home run. Frank Robinson went 1-for-3 with a walk. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-4.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 5-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Lou Brock went 1-for-5 with a stolen base. Orlando Cepeda hit 2 home runs. Ernie Banks went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-2 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-4. Rookie of the Year Rod Carew went 2-for-4. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-4.

* The Washington Senators beat the California Angels, 2-0 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Barry Moore had pitched 3 innings of 3-hit shutout ball, but had also walked 4 batters, and was moved in favor of Darold Knowles. He allowed just 2 hits over the last 6 innings, and completed the shutout.

* As I said, it rained in the New York Tri-State Area, so the New York Mets and the Houston Astros were rained out at Shea Stadium. The game was made up on July 20, and the Astros won, 7-0. Don Wilson pitched a 2-hit shutout, allowing only singles by Larry Stahl and Ed Charles, and walks to Stahl and Ed Kranepool.

* The rain that hit the Northeast on May 6 also rained out the Philadelphia Phillies and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on July 18. The Phils won the opener, 5-0. Rick Wise pitched a 4-hit shutout. The Dodgers won the nightcap, 2-1.

* And while the New York Yankees were on the road, they, too, got rained out, against the Kansas City Athletics at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on June 27. The A's won the 1st game, 10-2. Future Yankee Jim "Catfish" Hunter outpitched Al Downing. The Yanks won the 2nd game, 2-1. Joe Verbanic outpitched Chuck Dobson. Mickey Mantle went 1-for-3 with a walk in the 1st game, and drew a walk as a pinch-hitter in the 2nd game.