Barmy Army

Dougie Brimson

Description

As EURO 2000 approached, attention once again focused on the potential threat posed by the activities of football hooligans. Not just those from England, but also from Holland, Belgium, Germany,Italy, France and even Turkey.

Informations

• Publié par: Category C Publishing
• Date de parution: 16 novembre 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781908400840
• Langue: English

Extrait

Barmy Army The Changing Face of Football Violence
Dougie Brimson
Faultless - Football365
As EURO 2000 approached, attention once again focused on the potential threat posed by the activities of football hooligans. Not just those from England, but also from Holland, Belgium, Germany,Italy, France and even Turkey.
Yet as this last year has proven, whilst the hooligans in other nations cause as much, if not more, trouble than their English counterparts, it is the activities of the fans from this country which always seems to attract the greatest scrutiny. And with good reason.
For hooliganism is on the rise in England again.
And from amongst their number has emerged a new breed of thug, more dangerous and cunning than their predecessors ever were. Hooligans who have adopted the style and mannerisms of the old school casuals whilst embracing the technology of the mobile phone, the pager and more importantly, the Internet. How has it come to this? And why? More importantly, how can we stop them?
Using the hard-edged, in-your-face style of his previous books, Dougie Brimson explores every aspect of the hooligan issue and lays it bare. From the birth of the problem in the fourteenth century to the explosion of organised violence via the world wide web, Barmy Army examines the people, the causes, the methods and the history of this frightening, yet fascinating problem.
Dougie Brimson
Born in Hertfordshire in 1959, Dougie Brimson joined the Royal Air Force where he trained as a mechanical engineer. After serving for over eighteen years he left the forces in 1994 to forge a career as a writer.
Now the author of 13 books, his often controversial opinions on the culture of football have frequently attracted condemnation from the games authorities yet he has become firmly established as one of the worlds leading authorities on the subject of football hooliganism and is regarded by many as the father of the literary genre known as Hoolie-lit .
An accomplished screenwriter, he co-wrote the multi-award winning Green Street starring Elijah Wood and is currently working on the screenplay for The Top Boys which is due for release mid-2012.
* * * www.dougiebrimson.com * * *
To Tina.
Contents
Dougie Brimson
Acknowledgements
Introduction
PART ONE The Demon In Our Midst
Chapter 1 Why?
Chapter 2 Who?
PART TWO The History
Chapter 3 The Early Years
Chapter 4 The Dark Days
Chapter 5 England
PART THREE The Authorities
Chapter 6 The Great Game
Chapter 7 The Media
Chapter 8 The Academic Approach
Chapter 9 The Police
PART FOUR The Solution?
Chapter 10 Getting A Result
Conclusion
Appendix
Also from Dougie Brimson
More from Category C
DougieBrimson.com
Copyright Page
Category C Publishing
Acknowledgements
With thanks to everyone who helped out with the research and who answered frantic phone calls or e-mails, especially Pat Nally, Dave (2), Joe Hawkins , Chris, Pete, Tim and all the lads from all the clubs who, together with everyone else, had best remain nameless! You all know who you are, though, and you were invaluable.
Introduction
A few years ago, I co-wrote a book. It wasn t the first of its type, not by any means, but thankfully it was, and continues to be, a reasonably good seller. Although I would like to believe that this success was entirely due to the fact that it is a bloody good book, it is fair to say that a good portion of it can be attributed to one very important factor: timing. The book, entitled Everywhere We Go , was about football hooliganism and was released in March 1996. Just over a year after rioting England fans had forced the abandonment of an international game in Dublin and a few short months before the start of the largest football tournament this country had staged for 30 years.
Such timing was no accident. And with a government terrified at the prospect of Euro 96 being remembered more for the violence surrounding it than the actual football, as well as a media seemingly intent on stirring up that violence, Everywhere We Go received a massive amount of attention when it was first published. Reviews ranged from probably the best book ever written on football violence ( Daily Mail) to simply fuck off ( Time Out) and to promote it we appeared on everything from breakfast television to local radio. As any publisher will tell you, such exposure is priceless and most authors would kill for the amount of publicity the book received.
One of the unique features of Everywhere We Go was the way it tackled the issue. Unlike the books written by some of the academic half-wits who study (sic) hooliganism, it contained no bullshit, exaggeration or patronising theory. It simply looked at every aspect of the problem and, where necessary, examined it using either experience, opinion or anecdotes. Nothing was held back, hidden or ignored; if it impacted on the problem, it was tackled, as directly and honestly as it could have been. The fact that we were prepared to appear in the media, and not only admit to being involved in the past but explain why, was a huge selling point and one which we exploited at every opportunity.
While the media response was one thing, the reaction from the public was simply amazing. For me, one of the aims had always been to write a book that, to use a well- worn phrase, told it how it was. Or to be more specific, how it had been for me. And as I was far from the stereotypical footie thug, or at least I believed I was, the hope was that by approaching it in that way, the book would expose many of the myths and stereotypes that surround hooliganism for the utter rubbish that they are. But the only way to be sure that the book achieved that aim was to invite direct comment from the people who read it. And so, on the back page, an address was included together with a plea for feedback.
Within weeks, letters were flooding in by the sackload. Some were supportive, some were astonished. A few were simply angry. But the one thing that came across most strongly to me was that my own experiences were so, well, typical. Indeed, the views and opinions expressed in the book, be they about hooliganism or any of the other issues examined such as policing or the right-wing influence, were similar to those of the vast majority of people who responded. If nothing else, that gave me a gratifying sense of achievement. It reaffirmed our assertion that we were simply two average football fans who had written a book.
But Everywhere We Go was not just about why hooliganism exists, it was about understanding the culture surrounding it, why people became involved and how, more importantly, we believed it could be stopped. As a result, much of the content centred around attacks on the press, the police and the football authorities for their role in the abject failure to deal with the hooligan menace which had, remember, already existed for over a century and had almost brought the game to its knees at one point. The fact that at that time the country was facing a bill of 10- 20 million to police Euro 96 seemed to underline the point.
Naively, I believed that because our ideas for dealing with the problem were based on personal experience rather than academic study, someone in authority would want to hear them. After all, isn t the best person to ask about stopping car crime an ex-car thief? And if someone writes a book about an issue causing you major problems and that book sits high in the bestsellers list for a good few weeks, surely it might be worth having them in for a chat. But I was wrong. While the positive feedback from the public was most welcome, the people we really needed to respond remained silent. Not only that, but as Euro 96 approached and the tabloid press continued to clamour for quotes about organised gangs and possible riots, things began to happen that I was not prepared for.
Right from the outset, certain elements of the media had been critical of the book. That was fair enough; if you write anything for publication, you have to expect that and if you are controversial, it is fairly obvious that not everyone is going to agree with what you say or how you say it. However, most of the criticism was aimed not at the book itself but at the authors. Accusations that we were exploiting a violent past or making money on the back of that violence came pouring down - with, to be honest, some justification because we were making money. There were also allegations that we were glorifying violence or even, in a few cases, stirring it up. One magazine even hinted that Everywhere We Go had been ghost written and that we were simply a front for someone else. At first, such things hurt, but I soon realised that many of the people who were critical of the book either hadn t even read it or were simply jealous because they hadn t thought of it first and resented its success. Furthermore, the old adage there is no such thing as bad publicity quickly proved itself to be true. Each slagging led to more exposure and more sales, and if making money had been what it was really about then I d have happily cultivated as much rumour as I could have. But making money wasn t what it was all about. And as the criticism continued, it soon became clear that any hopes we had that someone would listen to what we had to say were diminishing fast.
Ironically, while we were desperately trying to meet with the authorities, they began to take an unhealthy interest in what we were up to. Some phone calls were accompanied by so many clicks and buzzes that at times I almost started dancing. And through the simple ploy of sending spoof mail to ourselves, it quickly became clear that either the Royal Mail sorting offices were going through a particularly bad patch or someone was intercepting it. I also began to notice the same middle-aged faces popping up at various points on train journeys across London and despite the fact that they were always left secured, cars would be fo