Hoolifan: 30 Years of Hurt (Mainstream Sport)

The texts are written in the form of fan memoir. Quotations and conversations are seemingly made up at will. Academic research can learn from these documents. But these writers, for the most part, baulk at expertise, criteria for measurement and learning.

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Indeed academia, like the media, is the enemy, seen as partly responsible for the myriad misrepresentations of football fan culture and its history which these books perceive as a fundamental problem and consequently seek to put to rights. The books celebrate, and romanticise, a whole hooligan youth subculture of yesteryear situating football casuals in a subcultural timeline from the scuttlers of the late nineteenth century through teds, rockers, mods and skinheads in the s and s and suedeheads and punks first seen in the s. This essay provides a snapshot of football hooligan literature, football hooligan subcultures and suggests some theoretical and methodological signposts for the study of subculture.

It draws on new research work from the last few years into British football hooliganism literature which also rethinks my own earlier work on rave culture Redhead, a; Redhead, b and football hooligan subcultures McLaughlin and Redhead, ; Redhead, , , , a, b, c, in the light of appreciation and critique of such work in recent youth subcultural theory debates Blackman, , Hesmondalgh, ; Bennett, ; Greener and Hollands, The essay further engages with debates in socio-legal studies, sociology, cultural studies and criminology on subcultures and contains some insights for post-millennial, post-subcultural studies.

The now defunct Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies CCCS seminal work at the University of Birmingham in the s Hall and Jefferson, ; Hebdige, is infrequently given its due but much of its critique of earlier work on subcultures remains pertinent.

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Yet studies of football hooliganism have tended to eschew this sub-discipline in favour of more established views of subculture and hooliganism, however theoretically varied Ingham, ; Cohen and Robins, ; Robins, ; Dunning, Murphy and Williams, , , Dunning, Murphy and Williams, ; Armstrong, ; Giulianotti, ; King, ; Frosdick and Marsh, Significantly, then, work on football hooligan subcultures has not featured in this rethinking of subculture in post-subcultural studies, though related studies of contemporary rave culture have figured strongly Muggleton and Weinzierl, Perhaps the reason for this omission is that little sustained sociological and anthropological theorising and rigorous academic ethnography of football hooligan subcultures has been conducted over the last twenty-five years.

Honourable exceptions to this rule are rare Armstrong, ; Robson, ; Sugden, , Sugden, ; Slaughter, In many other cases it is clear that fans winding up gullible authors with hooligan stories has become almost a national pastime see, for instance, Buford, Another reason is that the specific intertwining of football hooligan subcultures and rave culture was generally a UK phenomenon rather than an international one Redhead, , , a.

I want to suggest that one way into a realm of better informed ethnographies of contemporary football hooligan subcultures is through this simulacrum. As opposed to the relative dearth of recent criminological, sociological or cultural studies accounts of football hooligan subcultures, low culture amateur journalistic accounts continue to proliferate. They are now extensive in number and together form a vast library of hooligan stories in the fashionable, confessional form of sports fan memoir Redhead, c.

They are, if appropriately employed, able to add to the pre-existing body of knowledge produced in the late s and s and to some extent s about football hooligan subcultures. There are even A-Z volumes of hooligan firms, mapped historically and geographically throughout the nation. The ritual stoking of the historical and geographical rivalries between fans, clubs and gangs, however, is always the aim and this purpose is more or less achieved.

As well as England Pennant and Nicholls, the following clubs are represented in the most comprehensive list that can currently be compiled from hooligan memoirs: This is likely to be a considerable underestimate as many football hooligan gangs come in and out of existence very quickly or simply change their names. The approximate total of football hooligan gangs in Britain since the watershed year of when skinheads were first emerging as a youth culture is therefore, adding the previous identified, It is noteworthy that the authors of two volumes on British football hooligan gangs history Lowles and Nicholls, , claim to have interviewed hundred former hooligans.

The cultural mapping of football hooligan gangs for ethnographic and historical research purposes for post-subcultural studies is aided and abetted by the extensive hit and tell literature and its oral history of football, culture and modernity. Names, not just numbers, of the football hooligan crews are themselves significant. They have often been used to confuse enemies: They are an integral part of the argot and style, the reflexive subcultural language of football hooligans, even if the gangs are small and relatively short lived.

Hoolifan: 30 Years of Hurt

Hyper-localised notoriety is what is sought, often down to the pub or street where the firms meet. One effect of this football hooligan literature surveyed in this essay is to provide an historical glossary of the oblique discourse of the football firms during the last quarter of a century, which can be aped, and adapted, by newcomers on the scene.

There are also regional variations which mark out territory. But by the late s a distinctive market had been created and a number of tiny independent publishers with a finger on the pulse of the vagaries of casual culture responded by commissioning a host of new books with relatively small margins for profit. The most prominent apart from Milo are: John Blake Publishing, begun in the s by the journalist John Blake, Headhunter Books, begun in by the former hooligan and writer Martin King, and Pennant Books, begun in by the former hooligan and writer Cass Pennant.

He has produced provocative investigative journalism on contemporary gang violence for various different media. In particular his study of the Manchester gang wars in the s is an outstanding, well researched journalistic account of organised and disorganised crime in a contemporary urban setting Walsh, which would easily qualify on quality grounds for university criminology reading lists.

His publishing company has also showcased other sharp journalistic portrayals of the historical contours and current shape of the British underground economy Barnes, Elias and Walsh, ; Barnes, ; Blaney, Walsh has subsequently expanded his publishing enterprise to include books on boxing, street fighters, bare-knuckle fighting, anti-fascist left wing violence and biographies of American gangsters but it is the hooligan memoirs which fill the bookshelves and gain most lurid publicity for his company.

Chester says Chester, The initial outrage…turned to a full outcry of anger and disbelief when the authorities discovered my intended launch venue and so a media campaign against the book gained momentum.

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In excess of 1, people crammed into the venue from two in the afternoon until mid-night…Between bands, DJs kept the mood moving with guest appearances from the author of Casuals , Phil Thornton, and Farm front man Peter Hooton. The whole place was enveloped in testosterone as ninety per cent of the congregation was male and most full-on football hooligans of all ages and experience.

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As a small, hand to mouth operation, Milo has gained from moral panic on the one hand and the mixing of music and football culture on the other. The hit and tell genre, recounts, indeed celebrates, hyper-violent male football fandom associated with a particular British league club and its mob, crew or firm. The rivalry between the crews or firms the main content of the books: None of these books have any pretensions to formal style or literary protocol, though at least two Gall, , are fully authored by a female professional journalist who made contact with the Birmingham City and Leeds United gangs in question.

Titles are long and winding. Even if the headline is snappy, the effect is a parody of a blend of tabloid journalism and hard boiled crime fiction.

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Quotations and conversations are made up. That was the only way for the contemporary mob to look distinct and different from its rivals. Leeds United hooligans were an example of this for some time but succumbed eventually to a Leeds Service Crew memoir Gall, For example, the Brimson brothers Dougie and Eddie, in particular, have contributed numerous hit and tell accounts, initially about Watford but eventually over the years on British football hooliganism in general Brimson and Brimson, a, b, , ; Dougie Brimson, a, , , ; Eddie Brimson, b, Cult fiction writers like John King wrote short stories and novels to fill in the gap where anthropology and sociology had once been.

The other loose football fiction trilogy 3 of novels by John King King, , , , alongside sections of much of the fiction, screenplays and playscripts of Irvine Welsh, gave versions of territorial male soccer fan and music culture, and casual football hooliganism, which often eclipsed those of criminologists, sociologists and cultural studies ethnographers. King and Welsh used their own extensive participation in soccer fan cultures and football hooligan subcultures with, respectively, Chelsea and Hibernian, since the s to write their formally fictional texts 5.

King remembers especially Redhead, And a lot of those blokes have made money. The hooligan fiction genre has been frequently attempted but without anything like the same panache or historical accuracy as Kevin Sampson 6 , John King or Irvine Welsh Anderson, ; Eddie Brimson, a; Dougie Brimson, b, Its literary versions, added to the hit and tell memoirs, make rich starting points for academic ethnographers.

Alongside the repetitive beat generation fiction literature, the hit and tell books celebrate and romanticise football hooligan subcultures which began in the late s with the development of casual youth culture Thornton, and mutated to some extent into rave culture in the late s. Views on casual history are on the website http: There are also websites on casual music, football fandom and fashion see for example http: Football legislation, beginning with aspects of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act , increased state intervention on football hooliganism and created a climate of militaristic policing and draconian prison sentences in the courts.

The hit and tell memoirs often have a section of court trial and prison diaries. Again it is clear that the hooligan memoirs trace the common biography of men now in their forties who heavily involved themselves in the rave scene of the late s and drifted into various criminal activities in the s Blaney, , only to frequently return to football firms in the s.

What the hit and tell genre provides, as has been seen, is a possible cultural criminology supplement 7 for post-subcultural studies. Methodologically it allows academics to add events, stories, language and colour to a history of youth culture which was already partly written at the time in the s and s. It provides material for reflection and correction of previously mistaken assumptions. Lastly, it provides the possibility of repairing the gaps in contemporary knowledge of football hooligan subcultures within post-subcultural studies.

Did they think it was all over? But sociologist of soccer culture can culturally map more accurately, through argot and style, where causal youth culture has been, and even where it might be going, if attention is paid to the discourse of the hit and tell hooligan literature reviewed in this essay. In a recent series of debates, a binary division between subcultural theorists and post-subcultural theorists has appeared Greener and Hollands, ; Blackman, In my argument, an adequate theory of modernity Redhead, requires a critique of linearity.

The football hooligan memoir is part of this cyclical, circular non-linear history. It all comes round again. Youth and Pop Towards Redhead, The Barmy Army On-U Sound album The English Disease, produced by Adrian Sherwood, also from the early s, features cut-ups of my field research tapes from the football terraces and face to face interviews.

Allt N The Boys from the Mersey: Blaney C Grafters: Brimson, D March of the Hooligans: Brimson D Barmy Army: Behind the Matchday Madness London: Brown D and Brittle P Villains: A Photodiary of Football Fans s to Brighton: Cowens S Blades Business Crew: Fist S and Baddiel I Bottle: Gall C Service Crew: Gall C Zulus: Black, White and Blue: Gardner B Good Afternoon Gentlemen!

George D Apex to Zulu: Thirty Years of Stylish Violence. Giulianotti R Football: A Sociology of the Global Game Cambridge: Hewitt P The Soul Stylists: Forty Years of Modernism Edinburgh: Glorifies the violence he was involved in - at times it seems just a list of memorable fights he got into. Gives absolutely no insight into football hooliganism. Despite referring to himself as a fan - there is virtually no reference to football matches. Jan 12, Michael rated it it was amazing. Aug 12, Scott Gardner rated it it was amazing Shelves: Brilliant book , inside story of the rise of Hoolies.

Sep 08, Steve rated it it was amazing. Chris Coldwell rated it it was amazing Apr 07, Jorge Aguila rated it liked it Aug 15, Noah Doughty rated it really liked it Jul 19, Tobias rated it liked it Mar 21, Megan rated it it was amazing Apr 02, Heniek rated it it was amazing Feb 14, Michael rated it liked it Oct 13, Hiffe rated it really liked it Aug 05, Bartek Szczepanczyk rated it liked it Sep 24, Kieran rated it it was amazing Jan 12, Stephen Duggan rated it really liked it Oct 26, Huehuecoyotl rated it liked it Oct 13, Matt Metz rated it it was amazing Jul 06, Ioulia Ilvanidou rated it liked it Feb 12, Keith Halbert rated it liked it May 26, Johan Webber rated it liked it Aug 06, Alex Canham rated it liked it Apr 14, Tim rated it liked it Feb 26, Jul 04, Grant Talabay rated it really liked it Shelves: Suburb memoir of football soccer violence throughout the 70s and 80s.

A very gritty read. Rangel Lanuza rated it liked it Apr 02, Andy Cumming rated it it was ok Nov 21, Phillip rated it liked it Feb 11, There are no discussion topics on this book yet. He lives in Belgium near Antwerp where he spends his most of his time visiting European battlefields. His voluntary work tracing individual histories has been a labor of love for almost 30 years. He speaks, and has a working knowledge of German Italian Dutch and French.

Frequently in demand as a public speaker he has lectured at many British and US colleges, universities and military bases throughout the world.

He is a frequent visitor to the prestigious West Point Military Academy. Widely regarded as a leading authority on European Military History, General Graham Hollands referred to him as the "Greatest living expert on the Battle of the Bulge".