Good Afternoon, Gentlemen, the Name's Bill Gardner

Author: Bill Gardner
Publisher: eBook Partnership
ISBN: 1909270679
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 230

Book Description
He arrived to rally the troops, the main man in the Inter City Firm and his greeting passed into football fan history. 'Afternoon, gentlemen, the name's Bill Gardner.' That introduction alone was often enough to provoke sheer terror in his opponents. He is a genuine legend to anyone who's ever stood proud on a football terrace. No serious book on the culture would be complete without at least one mention of him. And now at last, he's telling his own, long-awaited story. For the first time, Gardner himself reveals what made him the top man, including his innermost thoughts and his memories of the classic years for football fans. And many familiar faces have queued up to add their comments in this book which shows just what it is that makes Bill Gardner unique among the toughest and the greatest of them all.

Scally

Author: Andy Nicholls
Publisher: Milo Books Ltd
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 359

Book Description
Andy Nicholls is known to every football intelligence officer in Britain. For twenty-five years, he was one of the most active hooligans in the country, a leading figure among the violent followers of Everton FC Classified as a Category C thug, the worst kind, he amassed more than twenty arrests and has been deported from Belgium, Iceland and Sweden. His terrace fanzine was closed down by the authorities and he was banned from every ground in the UK. Revealing the truth behind the vicious knife attacks of the so-called County Road Cutters and the bitter Merseyside and Manchester rivalries that left scores injured, SCALLY caused a storm of controversy on first publication. It is widely acknowledged as the most revealing, most shocking book ever written about soccer gang culture.

Bill Gardner: the Man, the Myth, the Legend

Author: Bill Gardner
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 270

Book Description
Bill Gardner: The Man, The Myth, The Legend ★★★★★ Bill Gardner's childhood in 1950s East London was plagued by chronic vulnerability, due to shocking parental abuse. He endured relentless school bullying, unbearable solitude, mental health problems and homelessness by the age of 14. No value, no self-respect, no self-worth. However, between the late '60s and the early '80s Bill had changed. He was now acknowledged by peers, and the authorities alike, as British football's 'public enemy number one', as the terrace movement reached its most savage. Following his terrace 'retirement', his depiction in acclaimed movies including 'Cass' and 'Rise of the Footsoldier', alongside his citation in books, blogs and social media, fuelled a celebrity status he never craved. Autograph hunters had become selfie-seekers, and his terrace activities the stuff of legend. Yet, until now, only the closest of the close have known the real Bill Gardner, the one-time shy teen who craved acceptance from the 'West Ham family' - in his words, "the only family I ever had". Bill often wore a metaphoric mask in battle, and now even expresses certain degrees of regret. For the first and final time, Bill Gardner: The Man, The Myth, The Legend peels away that mask to reveal how a tragic past led to a ferocious future. As ever, Bill recalls this 'nature vs nurture' struggle in a brutally honest way.

Terrace Legends - The Most Terrifying And Frightening Book Ever Written About Soccer Violence

Author: Cass Pennant
Publisher: Kings Road Publishing
ISBN: 1782192352
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Book Description
Meet the men who, for decades, have ruled the football terraces. They are the faces behind the biggest firms in football history; behind the rucks, the rules and the respect. They have caused chaos for the public and the press and struck fear into rival fans that have crossed their path. In this book, the men behind the mobs have joined forces to reveal their experiences as key figures in the most notorious terrace fights. From the bovver boys of the sixties and seventies to the football casuals of the eighties, the names central to the biggest firms - the names that were to become the stuff that terrace legends were made of - have all been tracked down and interviewed. They tell their stories in this book.

Live to Tell

Author: Lisa Gardner
Publisher: Bantam
ISBN: 0553907697
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 401

Book Description
“A suspenseful roller-coaster ride.”—Karin Slaughter • “Lisa Gardner always delivers heart-stopping suspense.”—Harlan Coben He knows everything about you—including the first place you’ll hide. On a warm summer night in one of Boston’s working-class neighborhoods, an unthinkable crime has been committed: Four members of a family have been brutally murdered. The father—and possible suspect—now lies clinging to life in the ICU. Murder-suicide? Or something worse? Veteran police detective D. D. Warren is certain of only one thing: There’s more to this case than meets the eye. Danielle Burton is a survivor, a dedicated nurse whose passion is to help children at a locked-down pediatric psych ward. But she remains haunted by a family tragedy that shattered her life nearly twenty-five years ago. The dark anniversary is approaching, and when D. D. Warren and her partner show up at the facility, Danielle immediately realizes: It has started again. A devoted mother, Victoria Oliver has a hard time remembering what normalcy is like. But she will do anything to ensure that her troubled son has some semblance of a childhood. She will love him no matter what. Nurture him. Keep him safe. Protect him. Even when the threat comes from within her own house. The lives of these three women unfold and connect in unexpected ways, as sins from the past emerge—and stunning secrets reveal just how tightly blood ties can bind. Sometimes the most devastating crimes are the ones closest to home.

Naughty

Author: Mark Chester
Publisher: eBook Partnership
ISBN: 0956836895
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 653

Book Description
In 1985, forty hooligan followers of Stoke City FC experienced a riotous trip to Portsmouth - and the Naughty Forty was born. It became one of the most notorious soccer gangs in Britain.Mark Chester was a founder member of the N40. Already a hardened fighter, he had been expelled from school after an unsettled childhood and joined the Staffordshire Regiment, only to be discharged for misconduct. Stoke City's emerging 'casual' mob became his family. 'Right or wrong, I was ready to be a committed football hooligan,' he says.He recounts tales of raucous coach trips from the Glebe pub and the pivotal clashes with the likes of Everton, Manchester United and West Ham that defined the new firm. Formidable characters came to the forefront, men like the giant Mark Bentley, Philler the Beast and the legendary Miffer, while hair-raising clashes with the likes of Millwall, Spurs, Aston Villa and Manchester City saw the gang's reputation spread.The N40 code was simple: whatever the odds, they would always make a stand. Many times they fought when heavily outnumbered yet often came out on top. They developed a closeness and cohesion rare among the football gangs. Loyalty was their watchword.Soon they were joined by the Under-Fives, a younger element determined to win acceptance from the terrace legends they admired and who carved out their own niche as well as fighting side by side with the old-school heads.Police operations, bans from the ground and the introduction of ID schemes have prevented many from attending games, but the author, long 'retired' from the scene, argues that in the new millennium the gangs are back - and as ferocious as ever. NAUGHTY is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the illicit but seductive lure of terrace combat, the emotional ties of a gang and the addictive buzz of Saturday afternoons.

Guvnors

Author: Mickey Francis
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780953084715
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 194

Book Description
A first-hand account of how Michael Francis and his brothers ran the Guvnors, a Manchester City based hooligan gang that wreaked havoc on the streets and terraces of Britain. Hard hitting and atmospheric, the story recounts Francis' childhood in the notorious Moss Side area of Manchester, his initiation into soccer thuggery, his rise through the ranks of the hooligan hierarchy, and the bitter clashes with other football gangs.

Chaotic Good

Author: Whitney Gardner
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 1524720801
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 258

Book Description
Cosplay, comic shops, and college applications collide in this illustrated novel from the author of "You're Welcome, Universe" that tackles online bullying and the pressure women have to conform in male-dominated spaces.

Goodbye Leederville Oval: History of West Perth Cheer Squad 1984-86 (large print)

Author: Kieran James
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 0244044945
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 286

Book Description
This (large-print edition) book is the memoir of Kieran James, and details his experiences as co-founder of West Perth Football ClubÕs unofficial cheer squad (hardcore support) from 1984 to 1986 (Western Australian Football League / WAFL). Using MarshÕs theory of the Òillusion of violenceÓ, the author links the cheer squad to the academic literature on British soccer hooligans, Italian ultras, and other soccer supporter groups from around the world. The book details ÒtraditionalÓ, ÒhotÓ support for West Perth Football Club among teenaged supporters from middle-class and working-class backgrounds. The findings conform to Armstrong and HughsonÕs idea of fluid Òpost-modernÓ Òneo-tribesÓ where affiliations are very loose and people can easily adjust their degree of commitment to a group and / or leave the group when their personal priorities change. The book also allows the reader to relive great WAFL matches and meet again key players from the era.

West Australian Football Golden Era 1984-86

Author: Kieran James
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 0244049866
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 236

Book Description
This book is the memoir of Kieran James, and details his experiences as co-founder of West Perth Football Club's unofficial cheer squad from 1984 to 1986. The book details "traditional", "hot" support for West Perth Football Club among teenaged supporters from middle-class and working-class backgrounds. The book shows how, because of neo-liberal ideologies and the corporatization of football, the new national league (the "expanded VFL" / AFL) relegated the WAFL to a second-tier league in 1987. This move took place over the heads of ordinary football supporters and two WAFL club presidents. Moves to bring the game closer to the people in 1984, such as holding the best-and-fairest award count night at Perth Entertainment Centre, should be seen in this light. This book will allow supporters to relive great teams, great players, and great matches from a wonderful era in WA football 1984-86 before West Coast Eagles joined the expanded VFL.