Everywhere We Go

Hooligan Series #1

by Dougie Brimson, Eddy Brimson

This volume offers an insight into the behavior of the football thug. It features many first-hand accounts of incidents, from both perpetrators and victims, that make chilling reading. It builds up to provide a comprehensive look behind the matchday madness and explores other related issues.

Genres: Football, Soccer, Nonfiction

245 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 1996

About the author

In recent years, former serviceman Dougie Brimson has emerged as one of the most diverse writers in Britain.

Perhaps best known for penning the multi-award winning feature Green Street, his writing career began in 1996 when after 18 years service with the RAF, he co-authored the best-selling non-fiction work Everywhere We Go. A book that remains essential reading for anyone with an interest in the culture of English football.

A further 18 books have followed including the crime thriller The Crew which topped the Amazon sports book download charts for nine years following its publication in eBook format and the comedy Wings of a Sparrow which after a successful electronic release, was issued in print.

May 2020 saw the release of In The Know. The third book in The Crew/Top Dog trilogy involving Essex gang leader, Billy Evans. In The Know topped the Amazon political thriller charts in mar 2021.

In 2003 Dougie made the move into screenwriting first with the critically acclaimed short movie It’s a Casual Life and then with his first full length feature, the Hollywood funded Green Street starring Elijah Wood. Following its release in September 2005, the film won numerous awards including:

Narrative Jury Prize - SXSW Film Festival
Narrative Feature Audience - SXSW Film Festival
Best of Festival – Malibu Film Festival
Jury Award (feature) – Malibu Film Festival
Official Selection – Tribeca Film Festival

May 2014 saw the release of his second feature, an adaptation of his own novel, Top Dog. Directed by Martin Kemp (The Krays, Eastenders) the film took the 
Best Feature award at the British Independent Film Festival as well as the Best Actor (Leo Gregory), Best Supporting Actor (Ricci Harnett) and Best Supporting Actress (Lorraine Stanley) awards. It has also been nominated in the Best Action Film category at the National Film Awards 2015.

A third feature, the urban revenge thriller, We Still Kill The Old Way (starring Ian Ogilvy, James Cosmo, Steven Berkhoff and Danni Dyer) was released on 16th December 2014. It has been nominated in numerous categories, including Best Action Film at the 2015 Action Elite Awards.

Other film projects in development include adaptations of his comedy novels Wings of a Sparrow and Billy’s Log, Mister One Hundred (a biography of Welsh darts legend Leighton Rees), Boots on the Ground (a drama about a British soldier injured in Afghanistan) and Three Greens (a modern day reworking of the classic movie The League of Gentlemen).

Reviews

[Karl Wiggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book. I was never a football hooligan myself, spending the entire 80’s and most of the late 70’s and early 90’s out of the country gave me little chance to follow a club. But during that time I was a carefree scamp, had mates who had each other’s backs and got myself into more than a few scrapes. I might not have been a football hooligan but I had the look and was more than up for it, so I totally appreciated the humour in the anecdotes.

To find humour in violence takes a special mentality, so easily misunderstood by those who fail to accept that people who some would regard as being at the lower end of the social scale are actually the most decent human beings. Strange how the perspective changes with the point of view, isn’t it? Quite often those who don’t possess a coarse streak very often possess a cruel one.

So what is a football hooligan? He’s a scoundrel. If you saw him in the street you’d cross the road to avoid him. Yet he can be one of the most decent blokes you’ll meet, totally honest about who he is. Wouldn’t think so to look at him, though, would you?

So yes, I enjoyed the personal anecdotes, but what I really like about this book – unlike every other book on football violence – is that Dougie Brimson doesn’t attempt to glamorise the hooligan. He offers intelligent insight into not only their mindset but also a lot of what is wrong with football today. His writing is honest, transparent and he writes with his heart on his sleeve.

He detests the use of weapons in football scraps. That’s not what it’s about. Nobody really wants to see anybody hurt. They just want – need perhaps – to have a little excitement on a Saturday afternoon, just to let off a little bit of steam. I heard a story of two sets of supporters having a bit of a tear-up on the pavement outside a club. There were about sixty lads battling away in quite a ferocious manner. Suddenly in the middle of them appeared a mother with pram and baby. They all stopped fighting to let her walk through, and then carried on again once she’d moved on.

They would, you see.

I’ve also heard of rival supporters phoning each other up on a Sunday to say they enjoyed the scrap, hoping that one particular bloke who seemed in a bad way wasn’t hurt too badly and promising to meet again for another little scuffle next year.

I’m not trying to say football hooligans are all saints. I’m just saying that in ‘Everywhere We Go’ Dougie Brimson shows us the wider picture.

I also concur with the author’s words concerning the England squad; “I have not seen an England game live since 1988 … the team were already out of the competition and, it seemed, could not have cared less about the match. The players apparently did not give a jot about the thousands of supporters who had endured having everything thrown at them by other fans, the FA representatives and the media, but who had continued to support the team regardless. It was a pathetic display to watch, with no sign of pride or honour, and the side let down the country and us in the biggest possible way because they did not even seem to try. I swore on the way home from that game that I would never watch another England game until that attitude changed, and things have yet to improve enough for me even to consider it.”

Well, after watching England’s humiliating exit from the 2014 World Cup and listening to Stephen Gerrard’s ‘torment’ I felt the same way; "I'm hurting very badly and broken from what's gone on in the last couple of weeks. I need to get away on holiday,"

I didn’t realise Gerrard was hurting that badly. I now feel incredibly sorry for him and guilty for judging him so harshly. There was me thinking he’s an overpaid sh*thead who failed to inspire a team or perform himself. There was me thinking he lacked integrity, when all along it seems those two games of football had brought him to the verge of a nervous breakdown.

I’m no psychologist, but perhaps if he were to take a look at his bank balance it might help his therapy and get him back on the road to recovery.

A holiday was, of course, the correct therapy he needed back then to get over the stress and trauma of playing two games of football.

There was, however, a niggling little thought in the back of my mind that soldiers serving months or even years in war zones like Afghanistan, soldiers who’ve lost mates or witnessed others lose limbs, soldiers who’ve wondered if they’ll ever see their families again, soldiers who’ve carried coffins of blokes they’ve served with and socialised with, soldiers who themselves could probably do with a holiday …..

….. Sorry, I was getting carried away there. Steven Gerrard is a man of true principles and demonstrated true British Bulldog spirit. Its plain his torment and agony from those two games of football were far greater than any soldier has ever had to endure.

[Sandy Morley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tl;dr: mostly overentitled contradictions; it's everyone else's fault.

I'm not sure what the authors wanted out of this book. Parts of it that read like a jolly recounting of the glory days are juxtaposed with the absolute denunciation of equal and even lesser acts of violence. Early in the book, hooligans are the "real" supporters. Later on, they're the bane of real supporters. Early, the police are often directly targeted for attacks and a group to get one over at the very least. Later, there's incredulity that the police aren't omnipotent, and expressions of betrayal that the "filth" might let one firm get beaten by their counterparts.

An Independent on Sunday quote on the cover calls it "The classic insight into football violence," and it definitely tallies with my experience of the complete twatwaffles that hark back to such things. Winning is great, losing is someone else's fault. Violence is not just amazing but the answer, except in some cases which are absolutely disgusting because everyone has agreed it's so. We'd never tackle a shirt or use a weapon, because that's abhorrent, except we did, this time, this time and this time, and it was glorious.

If I punched someone in a forecourt, the author says, I'd expect to be punished. If I attacked someone in a football stadium, I'd expect swift and very firm justice. Despite the fact that for 180 pages I've been championing and explicitly describing doing exactly that, and getting away with it.

Cantona's infamous kick is a "horrific attack," (which is probably the strongest condemnation in the entire book,) but football violence is a purer thing than a anyone outside of it could ever understand.

At the start of the book, football is the only possible sport that could inspire such fervour. At the end, it's "ice hockey, basketball and speedway as well as cricket, boxing and rugby (both kinds)" that do the same.

It's easy to read and interesting, but I found myself reading it the entire time wishing they (the authors and contributors) could see how blatant the contradictions are and get a bloody grip.

[Matthew Andrus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read many books down the years written by self confessed football hooligans most of which the truth blends in to fiction or at least that's how it feels anyway. This book is different in the sense it's not about hooligans it more about how they tick and there perspective on things.

This is definitely one of the best book last on this subject I have read.

[David Barr · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's a spoof, isn't it?

I only got a few pages in but I'll be working out how to delete it asap. The author is a complete Neanderthal. I can only hope he doesn't have any children, as I'd hate to think his genes have been passed on.

[Alan Cripps · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top book the start of era of football books , still one of the best .

[Karl Wiggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book. I was never a football hooligan myself, spending the entire 80’s and most of the late 70’s and early 90’s out of the country gave me little chance to follow a club. But during that time I was a carefree scamp, had mates who had each other’s backs and got myself into more than a few scrapes. I might not have been a football hooligan but I had the look and was more than up for it, so I totally appreciated the humour in the anecdotes.

To find humour in violence takes a special mentality, so easily misunderstood by those who fail to accept that people who some would regard as being at the lower end of the social scale are actually the most decent human beings. Strange how the perspective changes with the point of view, isn’t it? Quite often those who don’t possess a coarse streak very often possess a cruel one.

So what is a football hooligan? He’s a scoundrel. If you saw him in the street you’d cross the road to avoid him. Yet he can be one of the most decent blokes you’ll meet, totally honest about who he is. Wouldn’t think so to look at him, though, would you?

So yes, I enjoyed the personal anecdotes, but what I really like about this book – unlike every other book on football violence – is that Dougie Brimson doesn’t attempt to glamorise the hooligan. He offers intelligent insight into not only their mindset but also a lot of what is wrong with football today. His writing is honest, transparent and he writes with his heart on his sleeve.

He detests the use of weapons in football scraps. That’s not what it’s about. Nobody really wants to see anybody hurt. They just want – need perhaps – to have a little excitement on a Saturday afternoon, just to let off a little bit of steam. I heard a story of two sets of supporters having a bit of a tear-up on the pavement outside a club. There were about sixty lads battling away in quite a ferocious manner. Suddenly in the middle of them appeared a mother with pram and baby. They all stopped fighting to let her walk through, and then carried on again once she’d moved on.

They would, you see.

I’ve also heard of rival supporters phoning each other up on a Sunday to say they enjoyed the scrap, hoping that one particular bloke who seemed in a bad way wasn’t hurt too badly and promising to meet again for another little scuffle next year.

I’m not trying to say football hooligans are all saints. I’m just saying that in ‘Everywhere We Go’ Dougie Brimson shows us the wider picture.

I also concur with the author’s words concerning the England squad; “I have not seen an England game live since 1988 … the team were already out of the competition and, it seemed, could not have cared less about the match. The players apparently did not give a jot about the thousands of supporters who had endured having everything thrown at them by other fans, the FA representatives and the media, but who had continued to support the team regardless. It was a pathetic display to watch, with no sign of pride or honour, and the side let down the country and us in the biggest possible way because they did not even seem to try. I swore on the way home from that game that I would never watch another England game until that attitude changed, and things have yet to improve enough for me even to consider it.”

Well, after watching England’s humiliating exit from the 2014 World Cup and listening to Stephen Gerrard’s ‘torment’ I felt the same way; "I'm hurting very badly and broken from what's gone on in the last couple of weeks. I need to get away on holiday,"

I didn’t realise Gerrard was hurting that badly. I now feel incredibly sorry for him and guilty for judging him so harshly. There was me thinking he’s an overpaid sh*thead who failed to inspire a team or perform himself. There was me thinking he lacked integrity, when all along it seems those two games of football had brought him to the verge of a nervous breakdown.

I’m no psychologist, but perhaps if he were to take a look at his bank balance it might help his therapy and get him back on the road to recovery.

A holiday was, of course, the correct therapy he needed back then to get over the stress and trauma of playing two games of football.

There was, however, a niggling little thought in the back of my mind that soldiers serving months or even years in war zones like Afghanistan, soldiers who’ve lost mates or witnessed others lose limbs, soldiers who’ve wondered if they’ll ever see their families again, soldiers who’ve carried coffins of blokes they’ve served with and socialised with, soldiers who themselves could probably do with a holiday …..

….. Sorry, I was getting carried away there. Steven Gerrard is a man of true principles and demonstrated true British Bulldog spirit. Its plain his torment and agony from those two games of football were far greater than any soldier has ever had to endure.

[Ollie Skyba · Rating 3 out of 5]

Авторы этой книги - бывшие профессиональные футбольные болельщики. Дуги Бримсон получил известность, написав ряд документально-публицистических книг на «хулиганскую» тематику, неизменно остающуюся актуальной для Британии. Последние книги Бримсона, в отличие от написанных им ранее в соавторстве с братом Эдди, уже классифицируются как fiction, где околофутбольная жизнь проходит красной нитью через повествование.
Ну а здесь - настоящий, чистый взгляд на мир футбольных вандалов их собственными глазами.
Комментировать такое произведение сложно.
Я читала его по двойственному интересу: с одной стороны, профессиональному, с другой - мне всегда хотелось понять объективные причины футбольного хулиганства.
После прочтения определенные выводы для себя я сделала. И хоть не могу сказать, что они серьезно разошлись с моими прошлыми убеждениями, но более-менее оформились.
Если вы читали ранее "Футбольную лихорадку" Ника Хорнби, то не пытайтесь даже проводить паралеллей. Бримсоны пишут о более документальном, о более насущном и болезненном. Здесь настоящие письма жертв футбольного насилия и его зачинщиков, здесь - живые истории очевидцев и главное - истинные попытки разобраться, откуда тянутся корни происходящего....

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was one long rationalization for the author's hooliganism. It's amazing how many fights you get into when the other guy is the only one starting it.

For a much better study of hooliganism, and some of the actual social reasons for it (and implications of it), I recommend Among the Thugs by Bill Buford.

[Mara Kartiwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a reference for my final papaer on British Culture and got a pretty good mark for it,,, I learned things about football hooliganism,,, I also refer my paper to "Capital Punishment", written by the same authors,,

[Amanda Porter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard work, couldnt finish it

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Football hooligans are human too