ABSTRACT
Lonsdale is an English brand of sports clothing. Currently in The Netherlands, these clothes are worn by youngsters in street groups, a number of whom sympathise with the extreme Right. The first reports on Lonsdale groups stem from the mid-1990s. In recent years, these groups are mentioned in relation to clashes with ethnic minority groups and antimigrant actions such as the arson of mosques. Since the mid-1980s, Moroccan boys have been over-represented in police statistics, and there have been repeated reports of gang formation among this group. These Moroccan gangs seldom pick fights with other groups. On the other hand, they are known to come into conflict easily with people around them. Therefore, apart from individual criminal activity, the main problems these groups pose are related to nuisance. These are the two, quite different, faces of street gang problems in The Netherlands. Other kinds of gangs may exist, but it is safe to say that, to date, they are less manifest.
