English History X

[Guest Harry May]

Just watched an "unofficial" copy of The Football Factory .

Although very stereographic of football violence and it's not that original - think of the Firm for the 21st Century - it's still not bad entertainment. Good sound track , plenty of Led Zeppelin and other quality sounds.

But when it comes out on general release it will get slated for glorifying football violence. It does n't - it shows it 's causes and the consequences.

Worth watching.

Caldicot Red.

[Lita For Congo]

I Saw it, thought it was very good, but was more Gangsta orientated than Football voilence, as i aint heard about fighting at Kkiddys games or shootings in toilets and going around bullying kids OUTSIDE football. But it was entertaining, made me cringe at the end when he was getting beaten, very graphical.

heh, now i think of it, the bloke who was on Coke, when he met his G/F's parents, was well funny.

[Guest east_dundry_red]

Ive read the book.

Football voilence films are good though so looking faward to it,

[Percy Parrot]

I read this book a few years back.

It was an 'interesting read'. I appreciate that it does show certain consequences of violence and issues around it. In that respect it is hard to say it 'glorifies it'.

HOWEVER, I am pretty sure from memory that a guy gets stabbed in it and there is no follow up mention of whether he is alive or dead. A true follow up on such things could mention the upset and pain caused upon someone's family should someone die from such an incident.

More relevently- the book doesn't speak at all of the stress and fear violent idiots bring to innocent supporters or the general public. It doesn't mention the stresses on policing or the cost to the NHS every time somebody gets hurt. It doesn't mention the lengths football clubs have to go and costs involved to avoid such incidents. Or the idea that football violence can be responsible for deaths of people indirectly eg. Hillsborough and Hysel.

The book is from the hooligan's perspective which automatically makes the reader sympathetic to them and it is totally based around the 'buzz' of football violence. The book is about it and although not responsible for, it reflects a worrying and perhaps unhealthy curiosity and interest with football violence. That said- this is nothing new- after all people have been writing murder mysteries for years. The difference, perhaps, though is that murder mystery and many crime books are about the police trying to catch the guilty- not the guilty trying to do as much wrong as possible.