Best books of the 90's (Football Factory / Headhunters / England Away - John King)

Member Name: Daisybelle

Product:	Football Factory / Headhunters / England Away - John King
Date:	14/08/00 (223 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent Characterisations

Disadvantages: Violence in FF is a bit severe

I bought these books separately, as they were written, I found myself scanning bookshops desperately waiting for England Away to be published. Bearing that in mind I've chosen to look at them individually.

This book, and its follow ups, are well worth the money. The Football Factory, on the surface, deals mainly with violence on tour through the UK. The main protagonist is Tom Johnson, a Chelsea Headhunter in his late 20's, who sees it as his duty to crack the heads of his counterparts.

The opening line is "Coventry are F**K all." . And so the book proceeds. King neither glamorises nor demonifies the excesses of his characters, preferring to describe them and let you make your own mind up. His characterisations are brilliant, King manages to humanise everyone he invents to an astonishing level . Every nuance is a story in itself.

I have read this book 6 times now and still find new things and still marvel at how lifelike the myriad of characters are. If you have an interest in the society you live in read this, it says a lot more about Britain than just hooliganism, though the violence might be too much for some readers. Also if your life has never been touched in this way, it may appear gratuitous.


HeadHunters is not, as the name might imply, another examination of football violence, although it is loosely a sequel to The Football Factory. The central theme is sex in various forms as the absorbing characters start their own shagging league.

Ranging from the Man Utd of shaggers, Carter, through to the dreamy Will who craves love, they grip the reader. This is Kings venture into the end of youth, and the insecurities and responsibilities that go with it.

The inevitable violence comes from a different perspective, being more one of the necessary evils of being a bloke than a way of life. Relationships between the characters are a key theme and it’s difficult not to be touched
by many of the situations. Another winner with a real twist in the tale.


England Away examines the differences and common ground regarding relationships that are felt by old and young. From the war veterans to the young Vince, the cynical but genuine national pride of the English, as King sees it, is affectionately looked at from a number of angles.

Like the rest of the series I’ve read this four or five times, and writing about them is giving me the itch to pick them up again. Working class male violence and loyalties throughout the last century are covered, as are some serious political and historic issues, but in the end it’s Kings characterisations which again I find so addictive. The way King has made me empathise with his characters is very reminiscent of the effect Steinbeck has on me, high praise indeed. Great end to a truly excellent trilogy.

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