Former Hooligan Names Man Utd Fans as England’s Toughest

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Former Football Hooligan Names England’s 8 Toughest Fanbases - Chelsea and West Ham Snubbed

A former football hooligan who completely turned around his life after winning the EuroMillions jackpot in 2022 has named the eight toughest fanbases in English football, from League Two and League One, all the way to the Championship and Premier League .

Daniel Wright’s life is far different these days, but he was once notorious as a member of Bradford City’s firm, ‘The Ointment’. His past led to three separate football banning orders, as he spent six years behind bars for his involvement in terrace violence.

Now in his forties, he reflected on that period during a recent appearance on the Anything Goes podcast , where he had a raw, unfiltered conversation with James English.

Much of the discussion focused on his time in the stands, particularly during the 1990s and early 2000s - a period that continued the problems which saw hooliganism labelled “the English disease.”

Interestingly, however, when it came to naming the toughest football firms - five initially, though Wright ultimately listed eight in the end - there was no mention of either West Ham or Chelsea.

When asked who the toughest firm in the country was, Wright didn’t even need a second to think, offering a somewhat surprising answer - a fanbase that doesn't have the feared reputation as some others.

While West Ham’s 'Inter City' Firm and Chelsea’s 'Headhunters' were among the most prominent groups at the time, he instead named Manchester United as having the toughest of the lot. He explained:

> “The best firm I have ever seen, Manchester United at Bradford. Anyone who tells you Man Utd are not a good firm are chatting absolute se. Their numbers are just fing massive, I would say early noughties, they were the best in the country by a long way, that was possibly their peak they were really good then."

Wright explained that United once turned up with 600 people ready to fight on the streets, which he emphasised is what set them apart from other firms in the country. He added: "Definitely, because who else can get 600?”

Despite United's chokehold over the rest of the country back then, and the fact they still rank among the very top of the biggest clubs in the world , Wright was keen to single out more firms he had been impressed with over the years, naming his top five. "My top five would probably be, not in any particular order, Man Utd, Tottenham, Millwall, Birmingham... Middlesbrough," he said.

> "Sheffield United, Leeds, Aston Villa, those teams I would probably have up there as well. I would say in my time we have always got the better of Leeds but I have seen Leeds on their day, like England and Turkey in the Stadium of Light.

> "That firm of Leeds I saw that day was an absolutely unbelievable firm. They are a top firm on their day, you can’t deny that.”

While his notorious reputation still follows him around, Wright is now more gleefully known for his £1,000,000 win on the UK Millionaire Maker in April 2022. His winnings were spent on a huge new home as well as a £40,000 Rolex, and Wright admitted it took a while for the reality of the situation to set in.

"I just thought I'd check my emails, and I saw on that said 'You've won on EuroMillions.' I thought it would be £2.50 or something," he joked. "I wasn't really paying attention, I thought I'd won £1,000, then I thought 'That's not £1,000. I must have counted it 10 times, then I shouted 'Woo!' Like Rick Flair."

He now also has his own book, 'Northern Monkeys', which is a fictional take on his former goings-on with the notorious Ointment firm. “I haven’t had a bad review yet,” admitted Wright. “I read books quite a lot and look at the reviews of writers that I like – they are only about 2.5 stars and stuff like that! I was expecting a lot more people to say, ‘I don’t really like it’, but I’ve not had that. It’s what I hoped but I’m really surprised.”

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