Hooligan Literature

[Egbert]

I'm an avid reader on football hooliganism, "the English disease" and wanted to share my thoughts on a few of the titles that I've read. Being racially-minded, I've avoided books written by non-whites or excessively sympathetic to them. I tend to buy older copies, so not all of these covers are pics of the same editions. I'll add more titles as I read them, assuming there's some interest.



"Among the Thugs: The Experience and the Seduction of Crowd Violence" by Bill Buford. An American journalist embedded himself with a few different mobs back in the 80's and wrote about his experiences, as a kind of war correspondent. This book gets a lot of bad press among hooligans as being written entirely by an outsider, but I rather enjoyed it and would recommend it as a starting point for those interested in the subject. It's very well written, very personal and the individuals he meets couldn't be painted more colourfully.



"Barmy Army: The Changing Face of Football Violence" by Dougie Brimson. The Brimson brothers have written several books on hooliganism, but I've not read many. This one covers a lot of ground in a slim volume, more of an overview of the history of hooliganism with a few personal accounts sprinkled throughout, ultimately ending in the author's recommendations towards eliminating football violence altogether. It's a good if short overview, but not especially fun.



"Casuals: Football, Fighting and Fashion - The Story of a Terrace Cult" by Phil Thornton. An interesting examination of the birth of football casuals, as well as their history from a fashion-related perspective, with very little fighting or football being covered. It goes some way towards explaining the stepping stone from skinheads to chavs though, within a generation or two.



"England Away" by John King. This is fiction and the third in a series. It's actually very well written, with a lot of character development and a very strong thread of British patriotism throughout, but the protagonist ultimately engages in miscegenation with a gook whore and it sort of spirals into a bit too much philosophical introspection at times. I've yet to read the first two titles in the series, but one of them, "The Football Factory" was made into a fairly enjoyable film, I would recommend watching that over reading this.



"From Seasiders to Casuals United" by Jeff Marsh. An interesting memoir from a former Cardiff City Soul Crew hooligan, now active street-level member of the counter-jihad and founder of Casuals United. It details the progress after the decline of hooliganism, how and why football casuals have united under a common banner to defend Britain against Islamism. It's an excellent read and I recommend it highly.



"Hooligans Abroad: The Behaviour and Control of English Fans in Continental Europe" by Williams, Dunning and Murphy. An incredibly detailed sociological exploration of hooliganism, written on the heels of a horrifically violent World Cup '82, with the English invading Spain. It's both very informative and rather hysterical, ranging from personal uncensored accounts by hooligans, to how various businesses at the time were indirectly promoting the violence, to scholars admitting that they are utterly gobsmacked as to how and why this happened.



"The National Front" by Martin Walker. I realize many wouldn't include a strictly political book in a list like this, but the National Front was synonymous with British Nationalism for decades and came to be embraced by many a hooligan. Unfortunately, this particular title is rather hostile, but being written in '77 it depicts the NF during it's height. For those interested in the history of the National Front this is one of few books available.



"Scally: The Shocking Confessions of a Category C Football Hooligan" by Andy Nicholls. Written by a fiercely proud Everton supporter, I found this to be a real riot. It covers his career as a top boy, his personal adventures, detailing endless fights with other firms and even sacking continental towns. Nicholls' sense of humour comes across very well and it's anything but dry. There's also quite a bit about football itself, just being a fan of the club, his time behind bars for related trouble and some debate on the use of Stanley utility knives amongst hooligans.



"Suicide Squad: The Story of a Hooligan Firm" by Andrew Porter. Similar in some respects to "Scally" but not nearly as light-hearted. Written by a rather grim life-long Burnley supporter, more about the firm than himself. There is some general adventuring, including some serious drinking, but it focuses almost exclusively on fighting, both with other mobs and with Old Bill.



"White Riot: The Violent Story of Combat 18" by Nick Lowles. This is the history of C18, from beginning to decline. The author is clearly opposed, but maintains some objectivity and was able to get very in-depth and personal accounts from members themselves. It covers a little of the crossover into various firms, namely the Chelsea Headhunters, but mostly the various individuals behind C18 and it's misadventures into terrorism. It's very candid about certain members being government informants at differing stages and explains how it all came crashing down for them as well.

an honourable mention:



"A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess. The first unofficial hooligan novel, though unrelated to football. It's largely been replaced by "Fight Club" these days, but both the book and the film of "A Clockwork Orange" helped define a generation of angry white urban youth, not only in a futuristic Britain, but across the Western world. Real horrorshow, my fellow droogs.

[Joe McCarthy]

I've not read any books on this subject but you appear to have summarized it very well.

[Albert Dryden]

Originally Posted by Egbert

"England Away" by John King. This is fiction and the third in a series. It's actually very well written, with a lot of character development and a very strong thread of British patriotism throughout, but the protagonist ultimately engages in miscegenation with a gook whore and it sort of spirals into a bit too much philosophical introspection at times. I've yet to read the first two titles in the series, but one of them, "The Football Factory" was made into a fairly enjoyable film, I would recommend watching that over reading this.

The Football Factory is a really good book and the best of this series of three. The film, however, is a pile of mouldy, old wank which bears no relation whatsoever to the book.

[brother number three]

I read Among The Thugs, it is an interesting book, the chapter on his trip to Turin with the Manchester United firm is at first funny and then harrowing as the ICF rampage in Turin, but the best chapters don't deal with hooligan violence at all, it deals with the nature of crowds of people. One is a chapter where he attends a Millwall-Cambridge United game and he describes what it is like to be in the crowd in the terraces and the tension of waiting for a goal to be scored. Sounds simplistic but he deals with it very well. The second chapter is his dealings with right wing politics in Britain culminating in his attendance of a National Front Disco. Buford loses interest in his project about the time ecstasy usage began to be popular, something some believe was a factor in the decline of hooliganism as people got into the club scene of the early 90s. A good read overall.

[Egbert]

Originally Posted by Albert Dryden

The Football Factory is a really good book and the best of this series of three. The film, however, is a pile of mouldy, old wank which bears no relation whatsoever to the book.

I'll be sure and pick up a copy, thanks for letting me know. I was put off by the whole race-mixing bit in "England Away" so didn't pursue the other two books. I thought the film was okay though, at the very least there weren't any oriental hookers in it.

As other films go, I'm not in the habit of recommending Neo-Nazi webshops, but Bart with B&H down in Dallas has some excellent hooligan compilation videos. I'm sure it's all stuff that Brits have seen endlessly, footage from the '80's and '90's of football violence, terraces erupting, all put to a rock soundtrack. There's also a BBC documentary in there as well. The quality of the footage varies profoundly, some is crisp, some is garbage, but I liked them overall:

http://www.ns88.com/shop/index.php?cPath=193_33

[MASTY]

Andy "nightmare" Frain would be another good name to look into, Eggy.