Combat18 first emerged in 1992 providing security for the British National Party (BNP), to protect its activities against increasingly successful anti-fascist disruption. By the end of the 1993 the two groups had parted company, as the BNP courted electoral respectability and became embarrassed by C18's violence.
Combat18 established itself as the dominant streetfighting force on the far right, drawing the bulk of its support from football hooligans in London, Essex and parts of northern England.