Steaming In: Journal of a Football Fan

by Colin Ward

Countless words on the subject of football hooliganism have been bandied about by politicians, journalists and sociologists. But here is the unvarnished account of life on the terraces in the 1970s and '80s, the inside story of a fan. Colin Ward's experiences at Arsenal, Chelsea and England matches, at home and abroad, make astonishing reading, by turns disturbing, horrifying and hilarious. From the terraces at Highbury to Luxembourg, Turin and Istanbul, Colin Ward charts the camaraderie and the confrontations, the chauvinism, the hatred and the unexpected friendships between rival fans. Along the way he draws a vivid picture of numerous colourful terrace characters, from Tall Eric with his outrageous designer outfits to the three Chelsea fans who wove tall tales all over Europe.

Though caught up in the excitement of the terrace scene, Colin Ward never seeks to glorify violence. However, this is a controversial and provocative book that uniquely captures the spirit of the times and never flinches from the truth. It has become that rarest of gems - a classic of football writing.

Genres: Football, Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published July 18, 1989

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining and fairly light read. This is the story of 70’s and 80’s ‘terrace culture’ as told by Colin Ward, a supposed veteran of Arsenal, Chelsea, Leatherhead and England scraps at home and abroad. While I don’t believe everything Colin tells us in the book I suspect it’s mostly a case of him making certain embellishments to his experiences rather than dreaming the whole thing up from his leafy north London suburb. There are some good little stories and anecdotes in the book and it’s well worth a read for someone even remotely interested in the area but don’t expect to learn anything new or gain any new perspective on football violence. There were a few parts that really grated on me, for example I can’t imagine anyone outside of an Enid Blyton novel hurling some of the insults supposedly said. Nothing though, was more irritating than seemingly every single ‘scouser’ Colin encounters on his travels being a thief. That said, very enjoyable. Liverpool and Everton fans be warned!

[Shane C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mixed feelings about this one. Badly written but there is some progress of maturity towards the end. No real discussion on his life and what brought him to enjoy this fairly reprehensible behaviour. The death of his mother was given one line, which I thought was interesting.

[David Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steaming In by Colin Ward (Simon & Shuster 1989)(nonfiction). This is widely regarded as the definitive book about the thugs and hooligans who inhabited the terraces of British British football clubs of the 1970s and 1980's. They showed up to drink nonstop for a weekend, to puke, to fight, to shock, to destroy, and to bleed. The book features Arsenal and Chelsea at home and on the road. My rating: 7.5/10, finished 2007.

[Jonathan Dennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the better books of this genre. It's a weak genre.