Boxer and Everton fan, Tony Bellew is hosting a new BBC series about the rise of football hooliganism.
Gangster Presents: Hooligans, which comes out later this week is made for BBC 5 Live and BBC Sounds.
It will examine the rise and fall of hooliganism and the socioeconomic factors that led to its peak.
“Back then, there were no rules. There were also weapons. It was mayhem. In my opinion, it was a dark time, it was when football was in a really,
really bad place. The terraces were chaos, there was violence in the streets, there was violence in city centres, at train stations, at grounds. Nobody was safe, things could escalate at any moment,” said Bellew.
“What people misunderstand about hooliganism is that it was born out of frustration. What I’ve learnt through doing this podcast is that these people were doctors, they were solicitors, they came from all different walks of life, and they go to these matches and have fights with other fans to escape their day-to-day lives.”
Airing from March 7th as a boxset it will look at everything from the fights to the fashion and the long-lasting impact on communities across the UK.
It will feature members of the notorious ‘firms’ as well as victims, the families of those lost to the violence, and undercover police officers who risked their lives infiltrating some of England’s most dangerous football gangs.
“You’ve got two choices, you turn and run, or you stand and fight. Once you get involved, you’re expected to get involved every week and that’s what happened to me,” said‘Cockney Al’ who moved to the Chelmsley Wood area of Birmingham when he was just 14.
“I was 15 and we played West Ham on the night time and West Ham came out of New Street Station and quite a lot of people feared them, well because I was from London it didn’t bother me, seeing 200 cockneys coming out the station, so I just through our lot and ran right at them. That was my first major fight, and it just grew from there.”
The Gangster Presents: Hooligans boxset launches on BBC Sounds on Friday 7th March.
