Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh shed light on Hibernian’s rival firms during the peak of hooligan culture, with one Scottish team standing out from the rest
In the 1980s, Scottish novelist Irvine Welsh fought side by side with Hibernian’s infamous company.
The 65-year-old author of Trainspotting is a die-hard Hibs supporter who was present for the height of the team’s Capital City Service (CCS) business. Up until the middle of the 1990s, the hooligan gang—which formed in 1984—was among Scotland’s most formidable and feared criminal groups.
Although they are supposedly still active, their actions have decreased since football hooliganism in Scotland has generally declined. Welsh also talked about his encounters with supporters of the Scottish teams Celtic and Rangers, neither of which he considered to be the most powerful he had ever encountered.
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In the 2005 book “Terrace Legends,” written by Cass Penant and Martin King, he provided the following explanation: “In the 1970s, Celtic and Rangers would come through to Edinburgh and swamp us.” Even if it appeared that way at the time, not all of them were devoted hoolies! Aberdeen in the 1980s [had the most] probably had the highest number of hardened hooligans.
Overall, though, I was really impressed with several of the London-based companies I saw in terms of their organization and size. Right now, Manchester United and Cardiff City seem to have the biggest and best mobs.
“It’s hard to compare Scottish firms (or most English ones) on the basis of size, but Aberdeen has the most committed hoolilies right now, based mainly on anecdotal evidence.”
He went on, “Hearts [were our biggest rivals], but we still enjoy to beat each other every time, even if we both now probably despise Rangers and Celtic more because they are so wealthy.
“There has always been a rivalry between Rangers and Hibs, but the worst arguments usually still occur before, during, and after the first Edinburgh derbies of the season.”
Recalling a mass confrontation with Rangers hooligans in 1994 on Slateford Road, close to Hearts’ pitch, was Bobby Lipscombe, the infamous Hibs top boy. He described how some sixty opposing supporters, armed only with rods and chains, launched an assault on the Hibs casualties, who were armed only with their fists and boots.
One Rangers supporter was apprehended and “cabbaged,” which is code for unconsciously kicking someone, as the violence escalated to “bloody” and “nasty” levels.
“[His] head hanging all bloody,” Lipscombe remarked. He was hardly aware by the time we were through with him. A child from CCS expressed that he had had enough. I protested and gave him another kick to the head. He vanished without a trace. He would have treated me in the same way.”
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