Pompey expert reveals truth behind Southampton '˜scummers' insult
Colin Farmery, author of 17 Miles From Paradise, has been discussing the origins of '˜scummers' after a judge explained the term to a jury yesterday (October 17).Â
Judge Timothy Mousley QC gave the lecture on the footballing insult following the trial of Portsmouth fan Peter Hawkins.Â
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Hide AdHawkins, 48, was found guilty of violent disorder for his part in deplorable scenes following his side's 2-1 loss to Oldham last September.Â
Judge Mousely said: '˜The origin of the word scum or scummer is something of a mystery.
'˜Initially it was thought to have arose in the 1890s following a dispute at the dockyard.
'˜It was thought dockers in Portsmouth were holding a strike at the dockyard which was then broken by dockers from Southampton.'Â
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Hide AdHowever Mr Farmery called claims that 'scummers' came from broken strikes as an '˜urban myth'.Â
He explained said: '˜There is no documentation evidence of the origins (of scummers) particularly.Â
'˜I think the most likely explanation is that it was a term invented in the 60s or 70s as a term for Southampton supporters and people from the city in general and it caught on.Â
'˜There is no evidence that it originates from dockyards and shipping. It very much seems to be an urban myth.Â
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Hide Ad'˜The story that dockers were coming down from Southampton to Portsmouth to break strikes is very unlikely.Â
'˜Dockers in Southampton were some of the most militant in the country.'Â
Discussing the rivalry with Southampton as a whole, Mr Farmery said: '˜Portsmouth and Southampton have been rival cities and that went to back more than a hundred years.Â
'Southampton was a commercial port and Portsmouth was a naval port.Â
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Hide Ad'˜But the more harsh side of the rivalry evolved in the 1960s.
'˜We actually have Pompey today because of Southampton. They saw that Southampton had a successful professional club in the 19th Century and decided that they wanted a piece of that.'