Four of the most notorious Glasgow pubs linked to organised crime families and gangs in the city

Glasgow is no stranger to gangland violence - having gangs in the forms of young teams patrolling the streets or more nefarious organised crime families moving vast amounts of illicit goods through the city - and there was no bigger concentration of gang members than in some certain pubs around the city.

Nowadays many of these pubs are shutdown, with crime families living more lowkey lifestyles, when in the past they could be found reliabilly as they frequented some of the dodgier pubs around the city - and in some cases even running their own pubs.

We looked back into Glasgow’s past to look at some of the most notorious pubs in the city and tell their story. If you had a chance to visit any of these old taverns, make sure to let us know.

The Caravel

Ran by Tam and Mags McGraw - one of Glasgow’s most renowned crime couples - the pub was host to apparent drug trafficking, bomb squares, and even underworld murders.

A 1,700 ball-bearing fragmentation grenade was thrown into the pub to send a message after a failed takeover of the pub from other criminals.

Everyone hit the floor when the grenade bounced loudly off a door frame and under a table. The barman Joe ‘bananas’ Hanlon (who was later murdered) picked it up and ran across the road where he threw it into a school playground. It was then moved to a nearby cemetery next to the pub. It was detonated by a specialist team from Faslane the next day.

Following a string of criminal controversies - the pub was demolished in 1996 - rumours say that The Caravel was demolished to hide any evidence of criminal activity. The McGraws mantained it was nothing more than a business decision up until Tam’s death in his home in Mount Vernon in 2007.

The Royal Oak

The Royal Oak in Nitshill was frequented by gang members throughout the 90’s up until the mid 2000’s.

The pub was no stranger to gang violence, after a former enforcer of the McGraw’s was shot in the pub by a masked gunman in 2004. Two men John McCartney and Craig Devlin were taken to hospital following the incident.

The incident was one small part of a massive turf war in the city which was caused by the death of drug lord Stewart Boyd, who was killed in a car crash in Malaga. It culminated in a fire set on the pub on Nitshill Road - which according to former punters, was a common occurrence.

Spring Inn

Cleverly nicknamed ‘The Stab Inn’ by locals for its frequent knife crime attacks, The Spring Inn could be found on Sprinburn Road behind the Balgrayhill flats.

George Madden was targeted in the pub in a gangland scheme in 1996 - in which two masked gunman opened fire on Madden inside the pub.

Spring Inn was a long-time HQ of the McGovern family in Springburn (known in the G21 post code as the McGovernment) who moved a massive amount of drugs and laundered cash through Glasgow.

Provanmill Inn

At one point owned by one of the biggest professional criminals in Glasgow’s history, Arthur Thompson, The Provanmill Inn was demolished in 2015 - after it lay derelict for 11 years following a fire attack in 2004.

The Provanmill was host to only the hardest of the hard in Glasgow, as the pub was known to be the hub of Thompson’s criminal empire - where he directed his crime family across Glasgow over pints from the humble smoke-filled pub for over 30 years. Who knows how many murders, deals, and other criminal activities were planned and carried out within the four walls.

Provanmill was often frequented by other massive heads of Glasgow crime, like Thomas McGraw and Paul Ferris - and even international bank robber Ian McDonald. The pub was ran by Arthur Thompson Jr, the son of the crime boss, until the young arthur was killed in a shooting in 1991. His younger brother, Billy Thompson, took over the running of the pub until he landed in hospital from a serious beating.

Thompson’s family home, called ‘The Ponderosa’ and consisting of two heavily renovated council houses on Provanmill Road, was just down the street from the pub. An assasination attempt was even made on Arthur while returning from the pub to his home when rival gang members attempted to run him over.