Ex-West Ham hooligan says they 'lost battle' to surprising firm – but it wasn't Millwall

A former West Ham hooligan has recalled the fear-inducing encounters he experienced back in his days with a notorious football firm.

Mark Phillips, who currently holds a 15-year tenure coaching at academy, and previously served Arsenal's youth and worked as a London cabbie, belonged to the infamous Inter City Firm (IFC) during the height of violent football clashes in the '70s and '80s.

Recently, he appeared on the to discuss the era when hooliganism was rife and battles were commonplace near football grounds.

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Reflecting on his time with the football gang, he shared that the reality was quite different from common perceptions and noted that West Ham had a number of firms, with Mile End being the most infamous during his school days.

When probed by the host about "dangerous moments" and potential close calls, Mark delved into his scariest encounter, which surprisingly involved an unexpected set of supporters rather than the usual suspects like Millwall, whom he acknowledged as West Ham's fiercest rivals.

"Well I can remember one distinctly," responded Mark. "Although we were called the ICF, sometimes we would go to games on coaches, sometimes we would go on cars.

"But we went to a game at Preston on a coach. We were arrogant and lairy, oh we will go and have a drink anywhere, we will do this, we will do what we like."

He subsequently detailed how about 15 of them decided to "break away" given it was "only Preston" and they believed no threat existed. Referring to one individual present, Mark noted notorious West Ham hooligan Carlton Leach was among them.

However, he said: "They are all older than me but we all think we are the charvas and think we can look after ourselves.

"We come round this corner, away from the ground there's this boozer. And all ex-football (hooligans)... whatever you want to call us, we exaggerate. We are like football agents, I have never had a football agent ring me up and go 'oh I've got this player, he ain't that good really, but have a look at him.' He is always the best player in Europe.

"And football hooligans will go, yeah there were 50 of us, 300 of them, it is always that story. But there is a grain of truth in there somewhere but the numbers are just crackers."

Recalling more details of the incident in Preston, he said: "Anyway, I would say there is 15 of us, something like that, and just the arrogance and ridiculousness of it all, and we ain't looking for it. We are just looking for a beer.

"Then we come round this corner and I don't know, there was at least around 100 Preston, you know what I mean?"

"And then they are still coming towards us, not bouncing, but coming, and we ain't bouncing, and anyway they come across the road and we are just standing there - and then more (Preston Fans) come round the corner. We got run (attacked), run terrible, when you are getting run it is everywhere, every man for himself."

With a laugh, he added: "I'm in the back streets of Preston. Properly like, we are meant to be the top firm in the country! It happens though and you can't say you won everywhere. It is ridiculous and people say 'oh we never lost' but people lose battles all over the place, of course you do."

He also mentioned that the walk from Upton Park to the Boleyn Ground could be "horrendous" for away supporters, depending on which team they were backing.

When discussing fixtures notorious for hooligan violence, Mark quickly dismissed Chelsea's firm, stating that the Chelsea Headhunter thugs often felt "inferior" to West Ham and would usually avoid travelling to East London.

However, he did acknowledge the bravery of some rivals, noting: "To be fair, the only teams who have come to Upton Park... I mean Tottenham came one League Cup game, night game, and Dave Cross beat them one nil. Tottenham came out at Upton Park, bouncing, a little bit late, but they did.

"Arsenal come once in 86. [But] no one used to come to West Ham, whatever they say, in those days, no one came. I mean Chelsea are taking six, seven, eight thousand all round the country, going to Norwich, Ipswich, everywhere, massive firms. They brought 30 to West Ham.

"And people can throw things at the screen, say what they like, but that's what happened. That was the truth of it."