# Andy Nicholls

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Welsh football hooligan

For the Irish painter, see [Andrew Nicholl](/source/Andrew_Nicholl).

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Andy Nicholls Nicholls in 2021 Born 1962 (age 63–64) Occupation Author Education Alun School Period Modern Genre Fandom and autobiography Subject Football hooliganism Organization County Road Cutters Style Casual Website andy-nicholls.co.uk Literature portal

Part of a series on Football hooliganism in the United Kingdom History 1980 Scottish Cup final riot 2000 UEFA Cup semi-final violence 2007 AS Roma–Manchester United F.C. conflict 2008 UEFA Cup final riots 2017 EFL League One play-off final pitch invasion Battle of Copenhagen Battle of Maze Hill Heysel Stadium disaster Lansdowne Road football riot Luton riot Marseille riot Trafalgar Square riots Upton Park riot Firms in England 6.57 Crew Arsenal's firms Aston Villa Hardcore Baby Squad Blades Business Crew Bushwackers County Road Cutters Headhunters Gremlins Hull City Psychos Inter City Firm Leeds United Service Crew Men in Gear The Muckers Naughty Forty Red Army Seaburn Casuals Section 5 Suicide Squad York Nomad Society Zulu Warriors Firms in Scotland Capital City Service Gorgie Aggro Section B Firms in Wales Soul Crew Individuals Dainton Connell Bill Gardner Carlton Leach Andy Nicholls Cass Pennant Media Among the Thugs Calling card The Firm (1989 film) The Firm (2009 film) The Football Factory (film) The Football Factory (novel) Green Street Green Street 2 Green Street 3 I.D. I.D.2 The Real Football Factories The Rise and Fall of a White Collar Hooligan Legal responses Football Spectators Act 1989 Football (Offences) Act 1991 Football (Disorder) Act 2000 Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012 Unauthorised Entry to Football Matches Act 2026 Related topics Casuals Casuals United Football Lads Alliance Clifford Stott Football portal v t e

**Andy Nicholls** (born 1962), is a Welsh former [football hooligan](/source/Football_hooliganism), manager, and author of a number of books on football hooliganism. He has been banned from every ground in [England](/source/England) and [Wales](/source/Wales) and has served time in prison for football related violence.[1] Nicholls has said he "would change nothing" about his time as a football hooligan, including "pillaging and dismantling European cities, leaving horrified locals to rebuild in time for our next visit" and having "seen visiting fans at Goodison Park pleading not to be carved open after straying too far from the safety of their numbers;" however, he is wary of violence coming to his own doorstep since he has had children.[2]

## Background

When he was a boy he went to the [Alun School](/source/Alun_School) in Flintshire. For over twenty years he was regularly involved with the violent followers of the club.[1] Nicholls was classified by the National Football Intelligence Unit (NFIU) as a Category C hooligan, the highest NFIU rating.[1] He has been arrested more than twenty times for football related offences and has been deported from [Belgium](/source/Belgium), [Iceland](/source/Iceland) and [Sweden](/source/Sweden). He created the terrace fanzine *Get into Them* which was closed down by authorities.

Nicholls received a new Football Banning Order (FBO) on 6 October 2003 banning him from every football ground in England and Wales for two years, apart from games where he was there as manager of [Welsh Alliance League](/source/Welsh_Alliance_League) club, [Holywell Town F.C.](/source/Holywell_Town_F.C.) when he admitted to being involved in football hooliganism in his book, *Scally: Confessions of a Category C Football Hooligan*[3] and for his involvement in a pub fight between Everton and [Aston Villa](/source/Aston_Villa_F.C.) fans, in which he claimed he was only helping injured victims to escape.[4] He had been summoned to [Liverpool](/source/Liverpool) [Magistrates Court](/source/Magistrates_Courts%2C_Liverpool) under the Football Disorder Act over the publication of the book, and banned for two years, with £500 costs.[3]

In April 2004, Nicholls was convicted by [Flintshire](/source/Flintshire) magistrates for breaching the banning order, after he attended a match in Russia between [Wales](/source/Wales_national_football_team) and [Russia](/source/Russia_national_football_team). Nicholls who lived in [Rhosesmor](/source/Rhosesmor) in North East Wales, at the time had attended the match as part of a Holywell Town club trip. Nicholls claimed that he did not know the ban applied to Welsh games, as being an [England](/source/England_national_football_team) supporter he thought the ban only applied to England.[1] Nicholls would later become chairman of Holywell Town.[5] Nicholls' ban from Everton means he has to stay a minimum of 10 miles from any match they play home or away. As part of his banning order he also had to sign in at a police station on match days, and hand in his passport every time a British team played abroad.[6] His banning order expired in 2005.[4]

Nicholls appeared on the [BBC](/source/BBC) documentary programme [Panorama](/source/Panorama_(TV_series)) during an undercover investigation into previously unreported violence at the [2006 World Cup](/source/2006_FIFA_World_Cup). In the programme he was quoted as saying, "To stamp out hooliganism once and for all, you'd have to get every man between 14 and 40 and chop off their arms and legs."[7][8]

Nicholls' first book, *Scally: Confessions of a Category C Football Hooligan* dealt with the victim knife attacks perpetrated by the [County Road Cutters](/source/County_Road_Cutters) firm, who are associated with Everton. He chronicles the bitter [Manchester](/source/Manchester)-[Merseyside](/source/Merseyside) battles that left hundreds injured. He also confronts the alleged problems of racism at Goodison Park and he describes rivalries with the gangs of [Aberdeen](/source/Aberdeen_F.C.), [Chelsea](/source/Chelsea_F.C.), [Millwall](/source/Millwall_F.C.), [Middlesbrough](/source/Middlesbrough_F.C.) and other clubs. He has also co-authored three other books with fellow former football hooligan, [Cass Pennant](/source/Cass_Pennant).

## Bibliography

- Nicholls, Andy (2002). *Scally: Confessions of a Category C Football Hooligan*. Milo Books. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1903854113](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1903854113).

- Lowles, Nick; Nicholls, Andy (2005). *Hooligans Vol.1: The A-L of British Football Hooligan Gangs*. Milo Books. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1903854636](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1903854636).

- Lowles, Nick; Nicholls, Andy (2006). *Hooligans Vol.2: The M-Z of Britain's Football Hooligan Gangs*. Milo Books. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1903854644](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1903854644).

- [Pennant, Cass](/source/Cass_Pennant); Nicholls, Andy (2006). *30 Years of Hurt: A History of England's Hooligan Army*. Pennant Books. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0955039428](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0955039428).

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-BBC3593281_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-BBC3593281_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-BBC3593281_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-BBC3593281_1-3) ["Hooligan ignored match ban"](https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/north_east/3593281.stm). [BBC News](/source/BBC_News). 2 April 2004. Retrieved 22 October 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-BleacherReport2375447_2-0)** Nicholls, Andy (10 March 2015). ["I Was a Football Hooligan for 30 Years, and I Loved Every Second of It"](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2375447-i-was-a-football-hooligan-for-30-years-and-i-loved-every-second-of-it). [Bleacher Report](/source/Bleacher_Report). Retrieved 11 February 2023.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-BBC3171820_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-BBC3171820_3-1) ["'Hooligan' ban lifted for manager"](https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/north_east/3171820.stm). [BBC News](/source/BBC_News). 7 October 2003. Retrieved 22 October 2007.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Telegraph019_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Telegraph019_4-1) Leapman, Ben (18 March 2006). ["1,000 English hooligans to be allowed to go to World Cup after bans expire"](https://web.archive.org/web/20060625173514/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2006%2F03%2F19%2Fnfooty19.xml). [The Daily Telegraph](/source/The_Daily_Telegraph). Archived from [the original](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/03/19/nfooty19.xml) on 25 June 2006. Retrieved 22 October 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-BBC4216226_5-0)** ["Football boss in parking row fine"](https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_east/4216226.stm). [BBC News](/source/BBC_News). 5 September 2005. Retrieved 22 October 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-BBC3945109_6-0)** ["Fall in football hooligan arrests"](https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3945109.stm). [BBC News](/source/BBC_News). 23 October 2004. Retrieved 22 October 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Independent16663392_7-0)** Maume, Chris (5 August 2006). ["Binge-drinking thugs who kick off rather than see kick-off"](http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20060805/ai_n16663392). *[The Independent](/source/The_Independent)*. Retrieved 22 October 2007. [*[dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-BBC5219906_8-0)** ["Panormana: Hooligans"](https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/panorama/5219906.stm). [BBC News](/source/BBC_News). 1 August 2006. Retrieved 22 October 2007.

## External links

- [Andy Nicholls Official Website](http://www.andy-nicholls.co.uk/)

Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF FAST WorldCat National United States

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Andy Nicholls](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Nicholls) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Nicholls?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.