young team

Term originally used by the East End razor gangs of interwar Glasgow. Sectarian and fiercely territorial, groups from different areas would engage in everything from casual one-upmanship to open street warfare. Best-known and most feared were the Tongs, the Toi and the Cumbies. Smaller groups from other parts of the city identified themselves as the Anderston Young Team, Drumoyne Young Team and so on. This latter form - or, more specifically, the tla arising - is now used by neds solely to give group identity to their immediate circle of friends. Occasional variations include Young (Scotstoun) Fleet, Young (Ruchill) Boys and (Whiteinch) Mental Team. Note that neds using tla identifiers are neither scary nor imaginitive.