Millwall brick

A Millwall brick is an improvised weapon made of a manipulated newspaper. It was named for supporters of Millwall F.C., who had a stereotyped reputation for football hooliganism. The Millwall brick was allegedly used as a stealth weapon at football matches in England during the 1960s and 1970s. The weapon's popularity appears to have been due to the wide availability of newspapers, and due to the ease of its construction.

History

In the late 1960s — in response to football hooliganism at matches in England — police began confiscating any objects that could be used as weapons. These items included steel combs, pens, beermats, Polo mints, shoelaces and boots.Marshall, George. (1991) Spirit of '69: A Skinhead Bible Publisher: S.T. Publishing. ISBN 0-9518497-0-0 However, fans were still permitted to bring in newspapers. Larger newspapers such as The Guardian or The Financial Times work best for a Millwall brick, and the police looked with suspicion at working class football fans who carried such newspapers. Because of their more innocent appearance, tabloid newspapers became the newspapers of choice for Millwall bricks.Knight, Nick. (Oct. 1982) Skinhead. Publisher: Omnibus Press. . ISBN 0-7119-0052-3 The book Spirit of '69: A Skinhead Bible describes the use of Millwall bricks by British football hooligans in the late 1960s: "Newspapers were rolled up tightly to form the so-called Millwall Brick and another trick was...
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