Book description
Hoolifan is the story of one man, Martin King, and his
experiences spanning three decades with the country's foremost soccer
gang. Chelsea have always been at the cutting edge of football
violence, and King himself was at the heart of the evolving Chelsea
mob for some 30 years. From his first visit to a football ground in
the early 1960s, he charts his development from a rattle-waving child
through to a fully fledged member of the notorious Chelsea Shed in the
1970s and finally to his exploits as a key player in the most feared
football gang of the 1980s and 1990s - the so-called Chelsea Headhunters.
King describes the leading characters of the various eras, not just
from Chelsea but from across the country. He also records every clash,
ambush and act of revenge in vivid detail, as well as the camaraderie
and style of this most infamous soccer gang.
This is not just another book on the well-trodden subject of
football hooliganism, as, unlike so many authors, Martin King makes no
attempt to distance himself from the violence and leaves readers to
draw their own conclusions.
At times provocative, often humorous and always honest, Hoolifan
places the phenomenon of football hooliganism in its true social context.
