You're Going Home in a F*****g Ambulance: Hooligan Wars - The Inside Story

by Cass Pennant

In his latest book, bestselling author Cass Pennant takes an engaging and unparalleled look at some of the most volatile and violent scenes of fans following their football clubs to have unfolded over the past five decades, and examines the lengths to which many will go to put one over their local rivals.Here is history that also examines everything from the changing face of football violence, to who gets involved - and why. It looks, too, at how the' firms' operate, both home and away, and at the effects of the football establishment's often counter-productive attempts to contain hooliganism on the psychology of supporters. Has the war on hooliganism been successfully stamped out? Can it ever be won? This remarkable and informative book gives a frank examination of football violence to show how different inter-club and inter-regional rivalries have evolved - and features many first-hand accounts of incidents that make chilling reading. It builds up to provide the most comprehensive look behind the match-day madness and the activities of some of British football's most notorious hooligans, to give answers as to why these games are so important to supporters. The history of such infamous 'firms' as the ICF, the Bushwackers, the Headhunters, and the Red Army has never been fully documented . . . until now. You're Going Home in a F*cking Ambulance is an eye-opening study of a problem that refuses to go away, by a writer who knows his subject inside-out.

334 pages, Paperback

Published August 18, 2022

Reviews

[Matti Karjalainen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Englannin-reissulla onnistuin altistumaan junassa pienelle futishulinoinnille, kun Boltonin ja Peterboroughin teiniääliöt pistivät nyrkkihipat pystyyn. Niinpä arvelin, että olisu kiinnostava lukea aiheesta joku kirja.

Matkalukeminen loppui sopivasti lentokentällä, josta bongasin uunituoreen opuksen "You're Going Home in a F***ing Ambulance" (John Blake, 2022). Kirjailija Cass Pennant on entinen jalkapallohuligaani, joka on sittemmin kirjoittanut useampia teoksia aiheesta.

Takakansi lupaili syvääluotaavaa analyysiä aiheesta, mutta kyseessä olikin ns. oral history -tyylinen teos, jossa nimellään tai salanimellä esiintyvät huligaanit eri puolilta Englantia kertoivat kokemuksistaan vailla sen kummempaa kyseenalaistamista. Jutut alkoivat nopeasti toistaa itseään, eivätkä ne aiheesta edes vähän lukeneelle tarjonneet mitään uutta. Millwall, West Ham, merkkivaatteet, poliisi, väkivallan ja jännityksen tuomat sävärit, joille ei kuulemma oikein mikään vedä vertoja. Melko säälittävää.

Lopusta löytyi vähän Pennantin omaa ja köykäiseksi osoittautuvaa pohdintaa, jossa kirjailija (musta toki itsekin) piti muun muassa black lives matter -liikettä epäonnistuneena. Että semmoista tällä kertaa. No, tulipa luettua kuitenkin!

[Emma Boylan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite interesting to learn a bit more about the history of football hooliganism in England from this series of separate stories from different years and different clubs.

[Gary K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. Nothing new that hadn’t appeared in other books .

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not great, it's basically a collection of unconnected stories from members of different Football Firms about what they got up to in the 80s and 90s. Problem is they tend to basically repeat the same story and the same narrative throughout - we are a great firm, we took on bigger firms, we've got respect for [insert firm], we punched above our weight, we hate [insert firm], we like wearing casual clothes.

Genuinely thought I was re-listening to the same part a few times during the book

[Sean D James · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was an excellent read and I look forward to reading more books by the author Cass Pennant and those who contributed to the chapters in the book.

[Tony Honan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I smashed out the audio book in two days, it’s easy going and keeps you hooked on wanting to know the next person (club/firm) account of what’s gone on, and still going on.

[Scott Gardner · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was. a poor one in this genre