Active Club Midlands: Fascist Fight Club Exposed

A new generation of fascists are fusing combat training with extremist ideology. HOPE not hate investigates the Midlands chapter of the secretive Active Club network, and exposes the figures driving its expansion.

The rapid spread of the Active Clubs (ACs), a network of fascist martial arts groups, is among the most concerning trends on the British extreme right.

Founded by the American white supremacist Robert Rundo in 2020, the network combines hand-to-hand combat training with extremist ideology in order to foster a militant fascist elite. Members – who use fake names – meet in parks and gyms to prepare for violence, drilling martial arts under white supremacist flags. Stylised images of their activities are then posted on social media while carefully preserving the anonymity of AC members.

Many scores of small, localised groups under the AC brand have since emerged across the US, Europe, Australasia and South America, with the UK’s first official chapter – AC Scotland – launching in 2023 (we exposed its leader and membership here). 

AC England launched last February and quickly recruited across the fragmented fascist scene. Regional chapters have since emerged for Yorkshire, North West, London, the Midlands, South West, Anglia and Wessex, with a linked youth group, Albion Youth Club, launching this month.

Whilst operating with autonomy, chapters often coordinate activities across regions, nationally and, occasionally, overseas. Recently, members from across England met to trade punches in an interbranch competition, clad in matching Will2Rise gear emblazoned with the fasces symbol. 

Now, HOPE not hate can reveal that the organiser of Active Club Midlands (ACM), one of the best established chapters in the country, is Matthew Darrington, a bricklayer in Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire. Darrington is also the East Midlands organiser for Patriotic Alternative (PA), among the UK’s largest neo-Nazi groups, and has organised anti-migrant protests in his hometown. 

We can also expose others involved in the secretive group, which trains at a gym in central Newark.

The Newark network

Matthew Darrington is among the most prominent fascists in the Midlands. He has been active in the far right for over a decade, attending a series of English Defence League protests in 2012. 

Using the online alias “Uber Mensch”, Darrington was an early recruit to Patriotic Alternative, a group that launched in 2019 and quickly became the largest neo-Nazi organisation in the country. He was appointed PA’s East Midlands organiser in 2023 and was one of several PA activists to stand in the 2024 general election under the banner of the English Democrats (Darrington received 156 votes, 0.3%, in Newark constituency).

He remains active in far-right street politics, travelling to anti-migrant and Tommy Robinson-organised protests across the country, sometimes accompanied by his brother Leigh. Darrington also attended Britain First’s “March for Remigration” in Birmingham this May, where he marched shoulder-to-shoulder with the extreme neo-Nazi group White Vanguard, which has itself mimicked elements of the ACs. 

Notably, Darrington has attempted to capitalise on the recent wave of anti-migrant protests by organising his own outside Newark council offices on 9 August. The event saw local protestors mingling with hardened fascists from out of town, some of whom have violent histories. This includes Jeff Marsh, who has served time for a stabbing, and Gary Pudsey, previously of the neo-Nazi terror group Combat 18. 

During his speech, Darrington name-dropped AC England, and there were other figures linked to the group within the 100-strong crowd. This includes Kai Goldsbrough, who was thanked by Darrington for running security at the event and works at the same gym where ACM trains.

Darrington acts as a bridge between ACM and PA. For example, the bricklayer led security at PA’s annual camp this July. In attendance was Adam Bird, a scaffolder from Boston now residing in Newark, who also has links to ACM. 

Bird has used the messaging app Telegram to call for violence. For example, in February 2023 he wrote: “Our only chance is mass assassinations. The media needs dealing with”. The same month, in the wake of the riot at a hotel housing asylum seekers in Kirkby, he wrote: “To be honest any hotel that sells out should be burned to the ground”.

Darrington and ACM also ran security at PA’s conference earlier this month. The event, which was attended by as many as 200 extremists, was booked at a village hall in Melton, Leicestershire under false pretences, and was addressed by the American white supremacist Jared Taylor. Darrington was thanked by the PA leadership for his “tireless” work on the conference.

The Danger

The dangers posed by these secretive, militant brotherhoods should not be underestimated. Blending physical training with political extremism is a well-established and powerful radicalisation tool. ACs are cultivating a capacity for violence because they expect to use it in clashes with minority groups and anti-fascists. 

During the riots that raged across the country last summer, AC England pumped out a stream of inflammatory content, telling followers to “hit the streets”. Membership reportedly spiked following the disorder.

Unsurprisingly, ACs have attracted violent individuals. We have also previously revealed that Andrew McIntyre, a key instigator of the racist riots in Merseyside last summer, was a member of AC North West. The neo-Nazi is currently serving a seven and a half year sentence for inciting violent disorder and possession of a knife after being exposed by HOPE not hate.

We have also previously uncovered an individual involved in AC Scotland as having served jail time for making bomb and death threats against left-wing activists, and another having marched with National Action, a now-banned neo-Nazi terror group. 

Last year, Swansea-based fascist Alexander Edwards discussed starting an “active club” before being jailed for over five years for a brutal unprovoked attack on a transgender woman, on top of terror-related offences. Edwards had previous convictions for his role in the British Hand, a neo-Nazi terror group exposed by HOPE not hate in 2020.

Additionally, an ITV investigation of AC London this February reported member Jay Barlow’s convictions for possession of a knife and racially aggravated harassment, and his previous jail term for GBH following a knife attack in a supermarket.