Hooliganism
Aside from the loyalty of the supporters, which earned Het Legioen the title "Best fans of the country", there is also a hooligan side, which often give the club a bad name. During the UEFA Cup final versus Tottenham Hotspur in 1974 Feyenoord fans were confronted with international hooliganism for the first time. The first Dutch hooligan firms occurred in the late 1960s. Prior to the match English hooligans had been causing damage in the center of Rotterdam already and during the match they climbed over the cages that separated the stands. They were throwing seats, set the stadium on fire and were fighting man to man. About 150 people were wounded and 50 English hooligans were arrested. UEFA-employee Lucien Schmidtlin reported that neither Feyenoord nor Tottenham could be blamed for the riots. After the match the Dutch authorities saw the happenings as a problem that occurred in England and only a few people were warning that these riots might become common, also in the Netherlands. In the years that followed the S.C.F (SCF) was established and a lot of the fanatic Feyenoord fans became part of one of the most feared firms in European football. In Europe they were also known as the "Don't run away" firm and besides fights with other Dutch firms there were some big fights in the 1990s in Germany. 15,000 Feyenoord fans were having control over the German police in Mönchengladbach, while also in Stuttgart and Leverkusen they caused a lot of trouble. The most violent clash where the SCF clinched with Ajax's F-side was on 23 March 1997 when "The battle of Beverwijk" took place and Ajax fan Carlo Picornie was killed by the SCF. After this incident several members of the original SCF stepped back and a second generation of hooligans joined those who stayed. The additional firm was known as the RJK (Rotterdamse Jongeren Kern/Rotterdam Youth Squad). Two years later a third firm (FIIIR) was established and merged with the RJK, the FIIIR became the youth squad of the SCF. Another big clash between the firms of Ajax and Feyenoord happened in Rotterdam on 17 April 2005 when hundreds of SCF and FIIIR members fought with the police prior to the match versus Ajax. F-side members were at that time held by the police just outside the stadium and when the announcement was made in the stadium several groups of SCF/FIIIR members left the stadium to find the F-side. When the police tried to avoid the groups to get together both sides attacked the police first before clashing with each other. Many people got injured, police officers and members of both firms. On 30 November 2006 Feyenoord faced AS Nancy in France, which is at driving distance from Rotterdam. Only 1200 tickets were awarded to Feyenoord fans. Much more than that amount travelled to Nancy and tried to get tickets at the Stade Marcel Picot. Later, during the match inside the stadium SCF and FIIIR members broke a wall of glass between two stands and provoked French fans. The match was suspended for 30 minutes in the 80th minute after the police used tear gas to drive the SCF/FIIIR members back into their own stand. The match was eventually finished, 30 minutes after it was suspended. It was said many of the SCF/FIIIR members were having Dutch stadium bans and should not have been allowed to buy tickets in Nancy. Members of SCF and FIIIR identify themselves with their tattoos Due to this violence, Feyenoord was knocked out of the UEFA Cup for the remaining of the season. The estimation is that there are around 200 core members, but when in Rotterdam they are joined by more. They also call themselves "Rotterdam Hooligans" and "Lunatics", their main slogans are "Vatos Locos Forever", "Feyenoord till we die" and "We shall not be moved".
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