Top Arsenal hooligan ‘The Bear’ was Pet Shop Boys’ bodyguard earlier than tragic loss of life

Half of Holloway Road, north London, got here to a standstill in November 2007 as three thousand individuals took to the streets to mourn.

A sea of Arsenal followers flooded the slim, maze-like roads of N5, making their means from their hallowed Highbury floor to the Emirates Stadium in a funeral procession. Joining them had been membership legends Lee Dixon and Ian Wright, boxer Frank Bruno and Little Britain duo Matt Lucas and David Walliams, who laid down wreaths and playing cards in opposition to the 2 bronze cannons outdoors the newly-built stadium.

Over 1,000 of them had worn all black for the primary residence fixture for the reason that loss of life of Dainton Connell, in any other case generally known as ‘The Bear’. Connell died tragically aged 46 in a Moscow automotive crash whereas accompanying the Pet Shop Boys to Russia, on an evening the place co-founder Chris Lowe was DJing at a membership.

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Dainton, a bigger than life character and one of the recognisable faces on the Highbury terraces for 20 years, had been the Pet Shop Boys’ bodyguard, assistant and shut pal ever since he was recruited for his or her first tour in 1989. He even appeared in music movies and reportedly rubbed shoulders with showbiz stars like Elton John at occasions and events.

But it was in north London that Connell was actually well-known and thought of a folks hero. Descriptions of a captivating and humorous man who may entertain an entire pub or practice carriage together with his tales may virtually make one overlook that he was, based on a number of accounts, the chief of ‘The Herd’ – Arsenal’s fearsome hooligan agency.

They had been engaged in terrace brawls from the late-Nineteen Seventies till the early Nineties at a time the place hooliganism was rife and labelled a ‘disease’. Born in Brighton in 1961 to Jamaican mother and father, Connell later moved to Wood Green, north London, the place he grew to become a scaffolder from the age of 16 till his late-20s.

Have you ever heard of The Bear? Let us know within the feedback part under.

He accomplished a couple of stretch in jail and had a knife scar on his temple as a memento from his many altercations. And whereas he at all times averted speaking overtly about his ties to hooliganism, The Bear was on the centre of a few of Arsenal’s most ferocious clashes with rival followers.

Connell led the cost within the early-Nineteen Eighties at Ashton Gate in opposition to Bristol City’s followers, who “parted like the Red Sea” on the sight of him. According to an article by Jon Spurling in Eight By Eight journal, he used his fists and boots in a battle with Evertonians at Goodison Park.

Dainton was additionally named by Andy Nicholls in his guide ‘Hooligans’ because the “main face” of Arsenal’s agency, a lot to his fury. In the identical guide, Stoke City fan Mark Chester recalled his facet’s FA Cup conflict with Arsenal on the Victoria Ground in 1990, claiming: “We had a bit of a shock when 400 game-as-f*** Gooners steamed us back into the paddock. ‘Where’s Denton [sic], the big b**** b*****d?’ As he was singled out as their top lad.”

Connell resented the limelight and refused to share his fascinating previous regardless of many different hooligans of his time doing so. He is claimed to have turned down cash to put in writing a guide as a result of he “wasn’t a grass”, based on one other member of The Herd.

And so notorious incidents in opposition to Brighton, Millwall, Galatasaray and West Ham at residence remained matters not up for dialogue with the deceased Arsenal icon. “Those that were there know, those that weren’t don’t need to know,” he mentioned.

But for all the negativity and mystique surrounding his fabled scuffles, Connell did tangible good too. As a black Arsenal fan, he prevented the British National Party (BNP) from gaining a foothold at Arsenal at a time the place they had been making an attempt to unfold their racism amongst matchday goers.

Other corporations succumbed, however Dainton handled the matter personally in “hands-on” vogue. He allegedly threatened one member, stole one other’s leaflets and laughed in his face, and even stormed a National Front gathering in north London with a Union Jack flag draped round him to mock them.

He is credited with serving to cease the unfold of far-right sympathies amongst followers because of lots of Arsenal’s hooligans being private mates. The Bear can be believed to have been the primary individual to coin the time period ‘Gooner’ by pre-empting a verbal assault from Tottenham followers forward of a north London derby, leading to it turning into adopted by Arsenal’s personal hooligans.

Dainton died whereas being pushed to a membership referred to as The Roof after the motive force misplaced management and crashed right into a tree, sending the automotive right into a river. He had loved champagne and beluga caviar with the Pet Shop Boys and their entourage beforehand on the evening.

His passing got here only a 12 months after Arsenal’s transfer from Highbury to the Emirates. And for higher or for worse, his identify shall be related to Highbury without end, the place “the sense of camaraderie, the banter and the humour” saved him on the terraces which made him a legend.