Rise of the ‘schooligans’: how a wave of antisocial behaviour threatens non-league football

Teenage ultras are increasingly causing disorder and communities fear it will not be long before it becomes something more dangerous

It is five past three on Saturday afternoon and the teenage ultras of Hednesford Town are running late. They have arrived in Chester for their team’s National League North fixture and have hailed taxis, determined to make their presence felt at the ground. But word appears to have got out about their arrival. As one car turns away from the city’s charming half-timbered houses and into narrow residential streets, half a dozen local youths appear, haring round the corner in balaclavas. They try to attack the cab and chase after it as it pulls away. The smell of pyro is everywhere.