Jeff Marsh
Jeff Marsh is the founder of the Welsh Defence League.[1] He is also an administrator of the Scottish Defence League's Facebook group where he uses the Pseudonym "Joe Cardiff"[2][3].
Contents
Football hooliganism
According to the Amazon profile for his book, Soul Crew Seasiders, Marsh grew up on Barry Island near Cardiff, where he became a member of Cardiff City's Soul Crew hooligan gang.[4]
According to Hope Not Hate, Marsh is a Cardiff City supporter and has been jailed three times for violence, including a two-year sentence for stabbing two Manchester United fans.[5]
The Times reports that Marsh has a degree in criminal justice.[6]
Convictions for football hooliganism
On the 5th March 2010 Jeff Marsh was banned from attending football matches for a period of five years after he was arrested for being in possession of a knuckleduster and had been fighting with Celtic fans after a match between Cardiff City & Celtic. Marsh was also given a four-month suspended jail term, 150 hours community service and ordered to pay £600 in court costs. In 1986 Marsh was convicted of a football-related assault in Halifax and in 1989 he was convicted of grievous bodily harm after stabbing two Manchester United supporters[7].
Anti-Muslim groups
Marsh is the leader of Casuals United according to The Times, which reports that the organisation was formed following an Islamist protest at the Royal Anglian Regiment homecoming parade in Luton in March.[8]
Violence erupted at an English Defence League protest in Birmingham in August 2009 at which the Welsh Defence League and Casuals United were represented. Marsh told Wales on Sunday the following week: "Hooligans from rivals clubs are uniting on this and it is like a ready-made army."[9]
- “It is not in our interests to go out and cause riots because we will get arrested and hit with Asbos,” he said.
- “We do not look for violence but former football hooligans are able to defend themselves against trouble and are not afraid to protest when being pelted with missiles – like what happened in Birmingham.”[10]
Affiliations
- Welsh Defence League - Founder
- English Defence League - Key Leader[11]
- Scottish Defence League - Key Member
External Resources
- Richard Bartholomew, Hooligan Memoir of “Casuals United” Organiser, Bartholomew's Notes on Religion, 11 July 2009.
Publications
Books
- Soul Crew Seasiders, Mashed Swede Project, 2007.
- The Trouble with Taffies: The Welsh Hooligan Gangs, Head-Hunter Books, 2 April 2009.
- From Seasiders to Casuals United - Birth of the EDL May 2010
Notes
- ↑ Robert Booth, Matthew Taylor and Paul Lewis, English Defence League: chaotic alliance stirs up trouble on streets, The Guardian, 12 September 2009.
- ↑ Joe Cardiff's Facebook Page,Joe Cardiff adds comment "they butchered what I said fair play" on Newspaper Article interview with Jeff Marsh, Facebook, Accessed 08-March-2010
- ↑ Joe Cardiff's Facebook Page, Photograph of Interview with Jeff Marsh, Facebook, Accessed 08-March-2010
- ↑ Soul Crew Seasiders, amazon.co.uk, accessed 27 October 2009.
- ↑ Nick Lowles, Businessman bankrolls 'street army'- Key Figures, Hope Not Hate, October 2009.
- ↑ Russell Jenkins, Former football hooligans regroup in far-Right Casuals United, The Times, 13 August 2009.
- ↑ David James,Football hooligan barred from matches for five years, South Wales Echo, 5-March-2010, Accessed 5-March-2010
- ↑ Russell Jenkins, Former football hooligans regroup in far-Right Casuals United, The Times, 13 August 2009.
- ↑ Tim Lewis, ‘Army’ made of former football hooligans, Wales on Sunday, 16 August 2009.
- ↑ Tim Lewis, ‘Army’ made of former football hooligans, Wales on Sunday, 16 August 2009.
- ↑ Paul Bracchi And Tim Stewart, "Special Investigation: English Defence League and the hooligans spreading hate on the High Street", Daily Mail, 13 December 2010
