Former football hooligan Frank Portinari opened up about his days causing trouble on the terraces while following his beloved Tottenham Hotspur home and away
A former Tottenham Hotspur hooligan has revealed the most “underrated” firm he encountered – claiming their supporters once knocked him unconscious and left him hospitalised.
Convicted gun smuggler and former leader of the London Ulster Defence Association, Frank Portinari, spoke about his violent days battling on the terraces. He singled out one particular rival when questioned about the most formidable opponents. Frank, who followed Spurs across Britain and Europe, said: “If I focus on London, I am honest enough to say this now that the late 60s, early 70s, I don’t think people give them credit, Arsenal had a naughty mob of fellas.
“And it changed because I remember when Tottenham eclipsed Arsenal so to speak and we would regularly go their end of the ground and take the p*** to be honest. And then they had their day again in the 80s and 90s.”
Nevertheless, he revealed Arsenal supporters were behind one of his most perilous moments at a football match, which occurred inside a White Hart Lane lavatory.
“I’ve been very fortunate, I’ve only ever been concussed once,” Frank, who has written a book called Loyalist Paramilitary Gunrunner, explained. “And that was because I took a liberty.
“I went to the toilets after being where I shouldn’t have been and people saw me go to the toilets and that was at Tottenham and we played Arsenal.”
The North London Derby took place at White Hart Lane and according to Frank, rival supporters clashed outside Spurs’ former ground. Frank, who believed he was being “smart”, posed as an Arsenal fan to gain access to the away section, and feigned injury from a Spurs supporter when questioned by a police officer.
However, sharing the subsequent events on the Criminal Connection podcast, he said: “I went to the toilet and of course these Arsenal fellas saw me do it and I woke up in a cubicle. One minute I’m at the urinal and the next minute I’m in the cubicle.
“I joke about it now but I genuinely went like that (checks his ears) I had my f***ing ears in case one of them took it as a trophy you know.”
Medical staff came to Frank’s aid and he was transported to North Middlesex University Hospital. However, after a two-hour wait to be seen, he opted to take a taxi home without receiving treatment.
Despite acknowledging the prowess of fierce rivals Arsenal, and revealing that the most severe violence he’d ever witnessed was at Millwall away on Boxing Day in 1977, he singled out another firm as the best.
He stated: “But I suppose for consistency, I am honest enough to say, probably West Ham. I think West Ham because what they are always attributed with is being organised and they did seem to always be organised.”
Frank added: “We have had our times with West Ham but consistently over the years, I will probably have to credit West Ham.”
