A History of (Football) Violence (Villains: The Inside Story of Aston Villa's Hooligan Gangs - Danny Brown)

Member Name: marandina

Product:	Villains: The Inside Story of Aston Villa's Hooligan Gangs - Danny Brown
Date:	22/02/07 (4201 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Interesting at times

Disadvantages: Badly written

I grew up in an era of football violence. Throughout the 70’s and 80’s I saw scenes that I would rather forget. Being abused by a Millwall fan when I was 11, seeing Sheffield United fans running at Villa fans hurling house bricks and Manchester United fans going on the rampage in Aston, targeting policemen rather than opposition fans to mete out their violence are all memories I would rather do without. Whether he knew this is debatable but when my brother gave me the book “Villains: The Inside Story of Aston Villa’s Hooligan Gangs” as a tongue-in-cheek present, he probably didn’t realise that it would rake up bad memories. I certainly recall the reputation of Danny Brown or “Black Danny” as he was known when I used to stand on the terraces of the Holte End and it was his name that was at the centre of most of the rumours of organized violence on that fateful night at Villa Park when all hell let loose before, during and after a game with local rivals, Birmingham City in 2003. Ironically, he may not have even been involved after all.

“Hooligan Gangs” is a first hand account of football violence perpetrated by pocket of Aston Villa fans during the most notorious decades of the troubles. All of the known Villa firms of the last few decades get a mention but the main focus is on the infamous C-Crew and The Steamers. In an era that took in both the Hillsborough and Heysel tragedies, it’s an honest account, written by the people involved of what went on. Accredited to two of the most notorious instigators - Danny Brown and Paul Brittle - the book takes in plenty of other contributions from 50 or so gang members that sweeps across a range of organized firms and their most notable accounts of the troubles. Within the encyclopedic accounts of infamous fights and conflicts are chapters and passages devoted to the service station brawl that resulted in football coaches being banned from motorway service stations, detailed reveries of the battles with the hard-nosed Millwall and West Ham gangs of those times and plenty of other first hand memories of fights with fans from Middlesborough to London.

On the plus side, there is plenty of camaraderie that shines through. The fact that violence brought people together and made them “family” as is constantly suggested throughout gives some insight into why people did what they did back then and the accounts of the carnage during the Rangers v Villa friendly from the mid-70’s did clear up a few queries that I’d been carrying for years. Also weaved within the numerous accounts of rucks and rows is plenty of reminiscing of past matches and moments spanning the highs and lows of those footballing times. To any genuine fan, these are an interesting read and for a Villa supporter, any alternative versions of the days when we won League Finals, a League Championship and the European Cup make for yarns well spun. Moreover, to any genuine Brummie, it makes for a trip down memory lane reading about all the various pubs that acted as meeting points for the people involved in the violence and a particular passage that talks about the Handsworth riots during the Thatcher Years gives a different slant and the urban decay argument blamed at the time.

Where the book fails is in its lack of general contrition and the lack of insight into the motives that made people commit the most heinous of crimes that often resulted in the perpetrators going to prison. The overriding message is that the gangs or firms created a sense of belonging to those that formed them and that the match day sorties were akin to army exercises that were designed to take enemy territory. It’s extraordinary to think that most of the people involved would have got what they wanted out of life by joining the army rather than rampaging around the country, beating the living daylights out of other people. That feeling of being proud to have been associated with all this chaos comes through time and time again and, at times, it feels like you are reading about the London ganglands and the Kray Twins rather than disparate youths causing mayhem in the name of a football club. What underscores this is the dehumanisation of the victims of the violence, always reduced to the name of the opposition club or gang rather than an individual who has been hurt. And so a group of people that supported Liverpool would be reduced to “The Liverpool” rather than anything more individual, for example. Within this, a whole sub-culture of colloquialism is spawned with non-hooligans labeled as “civilians” or “scarfers” and local territories referred to as manor or turf.

At 319 pages this book doesn’t take long to get through and its patchwork quilt of accounts lasting from a couple of paragraphs up to just a few pages each time makes it a quick read. A major reason for writing the book at all seems to be as a response to a similar book called “Zulus” written by Birmingham City hooligans with a certain desperation to the put the record straight. “Hooligan Gangs” will only really appeal to diehard fans of the club who want to pay homage to the violence of the times or thugs who like to read about violence. Without any definitive social context or realistic, objective analysis of what went on and why, the book is simply an elongated tale that might be told in a pub between friends. It’s because of that reason that I can’t really recommend the book as such as the majority of people will find it repetitive, badly written and superficial for the most part. There’s no denying the good intentions in writing and publishing the book but there is a lack of recalcitrance that leaves a bad taste when you’ve finally got through all the beatings, robbings and pseudo army-like accounts of football violence across England at a socially unstable time. I hope that if any of the contributors do read this review that they can forgive my scathing criticism of an honorable enough project. It simply didn’t work.

Thanks for the read.

Mara

ISBN: 1-903854-58-8 or 978-1-903854-59-4
RRP: £15.99 for the Hardback
Published by Milo Books Ltd
Available at Amazon from: £14.99 New.

Summary: Overview of book