Manslaughter United

by Chris Hulme

People don't want to know us. They don't want to know we exist. We have all committed horrendous crimes, and they aren't going to understand why we're allowed to play football. But it's the only thing that makes our lives bearable. We play in a local league - home games only - and it doesn't matter then who you are or what you've done, you can still be a hero on match day. For those ninety minutes it's your FA Cup, your European Cup, your World Cup.

Zebedee, Teddy, Bunny, Nigel, Scouse, Raph, Calvin, Wayne, Carl, Paddy and Riiler. Eleven men - a football team. In every
British town there are hundreds of amateur football teams. This team has the usual sprinkling of talent but is otherwise unique:
Nine of these players are convicted murderers serving life-
sentences at HMP Kingston; the other two are their warders.

Chris Hulme spent a season with the Kingston Arrows - watching every game, talking to them about their lives on the inside and out and supporting them in their attempt to win the league for the first time in ten years of trying. MANSLAUGHTER UNITED - the story of the hardest football team in England.

'A great slice of sports writing' Total Football

'Porridge meets Escape to Victory. A witty, moving and wholly original read ... Like no football book you've ever read' Daily Mirror

Genres: Nonfiction, Football

273 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1999

Reviews

[Hannah Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Real

[Steve Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insightful read into the running of a non-league football team, but also how the British justice system works, and how it occasionally fails to work

[David Chadwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This compelling book takes us inside the lives of a football team comprising 'lifers' and their prison officers. Hulme spent a season with the players, enabling him to develop a deep understanding of their psychology, which informs his fascinating story. Set against the paranoid claustrophobia of prison life, we come to realise the supreme importance of the 'Ninety Minute Universe' of a football league match to these incredibly motivated players. Their backstories provide startling insights into past lives that have been on one level humdrum and, on another, unimaginably violent. Hulme depicts these often complex individuals in a way that is sensitive but never sentimental; candid but never lurid. His account adds up to a unique perspective on how football can illuminate the darkest places of human existence.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent and enjoyable read. A real insight.