Editing Swindon Town F.C. (section)

===Hooliganism===
Swindon Town has had problems with [[Football hooliganism|hooliganism]] since the 1970s, with the first known group being called the Swindon Town Aggro Boys (STAB).<ref name="hooligans1">{{Cite web|url=http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/2006/6/21/269467.html|title=Not so beautiful|access-date=4 April 2007|work=[[Swindon Advertiser]]|date=21 June 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930015450/http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/2006/6/21/269467.html|archive-date=30 September 2007}}</ref> In a home game against [[Wrexham F.C.|Wrexham]] in March 1978, STAB were responsible for pelting the opposing goalkeeper with darts, stones and a golf ball.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/801549.not_so_beautiful |title=Not so beautiful |first=Kevin |last=Burchall |date=21 June 2006 |newspaper=Swindon Advertiser |access-date=12 September 2016}}</ref> Club chairman Cecil Green later said: "We intend to stamp out this thuggery. The incidents were diabolical."<ref name="hooligans1"/> A new hooligan gang emerged in the 1980s, the Swindon Southside Firm (SSF), who were named after the area of terracing they occupied.<ref name="hooligans1"/> In a match at [[Northampton Town F.C.|Northampton Town]], then manager [[Lou Macari]] walked straight into a group of more than 100 SSF members chasing Northampton fans up the street. Macari said the incident was "worse than a [[Old Firm|Celtic–Rangers game]]".<ref name="hooligans1"/>

In the 1990s, the Swindon Active Service (SAS) came to prominence and it is believed they were at the centre of several hostilities with fans of local rivals [[Oxford United F.C.|Oxford United]] and [[Reading F.C.|Reading]] .<ref name="hooligans1"/><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/7399424.12-arrests-as-town-lose-to-reading/ | title=12 arrests as Town lose to Reading | date=21 August 2000 }}</ref> In September 1998, 19 SAS members were arrested at the home match with Oxford.<ref name="hooligans1"/> A fracas at an away game versus [[AFC Bournemouth]] on 18 December 2004 resulted in the arrest of seventeen and the imposition of banning orders on those found to be guilty.<ref name = "hooligans2"/><ref name="hooligans4">{{Cite web|url=http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/2005/11/23/254729.html|title=He could have caused a riot|access-date=3 August 2007|work=[[Swindon Advertiser]]|date=25 November 2005|url-status=dead|archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20070803145013/http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/2005/11/23/254729.html|archive-date=3 August 2007}}</ref> The fighting, involving more than forty supporters, occurred in a busy shopping centre before the game. "District Judge Roger House said it had been a 'frightening and terrifying' experience for scores of Christmas shoppers who witnessed the scenes."<ref name="hooligans2">{{Cite web|url=http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/2005/4/13/89161.html|title=Swindon fans up in court|access-date=4 August 2007|work=[[Swindon Advertiser]]|date=13 April 2005|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930015225/http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/2005/4/13/89161.html|archive-date=30 September 2007}}</ref>
The ''[[Swindon Advertiser]]'' reported that "The area was packed with Christmas shoppers, who watched in horror as pub windows were smashed and fans traded insults."<ref name="hooligans3">{{Cite web|url=http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/2005/3/26/90407.html|title=17 arrests made after soccer fight|access-date=4 August 2007|work=[[Swindon Advertiser]]|date=26 May 2005|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930015237/http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/2005/3/26/90407.html|archive-date=30 September 2007}}</ref>

On 16 December 2006, Swindon recorded one of their highest attendances of the season: 10,010 at a home win against rivals [[Bristol Rovers F.C.|Bristol Rovers]].<ref name="2006highattendance">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_3/6164443.stm|title=Swindon 2–1 Bristol Rovers|access-date=8 February 2007|work=BBC Sport   | date=16 December 2006}}</ref> The game was marred by supporter trouble which resulted in 11 arrests and saw an area of seating in the Arkell's Stand damaged,<ref name="bbcseatsfight">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wiltshire/6187849.stm|title=Probe after fans ripped up seats|access-date=8 February 2007|work=BBC Sport | date=18 December 2006}}</ref><ref name="ttseatsfight">{{Cite web|url=http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/18122006/1/starnes-vows-severe-action.html|title=Starnes vows 'severe' action|access-date=8 February 2007|publisher=[[TEAMtalk]]}}{{dead link|date=February 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> with the ''[[Western Daily Press]]'' reporting that "the incident [...] ended with damage to 60 seats after they were used as missiles between opposing fans".<ref name="wdpseatsvbristol">{{Cite web|url=http://www.westpress.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=145786&command=displayContent&sourceNode=145786&contentPK=16224108&folderPk=76224|title=Swindon set to ban thugs|access-date=8 February 2007|publisher=[[Western Daily Press]]}}{{dead link|date=February 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> On the day of the return game in Bristol, 20 Rovers fans attacked a number of Swindon supporters with baseball bats at a local pub.<ref name="hooligans6">{{Cite web|url=http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/search/display.var.1363159.0.thugs_baseball_attack_on_town_fans.php|title=Thugs' baseball attack on Town fans|access-date=4 August 2007|work=[[Swindon Advertiser]]|author=Kevin Burchall|date=30 April 2007}}</ref>

Nick Lowles, author of ''Hooligans 2: The M–Z of Britain's Football Hooligan Gangs'', said:{{when|date=April 2024}} "If you look at Swindon, the police have been very proactive in the last five years in terms of stopping hooliganism".<ref name="hooligans1"/>

Swindon Town has imposed banning orders on those supporters who cause disruption, criminal damage or are violent when attending games. There were 29 banning orders in place in 2006, which was an increase from a total of 11 in 2005.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/football-arrests-0506?view=Binary |title = Football Banning Orders by club supported (10 October 2006) |access-date = 25 July 2007 |date = 21 October 2006 |format = PDF |work = Statistics on Football related arrests & Banning Orders – Season 2005-6 |publisher = [[Home Office]] |pages = 4 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070223075859/http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/football-arrests-0506?view=Binary |archive-date = 23 February 2007 }}</ref> The increase in banning orders has resulted in a reduction of arrests at games, with only 22 people being arrested attending games in 2005–06 compared to 39 arrests in 2004–05.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/football-arrests-0506?view=Binary |title = Football related arrests – 2005/06 season, Arrests of supporters of Football League Division One and Two clubs |access-date = 25 July 2007 |date = 21 October 2006 |format = PDF |work = Statistics on Football related arrests & Banning Orders – Season 2005–06 |publisher = [[Home Office]] |pages = 8 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070223075859/http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/football-arrests-0506?view=Binary |archive-date = 23 February 2007 }}</ref> Of the 22 arrests in 2005–06; 11 were for Public Disorder, five for [[violent disorder]] and the rest were made up of offences relating to missile throwing, racist chanting, pitch invasion, alcohol-related offences and one incident of being in possession of an offensive weapon.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/football-arrests-0506?view=Binary |title = Arrests by club supported & type of offence – League One 2005/6 season |access-date = 25 July 2007 |date = 21 October 2006 |format = PDF |work = Statistics on Football related arrests & Banning Orders – Season 2005–06 |publisher = [[Home Office]] |pages = 11 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070223075859/http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/football-arrests-0506?view=Binary |archive-date = 23 February 2007 }}</ref> 33 Swindon fans were also banned from travelling to the [[2006 FIFA World Cup]].<ref name="hooligans5">{{Cite web|url=http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/search/display.var.748248.0.cup_ban_for_fans.php|title=Cup ban for 'fans'|access-date=4 August 2007|work=[[Swindon Advertiser]]|author=Gareth Bethell & Mark Hookham|date=3 May 2006 }}</ref> In 2013, 10 Swindon fans were charged with violent disorder following an incident outside the Royal Oak pub in Brentford before the club's League 1 play-off semi-final defeat.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.brentfordtw8.com/default.asp?section=info&page=crime187.htm |title=Swindon Football supporters charged with violent disorder |publisher=BrentfordTW8.com |access-date=12 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/10633005.Thugs_could_face_a_World_Cup_ban/ |title=Thugs could face a World Cup ban |first=Scott |last=D'Arcy |newspaper=Swindon Advertiser |date=24 August 2013 |access-date=12 October 2015}}</ref>

On 23 November 2013 a Swindon fan was arrested after running onto the pitch and punching [[Leyton Orient F.C.|Leyton Orient]]'s goalkeeper, [[Jamie Jones (footballer)|Jamie Jones]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25072417 |title=Leyton Orient: Arrest made after attack on goalkeeper Jamie Jones |work=BBC Sport |date=23 November 2013 |access-date=2 December 2013}}</ref>

On 10 October 2023, Swindon Town met rivals [[Reading F.C.|Reading]] in an [[EFL Trophy]] game for their first competitive fixture in over 21 years. After the game, fighting broke out between the two sets of fans, leading to four arrests by the [[Thames Valley Police]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/23914049.reading-v-swindon-town-teen-arrested-fan-clashes/#:~:text=A%2026%2Dyear%2Dold%20man,at%20players%20during%20the%20game. | title=Teen arrested for 'violent disorder' after clashes at Swindon derby match | date=10 November 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/23851038.reading-v-swindon-town-derby-match-marred-fan-violence/ | title=Ugly scenes as fan violence mars Swindon Town's clash with old rivals | date=12 October 2023 }}</ref>