The Gooch Close Gang, also known as the G.C.O.G's (Gooch Close Original Gangsters) or simply "The Gooch" in Manchester, was an organised crime group based in Moss Side and surrounding neighbourhoods of South Manchester, England. Most members of the gang grew up on the westside of the Alexandra Park estate in Moss Side around Gooch Close (which is where the gang gets its name).
The Gooch gang had violent disputes with many other South Manchester gangs, most notably The Doddington Gang (formerly known as the Pepperhill Mob), the Moss Side Bloods, the Haydock Close Crew and the Longsight Crew.
History The Gooch Gang had its origins in the west side of the Alexandra Park estate in Moss Side. Young men would hang around a shebeen on Gooch Close selling drugs which is where the gang started and how they got their name. Gooch Close was a small cul-de-sac of semi-detached houses with an alley at one end. In the mid-1990s, the Alexandra Park estate was redeveloped; the street was redesigned and had its name changed to Westerling Way.
The gangs—whilst supplying to the street dealers—also tried to ensure that the dealers were protected from other gangs by protecting their territory. Most of their problems occurred when rival street dealers started to move into territory already controlled by a gang or when a gang 'taxed' a rival dealer—a move seen as damaging street credibility and respect.
The gangs in South Manchester, including the Gooch Gang, were made up of mostly first and second generation British West Indies Caribbean heritage members, whose grandparents came to England from the 1950s as part of the Windrush generation.
Around the same time as the Gooch Close gang was becoming known around the city, the Pepperhill Gang were also starting to emerge—taking their name from a pub on the east side of the Alexandra Park estate. When the pub was closed down and the gang targeted by police, they reformed around nearby Doddington Close and would go on to become known as the Doddington Gang.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Pepperhill Gang were involved in a gang war between Moss Side and the Cheetham Hill Gang from North Manchester. The Gooch often bought and sold drugs with the Cheetham Hill Gang. The Gooch had close ties to Cheetham Hill, with the cousin of the head of the Cheetham Hill being a leading figure in the Gooch. The Pepperhill Gang thought this was helping the "enemy". The Pepperhill Gang declared that nobody from South Manchester was to have dealings with Cheetham Hill. This angered the Gooch and a fierce war erupted, dividing the Alexandra Park estate in half, with the Gooch on the west side, and the Pepperhill on the east side. Although the gang war was centred around Moss Side, young males from neighbouring areas would be drawn into the conflict resulting in a number of deaths and regular shooting incidents in South Manchester throughout the 1990s and 2000s.
In 1996, an offshoot gang was identified (Young Gooch), which gained a frightening reputation for the violence and guns its members used. Five of its members were later arrested following Operation Eagle and were sentenced to more than 43 years in prison. The Young Gooch started to war with the newly emerging Longsight Crew, a younger offshoot of the Doddington Gang whose members were based on a number of estates in the Longsight and Ardwick areas of South Manchester, especially their headquarters of Langport Avenue.
By the mid-2000s, the Gooch had grown to become a vast gang made up of a number of smaller offshoot crews based around South Manchester. The most notable of these being the Longsight Street Soldiers, Old Trafford Crips, Rusholme Crips and Fallowfield Mad Dogs. These gangs would carry on the rivalry with Doddington and Longsight Crew into the 2000s.
Alliances and Offshoot Gangs
The Gooch Gang has grown into a network of individual gang factions. These factions are loosely connected, having their own leader(s) and at times operating independently from one another.
Younger Gooch Close Gang (YGC)
The YGC was a gang for newer and younger gang members established in 1996, led by the likes of Colin "Piggy" Joyce and Lee "Cabbo" Amos.
Pit Bull Crew (PBC)
The Pit Bull Crew, led by Thomas "Tommy" Pitt was created in the memory of Raymond "Pitbull" Pitt (Tommy Pitt's brother). Raymond Pitt was a Doddington leader who was killed by his own gang in 1995 due to an internal power struggle.
The PBC waged war on the Longsight Crew and the Doddington, who they held responsible for Raymond's death. They originally fought with the Gooch as well, but quickly established a truce and alliance with the Gooch. Going on to be one of the most feared gangs in the Gooch umbrella after a string of murders.
Longsight Street Soldiers (LSSS)
The LSSS (L triple S) were originally a faction of the Longsight Crew, but they became disillusioned after a dispute escalated to tit-for-tat shootings.
Subsequently, the LSSS allied themselves with the Gooch/PBC side and began a violent dispute with the Longsight Crew and the Doddington Gang. Two senior members—Ricardo Williams and Narada "Yardie" Williams—were jailed for the high-profile murder of Tyrone Gilbert.
Rusholme Crew Gangsters (RCG)
The Rusholme Crew Gangsters (formerly known as the Rusholme Mandem or RMD) was formed in response to Doddington hostilities.
RCG members claimed affiliation with the Gooch through friendship and family ties and would become active in the South Manchester gang wars.
Today, the RCG acronym stands for the Rusholme Crip Gang. In recent years RCG has been engaged in deadly tit-for-tat wars with other South Manchester gangs.
Fallowfield Mandem (FMD)
The FMD were once considered more of a neighbourhood nuisance, rather than a gang. However, that began to change after a popular member, Marcus Fullerton, was shot dead on an avenue in Fallowfield.
The other FMD members were subsequently drawn into gang culture, allying themselves with the Gooch and inheriting their war with Doddington and Longsight.
A younger faction of FMD called themselves the Fallowfield Mad Dogs (keeping the FMD acronym) and carried on the war with Doddington affiliated gangs, especially the younger faction of the LSC known as L-Town. Its members were notable for their use of diss tracks on YouTube taunting their enemies, whom were derided as the 'bwoidem,' patois for those boys.
Old Trafford Cripz (OTC)
The OTC began as a younger version of the YGC but quickly established themselves as a separate faction, indeed for a period in the mid-2000s the OTC were the most active soldiers on the Gooch side. Trading shots with the younger Doddington clique known as the Moss Side Bloods, as well as the LSC and the newer Haydock Close Crew based in Stretford.
OTC members revived the weaning practice of allying themselves with the Los Angeles gang the Crips, wearing blue and referring to themselves as "Locs."
C Block/M21
C block is a gang from the Manchester suburb of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, especially the Nell Lane estate and the Merseybank estate.
Similarly to the FMD, this gang, originally regarded as troublemakers, were drawn into gang culture after a prominent member was killed. Miguel Reynolds (see below) posthumously became a talismanic figure and inspiration for the gang, which also claims affiliation to Gooch and Crips through family ties and friendships.
C Block associates have been known to promote themselves on YouTube through UK rap and UK drill, its most prominent artist being Tunde.
Gooch Close Gang vs. Doddington Original Gangsters gang war
While not an exhaustive list of violent altercations and murders, this section details the most notable incidents of the "Gunchester" Era, including many deaths as a direct result of the gang war between the Gooch Close Gang and their allies vs. the Doddington Gang (previously known as the Pepperhill Gang) and the Longsight Crew.
Murder of Carl "Beefy" Stapleton
On 29 April 1991, 17-year-old Carl Stapleton was attacked with a machete on the Alexandra Park estate in Moss Side. Stapleton, who was friendly with members of the Gooch Close gang, died from fifteen stab wounds to his heart and lungs. Four men were charged with his murder, but the trial collapsed after a key witness refused to testify due to intimidation. No one was ever convicted, and Stapleton's killing marked a bloody escalation in the Gooch–Doddington gang feud.
Murder of Darren "Dabs" Samuels
Later in 1991, 21-year-old Darren Samuels, on bail for attempted murder, was shot dead in Moss Side amid the same gang war. Two suspects stood trial for Samuels' murder, but in December 1991 the case was abandoned when the 18-year-old eyewitness—Samuels' companion—attempted suicide and refused to give evidence out of fear. The defendants were cleared and Samuels' murder remains unsolved.
Rising violence and Operation China
By 1992, South Manchester's gang violence had reached crisis levels, earning the city the grim nickname "Gunchester" in the press. Gunfire became almost routine: two shooting incidents a day were recorded in Moss Side alone. The turf war between the Gooch Close Gang and the Pepperhill Gang drove many innocent residents to leave the Alexandra Park estate. In response, Greater Manchester Police launched Operation China—an undercover crackdown that netted 23 leading gang members in August 1991 and saw them jailed by 1992 on drug and weapons charges. Operation China temporarily disrupted the gangs, even causing the Pepperhill to regroup around Dodington Close on the east side of the estate, the gang was then renamed as the Doddington Original Gangsters. Violence continued as younger gangsters moved in to fill the void nevertheless, the arrests pressured older gang leaders to contemplate a ceasefire: by late 1992–93 some rival "Gooch" and "Doddington" figures even met to play football together amid talk of a truce.
Murder of John "Benji" Stanley
On 11 January 1993, 14-year-old Benji Stanley was shot dead with a shotgun while waiting for food at a takeaway in Moss Side. The gunman fired through the shop window at point-blank range, hitting Stanley in the head and chest. His murder shocked the nation and the media dubbed Manchester "Gunchester" as Stanley's death became a symbol of innocent lives lost to gang crossfire. Hundreds marched in Moss Side demanding action. Police insisted Benji was killed by Gooch men who mistook him for a Doddington member, though evidence later suggested he might have been used as a drug courier. No one was ever charged for Stanley's killing, but the outcry it generated led to intensified police-community initiatives against gun crime.
Threat to Paddy Ashdown
In September 1993, then-Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown visited Moss Side amid the furor over youth violence. During his tour of the run-down shopping precinct, Ashdown was confronted by a suspected teenage Gooch member brandishing a submachine gun. The youth brandished his gun and ordered the countries third most senior politician to leave. This brazen threat to a national party leader, dramatically illustrated the lawlessness in Moss Side at that time. Ashdown and his entourage withdrew unharmed, but the incident spurred government attention on Manchester's gangs and prompted vows by police to regain control of the area.
Murder of Julian "Turbo" Stewart