0:00:02 > 0:00:07This programme contains strong language
0:00:07 > 0:00:10This is a street fight, caught on camera,
0:00:10 > 0:00:13between two groups of rival football supporters.
0:00:15 > 0:00:20The lads involved are a new generation of young hooligans,
0:00:20 > 0:00:24responsible for troubling, violent incidents in recent years.
0:00:24 > 0:00:28The media will have you believe that football violence
0:00:28 > 0:00:30is on the decline, it's dying, it's dead.
0:00:30 > 0:00:31I'm doing it eight years.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34There's more now than when I started eight years ago...
0:00:34 > 0:00:36without a shadow of a doubt.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38CHANTING
0:00:38 > 0:00:42The authorities are waging war against football violence.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45But for an increasing number of teenagers,
0:00:45 > 0:00:47it's become a lifestyle choice.
0:00:47 > 0:00:51There's just nothing better. Nothing better than having a fight.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53You don't even know if you're going to get bottled,
0:00:53 > 0:00:55you don't know if you're going to get glassed,
0:00:55 > 0:00:57that's the exciting bit about it.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02We aren't idiots. It's just, at that moment,
0:01:02 > 0:01:04you couldn't give a shit about the consequences.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09This is the first time they've allowed cameras
0:01:09 > 0:01:11to follow them across a season...
0:01:11 > 0:01:13home and away.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17SHOUTING AND GLASS BREAKING
0:01:17 > 0:01:19- INTERVIEWER:- Do you think you're a thug?
0:01:19 > 0:01:21I think I'm a lovely, lovely geezer.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26We meet the country's most hardcore young fans...
0:01:26 > 0:01:30as they face up to a choice between football or their family.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33Can't be running around doing all this when you've got a kid and that,
0:01:33 > 0:01:36but it sort of pulled me back in.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39My family's at their last legs with me.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42My life's been ruined so many times from football.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44- I banned him from everything...- Yeah.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48- ..even watching football...- Yeah. - ..but he didn't listen.
0:01:49 > 0:01:54We get taken into the secretive network of football's fight club.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57It's like going to a theme park, but it's free,
0:01:57 > 0:01:58and it's ten times better.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01SHOUTING
0:02:08 > 0:02:12# Until Sally I was never happy
0:02:14 > 0:02:17# I needed so much more
0:02:17 > 0:02:22# The rain clouds, oh, they used to chase me
0:02:23 > 0:02:27# Down they would pour... #
0:02:27 > 0:02:30I support Bury Football Club.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33Erm... Go with a bunch of lads
0:02:33 > 0:02:35who call ourselves the Interchange Riot Squad.
0:02:37 > 0:02:38IRS.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43CHANTING
0:02:43 > 0:02:47Ten miles north of Manchester is the market town of Bury.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51THEY CHANT
0:02:51 > 0:02:56Home to 18-year-old Paul and his close friends,
0:02:56 > 0:02:59who all support their local club, Bury FC.
0:03:00 > 0:03:04At football, there is no better way of releasing the stress
0:03:04 > 0:03:06that you've built up during the week...
0:03:06 > 0:03:10THEY CHANT
0:03:10 > 0:03:13..which is a bit ironic for the kids, cos, you know,
0:03:13 > 0:03:16the most stress they've had is a bit of homework that they can't do,
0:03:16 > 0:03:22but, you know, it's still tension that needs to get released.
0:03:22 > 0:03:24Alleys, alleys, get round to the alleys! Alleys!
0:03:26 > 0:03:29Bury's young lads are part of a nationwide network
0:03:29 > 0:03:30of active hooligans.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36There's over 100 professional football league clubs
0:03:36 > 0:03:37in the country.
0:03:41 > 0:03:45Many have violent supporters organised into firms,
0:03:45 > 0:03:49with two types - an older firm, and a young one,
0:03:49 > 0:03:51keen to make a name for themselves.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57Back away, now! Move away, now!
0:03:57 > 0:03:59What's it been like this season for Bury?
0:03:59 > 0:04:01What, football? On or off the pitch?
0:04:01 > 0:04:03- INTERVIEWER LAUGHS - Tell me whichever.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05On the pitch, dreadful.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08Off the pitch, amazing.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11SHOUTING
0:04:13 > 0:04:15Do you call yourself a hooligan?
0:04:15 > 0:04:18No. We call ourselves football lads.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23We're not violent until we see the other lads.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25'In public, we're nice as pie.'
0:04:31 > 0:04:33Dad, what was the score?
0:04:33 > 0:04:351-0. Last minute goal.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38We'll stay up, easy.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42Paul lives at home with his dad and brother,
0:04:42 > 0:04:44all die-hard Bury supporters.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47When was the first time you went to a Bury game?
0:04:47 > 0:04:511978, 21st of January.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53Won 5-0 against Exeter.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58Paul's been going to the football since he was 13,
0:04:58 > 0:05:00after his dad first took him.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03I didn't take an interest until I were, like, 12.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07I just used to take him when he'd been naughty...as a punishment.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11Does it worry you that it doesn't take much
0:05:11 > 0:05:13- to lock people up these days? - It does worry me.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17It worries me every time he goes out the house, to be honest.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20But, yeah, it does worry me.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24They're not interested in having fanatical support
0:05:24 > 0:05:26like they used to do.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29To them, it's just another form of entertainment,
0:05:29 > 0:05:32like maybe going to a comedy club or going to see a gig or something.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35It could never be like that for me
0:05:35 > 0:05:39and most people I know at the football, really.
0:05:39 > 0:05:44It's just something that's as natural as breathing.
0:05:46 > 0:05:51There's only sort of two groups of like loyal fans of a football club -
0:05:51 > 0:05:55there's us and then there's the ones that complain about us.
0:05:59 > 0:06:00When he's not at the football,
0:06:00 > 0:06:0418-year-old student Paul studies engineering at college.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07People are going to wonder
0:06:07 > 0:06:09whether you're sort of wasting your potential.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11Not at all. You're not wasting your potential
0:06:11 > 0:06:14by going to the football and kicking off
0:06:14 > 0:06:17cos what you're doing is you're surrounding yourself
0:06:17 > 0:06:19- by- BLEEP- really loyal people.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23The constant label of "football lad" is annoying
0:06:23 > 0:06:27because it doesn't determine who they are in any way.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29People might be surprised that, you know, there's doctors,
0:06:29 > 0:06:33teachers, whatever, you name it, you know, there's a football lad.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36They are just normal people who go to the match,
0:06:36 > 0:06:39have a drink and sometimes get involved in a fight.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46CHANTING AND CLAPPING
0:06:46 > 0:06:49In nearby Manchester, the city is divided by loyalty
0:06:49 > 0:06:52to the two biggest Premier League clubs in the country.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57Manchester City is one of the richest clubs in the world.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04But off the pitch, their reputation has been made
0:07:04 > 0:07:06by their youth hooligan firm.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09That's Latin.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12I can't even pronounce it, but it translates to "pride in battle".
0:07:12 > 0:07:14It's City's motto on our badge, Pride in Battle.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17I'm 24 now.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20I've been doing it for eight years now, since I've been 16.
0:07:23 > 0:07:24Has it been good?
0:07:24 > 0:07:26HE LAUGHS
0:07:26 > 0:07:28It's been interesting.
0:07:28 > 0:07:30It's not been boring, I'll tell you that.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32It's definitely not been boring, no.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35After leaving school at 16,
0:07:35 > 0:07:38Carl rose up the ranks of a hooligan firm
0:07:38 > 0:07:40called the Blazing Squad.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43The first proper fight that we had when we got together as a firm,
0:07:43 > 0:07:45that was 2007.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55At 18, Carl had the chance to be a professional boxer,
0:07:55 > 0:07:58but chose to run the Blazing Squad instead.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02He's made them into one of the country's most feared youth firms.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04We set out there to get a reputation
0:08:04 > 0:08:07as "them kids from Manchester, Man City, decent lads."
0:08:07 > 0:08:10And I think we've done it. I think we've definitely done it.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14People come to Manchester with us and know what they'll get.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22I think it's good. I don't think it's bad, really. It's good.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24Cos since he runs the firm, there's a lot of people
0:08:24 > 0:08:26that want to be your friend just to impress Carl,
0:08:26 > 0:08:28and show respect-wise and stuff like that.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30It's what it's about.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34- You've still got your Adidas on, I see.- Yeah.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37You can still see the blood stains on the front,
0:08:37 > 0:08:38even though they're red.
0:08:40 > 0:08:41- Who's is that?- What?
0:08:41 > 0:08:43- Is that yours?- It's not my blood.
0:08:43 > 0:08:44HE LAUGHS
0:08:44 > 0:08:46Could be BLEEP anyone's.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50Man United, Everton, Stoke, who knows?
0:08:51 > 0:08:54It's me that done that. HE LAUGHS
0:09:00 > 0:09:03- His seventh pizza of the day. - Eighth.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05Carl's unemployed and lives alone.
0:09:05 > 0:09:10He has a three-year-old daughter, Katie, who he sees every week.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12Hello, Katie.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14What do cows do? Moo.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17- What does a sheep do?- Baa.
0:09:18 > 0:09:20Mum and Dad, they've always known what I've done.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24I never try to hide from it. I wouldn't say they're proud of it,
0:09:24 > 0:09:27but they just, they know it's what I do. It is what it is.
0:09:27 > 0:09:29I don't think they're impressed with taking me to hospital
0:09:29 > 0:09:31to get stitched back together and that,
0:09:31 > 0:09:34but...it is what it is. They know it's what I do.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36They'd probably rather I didn't do it,
0:09:36 > 0:09:40but nothing they can do about it, do you know what I mean?
0:09:42 > 0:09:46The fighting side, ever since I was a little kid, that's all I've done.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49It's just a natural thing. Always loved having a scrap, yeah,
0:09:49 > 0:09:51so football does sort of come natural to me.
0:09:54 > 0:09:59For the past eight years, Carl's dedicated his life to the firm,
0:09:59 > 0:10:03but with his notoriety comes police attention.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06This is from a Man United footballing intelligence officer.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09"We continued to patrol the housing estate and came across four males,
0:10:09 > 0:10:11"two of which were sporting cuts and bruises to their head.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13"Counsel had blood on his face,
0:10:13 > 0:10:16"what appeared to be a large gash on his head, his clothes were dirty.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19"One of the males was a United lad.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23"He showed me his hand, which had part of his finger severed.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28"The United lad then stated it had been bitten off,
0:10:28 > 0:10:30"but he said he did not know who did this
0:10:30 > 0:10:32"and did not wish to make a complaint about the matter."
0:10:32 > 0:10:37Carl has received the highest penalty for football offences,
0:10:37 > 0:10:39a banning order.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42It prevents him from attending games, travelling abroad,
0:10:42 > 0:10:45or going into town on match days.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47To give you the size of the thing,
0:10:47 > 0:10:50Victoria Station to Piccadilly, that's bang on a mile,
0:10:50 > 0:10:51so obviously you can see the scale
0:10:51 > 0:10:54of how far we're banned when it's a match day.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59Breaching his ban will land him in prison for up to six months.
0:11:11 > 0:11:12Is it all locked?
0:11:12 > 0:11:14These are our good lads. They're from the Blazing Squad.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18- These are our younger lads. - I'm 19, me.- I'm 20.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22I'm 20. I started when I was 16. I'm 20 now.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31These lads are regularly involved in football violence,
0:11:31 > 0:11:33so will only speak with their identities hidden.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38It's United's estate as well, this, the little fuckers.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44These are the country's most prolific football offenders,
0:11:44 > 0:11:46but they don't see it the same way.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49We get treated like scumbags anyway and I don't fucking know why.
0:11:49 > 0:11:50Really, at the end of the day,
0:11:50 > 0:11:52we're only meeting people who are exactly the same as us,
0:11:52 > 0:11:55just off different estates, from different parts of the country,
0:11:55 > 0:11:58who want exactly the same as us, to go to the match with their boys,
0:11:58 > 0:12:01meet us and have a good scrap. A good, fair fight like.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03The general public, they think hooligans or lads,
0:12:03 > 0:12:05casuals, whatever, they'll go to the game,
0:12:05 > 0:12:07anyone from a different town, different colour, whatever,
0:12:07 > 0:12:10we'll just attack 'em for no reason. We don't fucking do that.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12We don't want to fight random people,
0:12:12 > 0:12:14we want to fight the firms, and that's what we do.
0:12:14 > 0:12:19The lads use the estate next to the stadium to attack rival firms
0:12:19 > 0:12:22as they're escorted to and from the ground.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25We've had a line of lads from the road all the way down to there.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27You don't run, you just quick walk to the main road.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30As soon as you get to the main road, bang, steam straight into 'em.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32The police don't know what's hit 'em, the firm don't,
0:12:32 > 0:12:34you've got the element of surprise. Two or three seconds
0:12:34 > 0:12:37and everyone's like, "What the fuck's going on?"
0:12:37 > 0:12:39The police have got a dilemma. "Right, do we break the escort
0:12:39 > 0:12:41"and push these kids back who've just run into us?
0:12:41 > 0:12:44"Do we stand there and keep these lads in the escort?
0:12:44 > 0:12:46"Split half and half and do both and risk losing the whole thing?"
0:12:46 > 0:12:48The police don't know what to do.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50You can feel 'em coming down the road
0:12:50 > 0:12:52cos you've been watching 'em all the way and thinking,
0:12:52 > 0:12:55"Right, we need to pick our moment." And then when you're here,
0:12:55 > 0:12:57and you just know, oh, it's fucking mint.
0:12:57 > 0:12:58There's nothing like it.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00It's just, you just want to be out there fighting,
0:13:00 > 0:13:03but obviously scared about getting nicked, getting bit off the dogs.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05That's all part of the buzz, though. It's mint.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08You won't ever get a buzz like you do when you come to the football.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10That's the best buzz you'll ever get in your whole life.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13And it's a drug. I'm addicted to it. I am, I'm a drug addict.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16Serious, I am. I'm a drug addict, me.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19When I've not got all this on, I'm an everyday guy, I work,
0:13:19 > 0:13:22I work for a living, I pay me taxes, but I'm an addict.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25I tried stopping for a while, for a good few months,
0:13:25 > 0:13:27and I was literally, I was just depressed.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30I mean, I've done it for how long, four years?
0:13:30 > 0:13:32And I won't be going away from this like
0:13:32 > 0:13:34until the day I'm in my coffin, that's it.
0:13:48 > 0:13:49Hey.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52I love how this is coming along.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54- Innit?- Look at mine. Mine's pathetic.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57Yeah, it's all patchy. Mine's just sort of stopped being patchy.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00Mine doesn't even grow there. Mine just grows under there, look.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02I'm just going to grow a goatee, mate.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06In Bury, it's the week before the Interchange Riot Squad take on
0:14:06 > 0:14:11archrivals York, one of the biggest games of their season.
0:14:11 > 0:14:12They fucking hate us.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16Yeah, they've got a lot of lads and they don't like us at all.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18York's firm, the Nomad Society,
0:14:18 > 0:14:21are planning to bring a large mob of lads.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24It's a bit fucking ironic now cos, you know,
0:14:24 > 0:14:26we're all too young to know the rivalry,
0:14:26 > 0:14:29and all their young lot are too young to know the rivalry.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32You know, we were all like fucking four-year-old at the time or summat.
0:14:32 > 0:14:34Do you like me trainers?
0:14:34 > 0:14:36Yeah, I actually do. Well nice.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38Proper nice.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44For football hooligans, the fashion culture that goes with it
0:14:44 > 0:14:46is as important as the game.
0:14:48 > 0:14:50Oh, that is bad. That is very nice.
0:14:50 > 0:14:5270 quid as well.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57Football lads call themselves "casuals"
0:14:57 > 0:15:00and recognise each other by the clothes they wear.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03Many will even shop for new clothes before a fight.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06'Most people think we dress like idiots.'
0:15:06 > 0:15:08That's a bit of the downfall of it really,
0:15:08 > 0:15:10cos everyone sticks out like sore thumbs,
0:15:10 > 0:15:12'and you get picked up.'
0:15:12 > 0:15:15Oh, that is a cool coat, that.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17200 quid, though.
0:15:17 > 0:15:18That's the thing as well,
0:15:18 > 0:15:21if you're spending all this money on these expensive clothes,
0:15:21 > 0:15:23only to go and get pissed and fucking fight in them.
0:15:23 > 0:15:25You fuck 'em up like nobody's business.
0:15:27 > 0:15:33And I'm at that sort of shitty, mid stage cos, you know, I'm 18 now.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36If I were 15, 16, I could rely on my parents to get me clothes,
0:15:36 > 0:15:40but also I'm at college so I'm not working to go and buy them.
0:15:40 > 0:15:42I need to be a lot more careful.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46Even though I'm not. I'm still fucking 'em up.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49That's the shirt I'm getting though.
0:15:51 > 0:15:52Very nice shirt.
0:15:54 > 0:15:55Nice chequers to hide me belly.
0:15:58 > 0:15:59Never resist a bargain.
0:16:00 > 0:16:04FANS CHANTING
0:16:11 > 0:16:14I can't sleep the night before a big game, me.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16I'm awake every hour thinking, "Yes,
0:16:16 > 0:16:17"is it football time yet?"
0:16:17 > 0:16:22You get up, have a shower, iron your gear, put your gear on,
0:16:22 > 0:16:24have your brekkie and a cig and that.
0:16:24 > 0:16:25Off you go.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28And when you're walking to meet the boys, you know, it's like,
0:16:28 > 0:16:30yes, it's football day.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33THEY CHANT
0:16:33 > 0:16:36If you were thinking about the consequences,
0:16:36 > 0:16:39it wouldn't kick off because, you know,
0:16:39 > 0:16:41we aren't idiots,
0:16:41 > 0:16:43it's just at that moment
0:16:43 > 0:16:45you couldn't give a shit about the consequences,
0:16:45 > 0:16:47you couldn't give a shit about anything else.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53A flash point for violence is before or after the game,
0:16:53 > 0:16:57when firms have more chance of bumping into each other.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59That one opportunity we have for it today to go off,
0:16:59 > 0:17:02we've got to take that opportunity.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05Cos if nothing happens, they're going to go home, "Oh, Bury's shit,
0:17:05 > 0:17:08"Bury that, Bury didn't make a move." You know what I mean?
0:17:08 > 0:17:10We're going to have that one opportunity today
0:17:10 > 0:17:11and it's going to go.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20Yeah. Get that camera out of our faces now. Oi.
0:17:20 > 0:17:25After the game, both York and Bury fans are released from the ground.
0:17:25 > 0:17:26At the same time.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31- INDISTINCT SHOUTING - It's the fucking police.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33CHANTING
0:17:39 > 0:17:41The police quickly step in to separate them...
0:17:41 > 0:17:44SIRENS WAIL
0:17:44 > 0:17:47..spoiling any chance of a fight for Paul and his friends.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51INDISTINCT SHOUTING
0:17:54 > 0:17:56I didn't see fuck-all go off today.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59Could hardly tell who anyone was anyway, it were that dark.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02There were no chance about anything happening anywhere,
0:18:02 > 0:18:04there were that many police.
0:18:04 > 0:18:06It was a bit of a let down today
0:18:06 > 0:18:09after what the olders bigged it up to be, like it were going to be this
0:18:09 > 0:18:12massive Bury-York and it was going to be going off everywhere.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16We were all ready for it, and it were fuck-all really, it was shit.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18I've seen small teams from London come up with more than...
0:18:18 > 0:18:22and make more of a presence than they did today.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26They were pretty appalling today, them lot. Too many police.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30You can't do nothing when the police are about, can you?
0:18:35 > 0:18:40Last season, the police clamped down on football-related public disorder
0:18:40 > 0:18:44with 600 new banning orders and nearly 3,000 arrests.
0:18:46 > 0:18:51It costs an estimated £25 million a year to police football matches.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55But only half the costs are covered by clubs.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57You fucking want some?
0:18:57 > 0:18:58Leave it! Leave it!
0:18:58 > 0:18:59In London alone,
0:18:59 > 0:19:0318,000 officers were deployed for Premiership matches.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05..Fucking bastards.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10Despite the police clamp-down, Man City's firm,
0:19:10 > 0:19:13the Blazing Squad, remains active.
0:19:14 > 0:19:15In recent years,
0:19:15 > 0:19:19Carl's archrival has been Championship side Bolton Wanderers.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26It's a rivalry that has led to an unlikely friendship.
0:19:26 > 0:19:28I'm off to meet my mate.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31Well, I use the term "mate" loosely, but you know, I'm off to meet
0:19:31 > 0:19:33a mate from the Bolton firm and have a few beers.
0:19:33 > 0:19:35I've known him for about four or five years now.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39Once you become mates, you trust each other, you can
0:19:39 > 0:19:42arrange stuff better, and that's the way I like to go about stuff.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44Some people do it that way, others don't.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47Others think it's fucked up, meeting the bears from other firms,
0:19:47 > 0:19:50but it's just the way I choose to go about it.
0:19:50 > 0:19:55Kirk is from Bolton's youth firm, the Cuckoo Boys.
0:19:55 > 0:19:56GLASS SMASHES
0:20:01 > 0:20:03SIREN WAILS
0:20:05 > 0:20:09Hello. All right. What's that hat you've got on?
0:20:09 > 0:20:11- What?- What's that hat?
0:20:11 > 0:20:13It's the London look, it's my flat cap.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15That's shocking, that, mate.
0:20:15 > 0:20:17When you farmers catch up with us in two or three years,
0:20:17 > 0:20:20- you'll be all wearing these as well. - No-one wears them.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22- What? - No-one wears them from Manchester.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25I know, that's why I put it on, to look different.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27You're mad.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29You're mad.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32To this day, Carl and Kirk still argue over who won their last fight
0:20:32 > 0:20:36which took place in a nearby pub.
0:20:36 > 0:20:37We didn't come in.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39We didn't come in so we didn't go out.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42- You should have come out. - No, but you wouldn't let us get out.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45We didn't step back and say, "Yeah, come out."
0:20:45 > 0:20:46You know what I mean?
0:20:46 > 0:20:49And it only finished cos the police come.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51No-one can really say they won that.
0:20:51 > 0:20:52It's a draw, isn't it?
0:20:52 > 0:20:56It's a point apiece, which... It gives us 3-1.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58I like the way you make it into a little football match.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00Well, we're 3-1 up, aren't we?
0:21:00 > 0:21:02How many times have you come to Manchester, Kirk?
0:21:02 > 0:21:04- Never. - LAUGHS
0:21:04 > 0:21:06Do I need to say anything else?
0:21:06 > 0:21:07- No, never. We've never been.- Never.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10- I've seen the back of your feet. That's what I've seen.- My feet?
0:21:10 > 0:21:14Running like that, in the distance. And you know we did.
0:21:14 > 0:21:18That's why there's so much rivalry, because you can't get over that
0:21:18 > 0:21:23a shitty little club like Bolton, with no lads, done the mighty City
0:21:23 > 0:21:26on numerous occasions.
0:21:26 > 0:21:27It's annoying.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30It's pretty annoying, because we've run around the West Ham,
0:21:30 > 0:21:34Everton, Stoke, United, Birmingham, Napoli, fucking all this list,
0:21:34 > 0:21:37and then we've been done by Bolton more than once.
0:21:37 > 0:21:39- So does that put us above you, then? - No,
0:21:39 > 0:21:42it just shows that anyone can do anyone on the day, doesn't it?
0:21:42 > 0:21:44You come to Manchester and run us, I'd love to see that.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47- Where?- Anywhere you want.
0:21:47 > 0:21:48Don't wear that hat, right.
0:21:48 > 0:21:50LAUGHS I'm fucking wearing it!
0:21:50 > 0:21:52Just have your bald head out and we'll sort it.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55Me and you will cross paths that day.
0:21:55 > 0:21:57Oh, we will sort it, yeah, defo.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03Carl and Kirk are part of a much bigger network of football casuals,
0:22:03 > 0:22:05spanning the entire country.
0:22:08 > 0:22:12To avoid police scrutiny, they've taken the fight online.
0:22:14 > 0:22:15You seen these pictures?
0:22:15 > 0:22:19That's three of us lot, going into a group at Brighton,
0:22:19 > 0:22:23two Spurs landing punches at the same time into the Brighton lads.
0:22:23 > 0:22:25It was a good day, that.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27In this photo, I was about 19 years old.
0:22:27 > 0:22:3219 years old. Fresh young face, skinhead, typical football look.
0:22:35 > 0:22:3824-year-old Dante is the top boy from Tottenham Hotspur's
0:22:38 > 0:22:41youth firm, known as the Yid Army.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45He's been friends on social media with Carl for four years.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49Dante's a Tottenham lad. He's the Yid's main kid.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53He's been doing it about the same time as me, since about I was six.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55What's he like?
0:22:55 > 0:22:58He's all right, I mean, he's from London
0:22:58 > 0:23:01so he loves talking shit like they all do, but nah, he's all right.
0:23:01 > 0:23:03It's not his fault, he's a bit simple.
0:23:03 > 0:23:05They're simple up North, in't they?
0:23:05 > 0:23:07By themselves on a computer.
0:23:09 > 0:23:14The lads use social media to keep in touch and share videos of fights.
0:23:16 > 0:23:18Connecting with rival firms online
0:23:18 > 0:23:21makes it much easier to organise themselves.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25If Carl wants to play someone down South
0:23:25 > 0:23:28and he hasn't got a contact, obviously he can use
0:23:28 > 0:23:30the people that he talks to as a contact to get another number.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33Same as me up North, if I'm... We might get Bury in the Cup or
0:23:33 > 0:23:36something, and cos Man City have got a link with Bury,
0:23:36 > 0:23:38I can ring up Carl and go, "Have you got one of Bury's boys that
0:23:38 > 0:23:41"I can sort something out with, or I can pass the number onto something?"
0:23:41 > 0:23:43It's networking, it's like a business.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45Like you got a commercial chambers,
0:23:45 > 0:23:47that's where sort of businesspeople go and network,
0:23:47 > 0:23:49football people network
0:23:49 > 0:23:53and the youth of today, like, they've sort of got Facebook and
0:23:53 > 0:23:58other things like BBM and whatnot to sort of do their networking on.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05Dante has three previous convictions for football violence.
0:24:05 > 0:24:10YELLING AND SHOUTING
0:24:14 > 0:24:17Together we've got a combined sentence of 20 years, so...
0:24:17 > 0:24:19they put our mug shots up,
0:24:19 > 0:24:22it was big news down there. It was on the BBC News, so...
0:24:22 > 0:24:23yeah.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29He was released from prison just four weeks ago
0:24:29 > 0:24:31and is now determined to keep out of trouble.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35He has proposed to his girlfriend, Harley.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41We met like three times before we actually got together,
0:24:41 > 0:24:45but I didn't really talk to Dante,
0:24:45 > 0:24:47because I knew he was trouble.
0:24:47 > 0:24:48LAUGHS
0:24:50 > 0:24:53June 2015 we're going to get married...
0:24:54 > 0:24:55if he behaves.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59Yeah. That means I'm not allowed to go to football,
0:24:59 > 0:25:02not allowed to sort of get involved in any trouble.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05- So I'm keeping my head down. - I banned him from everything.- Yeah.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07Even watching football.
0:25:07 > 0:25:09But he didn't listen.
0:25:09 > 0:25:10And you're not allowed out by yourself
0:25:10 > 0:25:12because you can't be trusted, can you?
0:25:12 > 0:25:15- Yeah.- Always getting into trouble.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18Football violence ain't paying the bills.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20- No, it don't, does it?- No.
0:25:20 > 0:25:22Hmm.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24To me, I think it's stupid.
0:25:24 > 0:25:29I think, "How can you be addicted to going and having a fight with
0:25:29 > 0:25:32"a bunch of people that support a different football team?"
0:25:32 > 0:25:34I will never understand it fully.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36So it's time for me to be...
0:25:36 > 0:25:38- Grow up?- Grow up more, yeah.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40- Grow up but, like...- Grow up.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43..being a football boy, it'll never leave ya.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45You know what I mean? It'll never leave ya.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49And if we ever have a row or something,
0:25:49 > 0:25:51and there's a big game on, I might just bolt to London.
0:25:51 > 0:25:56I'm joking. It's a joke. I'm winding you up but that's the risk.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58That's the risk. Cos you are a football boy
0:25:58 > 0:26:00and it's sort of, it's in your blood.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03Yeah, but things are more important than football.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07- Aren't they?- Yeah.- Yes.
0:26:10 > 0:26:12The police have successfully prosecuted
0:26:12 > 0:26:16some of the country's most prolific football offenders.
0:26:17 > 0:26:19But hooliganism continues to thrive.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22SHOUTING AND CHANTING
0:26:23 > 0:26:26Premier League firms are turning to the lower leagues as feeder clubs
0:26:26 > 0:26:29to recruit talented new fighters.
0:26:33 > 0:26:34The lower leagues is great.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37You sort of hand-pick the best ones,
0:26:37 > 0:26:40and sort of like... It's like a youth training scheme.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44They make their way up to the big guns, you know?
0:26:44 > 0:26:46BANGING
0:26:48 > 0:26:50Man City's Blazing Squad is affiliated to
0:26:50 > 0:26:53Bury's Interchange Riot Squad from League Two.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01One of the Bury lads Carl rates highly is 17-year-old Aaron.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08I've been boxing for like eight, nine years now,
0:27:08 > 0:27:12and I've had quite a lot of amateur fights but, to be honest,
0:27:12 > 0:27:14it's a totally different kettle of fish.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16Not like when you're in a street
0:27:16 > 0:27:18and someone's trying to smash a fucking bottle over your head.
0:27:20 > 0:27:21Which is better?
0:27:22 > 0:27:26Street fighting, to get more of a kick, more of an adrenaline rush.
0:27:33 > 0:27:34Fucked already.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37Glad it's him doing it, not me.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42Do you see yourself as having
0:27:42 > 0:27:45a mentoring roll to Aaron's generation?
0:27:45 > 0:27:47I do.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50Possibly, yeah, but that's probably for them,
0:27:50 > 0:27:52for younger people to answer rather than me.
0:27:52 > 0:27:54Possibly, yeah, possibly.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56I think it does massively, like - they're in charge,
0:27:56 > 0:27:59if you know what I mean? Like at school there's a teacher in charge,
0:27:59 > 0:28:01when we go with him, we've got to listen to him,
0:28:01 > 0:28:03and take everything on board, like.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05Not much to know but,
0:28:05 > 0:28:06do you know what I mean,
0:28:06 > 0:28:09you need to know where there's a line and stuff?
0:28:09 > 0:28:11It's not so much taught, it's just people see things,
0:28:11 > 0:28:12and they'll follow suit.
0:28:12 > 0:28:14But you don't say, "You've got to do this or that."
0:28:14 > 0:28:17I just watch you myself and do it, do you know what I mean?
0:28:17 > 0:28:18You just take it on board.
0:28:18 > 0:28:20I think, it's a good laugh, innit?
0:28:20 > 0:28:22It's summat to do every weekend.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27Some of the best days you'll have out are with the football lads.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32Recently, Aaron has let his training slip
0:28:32 > 0:28:37and spent more time at the football than boxing.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40Oh, he's got a natural talent for the sport, definitely.
0:28:40 > 0:28:44He's got a choice whether he wants to pursue a career in boxing,
0:28:44 > 0:28:46and he's got to like, basically,
0:28:46 > 0:28:49cut his footballing antics out.
0:28:49 > 0:28:52If he doesn't do it now, he's not going to do it.
0:28:52 > 0:28:55He's at the age now, now is the time for him to switch on.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00And what do you think he's going to do?
0:29:02 > 0:29:04God knows.
0:29:09 > 0:29:12INDISTINCT CHATTER INSIDE
0:29:15 > 0:29:19Today, Man City are playing away from home.
0:29:19 > 0:29:21I got disqualified.
0:29:21 > 0:29:23What, before the fight or after
0:29:23 > 0:29:25- the fight or what?- In the fight. - In the fight?
0:29:25 > 0:29:27LAUGHS
0:29:27 > 0:29:30Carl has his own plans to evade the police
0:29:30 > 0:29:31and banning restrictions.
0:29:33 > 0:29:35Today there's about fucking 20 of us,
0:29:35 > 0:29:40going on our own little awayday somewhere for the beer and that.
0:29:44 > 0:29:46On the morning of an awayday, you're just proper buzzed up for it.
0:29:46 > 0:29:50You've waited for it for ages, you've fucking not slept the night before
0:29:50 > 0:29:52because you're proper excited, so just ready to go now. Yeah.
0:29:56 > 0:30:00It's 17-year-old Aaron's first awayday with the Blazing Squad
0:30:00 > 0:30:02and a chance to prove himself.
0:30:03 > 0:30:05Doesn't matter how old you are,
0:30:05 > 0:30:07if you get stuck in, you get stuck in.
0:30:07 > 0:30:09Do your parents know what you get up to?
0:30:09 > 0:30:11Not really.
0:30:11 > 0:30:12She knows of me doing it,
0:30:12 > 0:30:14but she doesn't know when I'm going all the time, if you know what
0:30:14 > 0:30:18I mean, like? When I go, I just say I'm going out with my mates.
0:30:18 > 0:30:21I don't say I'm going to football, she'd be pissed off.
0:30:21 > 0:30:23Why?
0:30:23 > 0:30:26She don't want me coming home with fucking stitches across me face.
0:30:30 > 0:30:33Carl is taking his firm on a 200-mile round trip.
0:30:36 > 0:30:38- SHOUTING - To meet the infamous Zulus.
0:30:45 > 0:30:48This would be a major scalp for the Blazing Squad.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS
0:30:53 > 0:30:56When the other lads turn up, there's a problem.
0:31:13 > 0:31:15They feel they have too much at stake
0:31:15 > 0:31:18and decide not to be filmed on their awayday.
0:31:19 > 0:31:22Football violence ain't going to die. It's not going anywhere
0:31:22 > 0:31:24but the police are definitely making it a lot harder.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27There's just different ways of going about it,
0:31:27 > 0:31:29they are more smart about doing stuff these days.
0:31:29 > 0:31:30Got to be a bit more clever.
0:31:34 > 0:31:36Aren't you worried about getting hurt?
0:31:36 > 0:31:37Not really.
0:31:38 > 0:31:40If it happens, it happens.
0:31:40 > 0:31:41You come back, don't you?
0:31:41 > 0:31:44Because you've got your mates backing you up, haven't you?
0:31:44 > 0:31:46It's never like ten people just jumping on you,
0:31:46 > 0:31:48it never gets that out of hand.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52It's like fucking going to a theme park, but it's free.
0:31:52 > 0:31:54And it's ten times better.
0:32:02 > 0:32:04INDISTINCT SHOUTING
0:32:06 > 0:32:08CARL: The fights in the Premier League for me,
0:32:08 > 0:32:10from my point of view, I'd say
0:32:10 > 0:32:14are a lot more serious, a lot more organised, and a lot more violent.
0:32:18 > 0:32:19There's just nothing better.
0:32:19 > 0:32:21Nothing better than having a fight.
0:32:21 > 0:32:23You don't know if you'll get your head kicked in,
0:32:23 > 0:32:25if you'll kick someone's head in,
0:32:25 > 0:32:28you don't know if you'll get bottled, if you'll get glassed.
0:32:28 > 0:32:30That's the exciting bit about it.
0:32:33 > 0:32:37The guy whacked a bottle across me face and then I felt me nose
0:32:37 > 0:32:41bobbing up and down, hitting against me hand.
0:32:41 > 0:32:44You could see right into me nose, see everything,
0:32:44 > 0:32:46it'd cut right through.
0:32:46 > 0:32:51Detached retina, broken nose, teeth knocked out,
0:32:51 > 0:32:54shattered cheekbones, fractured eye sockets,
0:32:54 > 0:32:56blah, blah, blah.
0:32:58 > 0:33:01I don't see it as that bad because, you know,
0:33:01 > 0:33:02I knew what I were there for.
0:33:08 > 0:33:1117-year-old new recruit Aaron has returned from his first awayday
0:33:11 > 0:33:14with Man City's Blazing Squad.
0:33:14 > 0:33:16What was it like?
0:33:16 > 0:33:19Best football day I've ever had, really.
0:33:19 > 0:33:21Everything just went perfect.
0:33:21 > 0:33:25Got off the coach, no police nowhere, had it off,
0:33:25 > 0:33:26and they disappeared.
0:33:26 > 0:33:30My first game with City really, the first time I had it off with
0:33:30 > 0:33:33'em, but I got stuck straight in,
0:33:33 > 0:33:35and pretty happy with myself, to be honest.
0:33:35 > 0:33:38I couldn't... I was not running off
0:33:38 > 0:33:40and then sitting on the coach
0:33:40 > 0:33:42for three-and-a-half hours with the lads after it
0:33:42 > 0:33:43knowing that I'd been a shitbag.
0:33:49 > 0:33:53It's the week before Spurs take on one of their local rivals, Chelsea.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57A game that Dante is banned from attending.
0:33:57 > 0:33:58What's happening?
0:33:58 > 0:34:00LAUGHS
0:34:02 > 0:34:05The Black Yids are about today, in't they?
0:34:05 > 0:34:07LAUGHS
0:34:07 > 0:34:10Dante is visiting his old manor for the first time
0:34:10 > 0:34:11since getting out of prison.
0:34:11 > 0:34:13LAUGHTER
0:34:13 > 0:34:15Is it nice being back in the area, though?
0:34:15 > 0:34:17Does it bring lots of memories?
0:34:17 > 0:34:19I'm smiling, you know, I ain't stopped smiling
0:34:19 > 0:34:21since I come out of White Hart Lane station.
0:34:22 > 0:34:23Best days of my life.
0:34:28 > 0:34:31Eight, nine years old, I used to go to the games with my uncle
0:34:31 > 0:34:33and we'd sit in the pubs with the older lot.
0:34:33 > 0:34:36And I'd see all their clothes and think I wanted to dress like them
0:34:36 > 0:34:38and hear all their stories and stuff,
0:34:38 > 0:34:41and sort of... I really liked the whole scene.
0:34:43 > 0:34:47When my old man died, it made me more violent, so yeah, in a sense,
0:34:47 > 0:34:50yeah, cos I didn't properly deal with it, I didn't speak to
0:34:50 > 0:34:53anyone about it so, sort of just fucking go mental at football.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56THEY CHANT
0:35:00 > 0:35:02It is like a family over at Spurs.
0:35:02 > 0:35:06Some get on closer than others but, obviously,
0:35:06 > 0:35:08there's a lot of love.
0:35:08 > 0:35:11- Yiddos!- Yiddos!
0:35:11 > 0:35:13OTHERS CHANT
0:35:17 > 0:35:20We've been Tottenham fans for all our life.
0:35:20 > 0:35:22Tottenham Yid for life.
0:35:22 > 0:35:24Yes! LAUGHS
0:35:24 > 0:35:27And it will never change.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30- Yids! We're the Yids! Yids! - Yids for life!
0:35:30 > 0:35:32Real Yids.
0:35:34 > 0:35:36From south side, south side.
0:35:40 > 0:35:42Too strong. LAUGHS
0:35:43 > 0:35:49Del was the top boy in the 1980s and acted as a mentor to Dante.
0:35:49 > 0:35:50Those days were nice, man.
0:35:51 > 0:35:53Those days were good.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57It's just a different era now. Just a different era.
0:35:57 > 0:35:59It's sad.
0:35:59 > 0:36:01It's sad, but it's never going to end,
0:36:01 > 0:36:04football violence is going to be here all the time.
0:36:04 > 0:36:06Obviously when I was coming up, you look up to boys like Del
0:36:06 > 0:36:09and they give you the opportunity to come through.
0:36:09 > 0:36:11But Dante's always been the main boy.
0:36:11 > 0:36:13I watched him coming up as a kid.
0:36:13 > 0:36:16He used to spin people over left, right and centre.
0:36:16 > 0:36:18I had my eye on him. And the reason why I'm saying this,
0:36:18 > 0:36:20I don't want him to spin me over right now, yeah?
0:36:20 > 0:36:22- LAUGHS - Sweet.
0:36:28 > 0:36:30Have you seen me passport?
0:36:30 > 0:36:31It were on mantelpiece.
0:36:33 > 0:36:35I saw it somewhere.
0:36:35 > 0:36:36I think I've found it.
0:36:37 > 0:36:41Tonight, Paul is meeting up with his mate Stuart for the first time
0:36:41 > 0:36:42since the York game.
0:36:43 > 0:36:47With money tight, it's been months since he last went to a match.
0:36:47 > 0:36:49It were really fun yesterday, I enjoyed it.
0:36:49 > 0:36:51Yeah. I need to go back, me.
0:36:51 > 0:36:52Need to go where?
0:36:52 > 0:36:55Back to football. I'm fucking skint though, aren't I?
0:36:55 > 0:36:59The Bury lads have just got back from an awayday to London.
0:36:59 > 0:37:01- Guess what has just been released? - What?
0:37:01 > 0:37:05"Two arrested as football violence breaks out at AFC Wimbledon.
0:37:05 > 0:37:09"A police officer is to have been assaulted as violence broke
0:37:09 > 0:37:12"out yesterday at a football match between AFC Wimbledon
0:37:12 > 0:37:14"and Bury at Kings Meadow.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17"Two men were arrested, one for assaulting a police officer,
0:37:17 > 0:37:18"and another man for affray."
0:37:18 > 0:37:21- Are they both Wimbledon? - Yeah. No Bury got nicked yesterday.
0:37:23 > 0:37:25Got to have a kicking at some point.
0:37:25 > 0:37:28There's nothing better than getting a kicking, is there?
0:37:28 > 0:37:29Yeah.
0:37:30 > 0:37:33Yeah, there's NOT getting a kicking, that's all right.
0:37:33 > 0:37:34It's not. It's boring.
0:37:36 > 0:37:40After weeks away from the football, Paul has started having
0:37:40 > 0:37:43second thoughts about what people are going to think of him.
0:37:43 > 0:37:45Well, the thing that pisses me off,
0:37:45 > 0:37:46yeah, is people are going to watch this
0:37:46 > 0:37:50and think, "This is my judgment of him, this is what I think he's like.
0:37:50 > 0:37:51"He goes to football, he kicks off,
0:37:51 > 0:37:54"and he has no other life except from that. He's a dickhead."
0:37:54 > 0:37:55You don't, though.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00Yeah, I do. I like guitar, I write music...
0:38:01 > 0:38:05Yeah? I study fucking stuff, you know, I study stuff.
0:38:05 > 0:38:07Wood building? LAUGHS
0:38:07 > 0:38:09No, I study science and that.
0:38:09 > 0:38:12You think about things too much, Paul.
0:38:12 > 0:38:16If you stop thinking about things and just not think about things...
0:38:16 > 0:38:20If all you did all your life was just work
0:38:20 > 0:38:23and then go football, you're a bit fucking boring, aren't you?
0:38:23 > 0:38:27That's all I do. Work, shag, bit of drugs, do football.
0:38:27 > 0:38:32Right, you've got "do drugs" and "shag" there. They're two very...
0:38:32 > 0:38:34Oh, you don't shag, do you?
0:38:34 > 0:38:38No, exactly, so that's why I learnt guitar.
0:38:38 > 0:38:41- LAUGHS Was that your replacement?- Yeah.
0:38:43 > 0:38:45Class.
0:38:45 > 0:38:47CHANTING
0:38:48 > 0:38:51Football lads will go to extreme lengths in pursuit
0:38:51 > 0:38:53of their lifestyle.
0:38:54 > 0:38:56Even taking them abroad.
0:38:57 > 0:39:01The football hooligan network has gone international.
0:39:02 > 0:39:05Fights are organised on a much larger scale than in the UK.
0:39:06 > 0:39:09British lads have started travelling to Europe
0:39:09 > 0:39:11to join in with these foreign firms.
0:39:20 > 0:39:23Carl is in Ireland to visit his friend...
0:39:26 > 0:39:29..Paul from, Dublin's biggest club, Shamrock Rovers.
0:39:31 > 0:39:34They first met in Manchester, when Paul came to a game.
0:39:35 > 0:39:37Since then, Carl travels to Ireland
0:39:37 > 0:39:41when Paul's firm take on their fiercest rivals, the Bohemians.
0:39:41 > 0:39:43CHANTING
0:39:43 > 0:39:47The Dublin derby dates back a century and often leads to violence.
0:39:47 > 0:39:49SIREN WAILS
0:39:53 > 0:39:56In Ireland, there is no restriction like banning orders to curb
0:39:56 > 0:39:59the rise of football hooligans.
0:39:59 > 0:40:01It's basically like England in the '80s.
0:40:01 > 0:40:02We're not behind in style,
0:40:02 > 0:40:05but what we're behind in is police presence and stuff like that.
0:40:05 > 0:40:07If you get arrested before the game,
0:40:07 > 0:40:09you're in the cells for probably an hour, an hour or two.
0:40:09 > 0:40:12Probably about two hours, and you're let out before midnight.
0:40:12 > 0:40:14I don't think anyone in the Republic of Ireland
0:40:14 > 0:40:16has been locked up for football violence.
0:40:16 > 0:40:17- Never.- Yet, anyway.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20With an hour before kick-off,
0:40:20 > 0:40:24the lads are holed up in a pub close to Bohemians' ground.
0:40:24 > 0:40:27They don't have to wait long before the welcoming committee finds them.
0:40:27 > 0:40:30YELLING AND SHOUTING
0:40:41 > 0:40:44Give me my jacket. My jacket.
0:40:44 > 0:40:47Go, go, go, go!
0:40:49 > 0:40:51Get the fuck...
0:40:51 > 0:40:53Don't do that! Don't do that!
0:40:53 > 0:40:56YELLING
0:40:56 > 0:40:58Come on!
0:40:58 > 0:41:01SIRENS WAIL
0:41:07 > 0:41:10The Irish Garda arrive to restore order.
0:41:12 > 0:41:14Get up! Get up!
0:41:16 > 0:41:18They send Carl and the lads scattering.
0:41:20 > 0:41:24Ambush! Ambush, cross the lane! Cross the lane!
0:41:25 > 0:41:27Fucking ambush!
0:41:27 > 0:41:30Shamrock Rovers go hunting for revenge.
0:41:30 > 0:41:34But in the confusion, it is difficult to recognise who's who.
0:41:35 > 0:41:37INDISTINCT COMMENTS
0:41:48 > 0:41:52- You all right?- Yeah. Nice little thing there. Seen that?
0:41:52 > 0:41:54- Is that a truncheon?- Yeah.
0:41:54 > 0:41:58Nasty thing there. You want to see the best? Look at that.
0:41:58 > 0:42:00Little bastards.
0:42:00 > 0:42:01SIREN WAILS
0:42:01 > 0:42:04We've piled out the pub and gone, "Fucking come on, then!"
0:42:04 > 0:42:07Fucking ran over to them and they all started backing away and that.
0:42:07 > 0:42:08And that's when the Garda pulled up.
0:42:08 > 0:42:10Their Garda's their fucking police, isn't it?
0:42:10 > 0:42:13About three or four vans pulled up. No interest in nicking no-one,
0:42:13 > 0:42:16straight out with the truncheons, just smash, smash, smash.
0:42:16 > 0:42:19It were similar to England, obviously, on a smaller scale,
0:42:19 > 0:42:22but the police was a lot naughtier, I'll give 'em that.
0:42:22 > 0:42:24That's not the worst beating I've had off the police,
0:42:24 > 0:42:27but it's in top fucking five worst beatings I've had off the police.
0:42:27 > 0:42:29That was a bit naughty.
0:42:29 > 0:42:32It's a fucking laugh. That's what it's about, innit?
0:42:32 > 0:42:34It's all fun and games, innit? Do you know what I mean?
0:42:34 > 0:42:35Bit of a sore head and finger,
0:42:35 > 0:42:38but I don't fucking moan about it. Do you know what I mean?
0:42:38 > 0:42:40It's all a laugh, innit? It's all a laugh.
0:42:40 > 0:42:43CHANTING
0:42:43 > 0:42:45Carl's not the only one injured.
0:42:45 > 0:42:47The Shamrock lads have been hit hard.
0:42:55 > 0:42:58You need to go to a hospital and get that...
0:43:01 > 0:43:02You're not going to go now?
0:43:05 > 0:43:07CHEERING
0:43:09 > 0:43:11They may have been ambushed,
0:43:11 > 0:43:16but on the pitch Shamrock Rovers win the game 3-1.
0:43:16 > 0:43:19CHANTING
0:43:28 > 0:43:29Can you see them?
0:43:32 > 0:43:33Are we hiding?
0:43:35 > 0:43:37Back in England, Carl's meeting up
0:43:37 > 0:43:42with his three-year-old daughter, Katie, and ex-girlfriend, Harriet.
0:43:44 > 0:43:46They got together when they were 19,
0:43:46 > 0:43:50and Katie's birth put his football lifestyle into perspective.
0:43:51 > 0:43:54When she first fell pregnant, and when the time she was being born,
0:43:54 > 0:43:57I thought, like, "Bit old to be doing this now, I've got a kid,
0:43:57 > 0:44:01"I need to knock it on the head, I need to grow up," basically.
0:44:01 > 0:44:03I lasted for about two or three months,
0:44:03 > 0:44:06and I just ended up back doing it, so I don't...
0:44:06 > 0:44:10I tried, albeit a half-hearted effort to stop, but I did try, but...
0:44:12 > 0:44:13..no.
0:44:14 > 0:44:17I think violence doesn't solve everything,
0:44:17 > 0:44:20but it's his own...
0:44:20 > 0:44:23Carl, it's up to him, innit, what Carl does? I can't stop him.
0:44:24 > 0:44:26Are you going to retire?
0:44:26 > 0:44:28CARL LAUGHS Erm...
0:44:30 > 0:44:33I always said, "I'll do it till she's born," and I carried on.
0:44:33 > 0:44:35Said, "I'll I do it till I'm banned," carried on.
0:44:35 > 0:44:39Said, "I'll do it till I get ten years and I'll call it a day."
0:44:39 > 0:44:40I'm on eight years now.
0:44:40 > 0:44:43I'll come up with another excuse when I get to ten years.
0:44:43 > 0:44:44I don't know. I've no idea.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47I can't keep doing it for ever, obviously, but...
0:44:48 > 0:44:50..I don't know.
0:44:50 > 0:44:53Since I've, like, left school and that, it's all I've done,
0:44:53 > 0:44:56I don't know anything else, it's all I've done, sort of thing.
0:45:01 > 0:45:04Match day programme! £3 a programme!
0:45:04 > 0:45:08CHANTING: Tottenham! Tottenham! Tottenham! Tottenham! Tottenham!
0:45:08 > 0:45:13It's March. The police have drafted in extra officers
0:45:13 > 0:45:15as Chelsea take on rivals, Spurs.
0:45:17 > 0:45:18MAN GRUNTS
0:45:21 > 0:45:25But Spurs' top lad, Dante, is fighting the urge to go.
0:45:28 > 0:45:31It's one of them ones - I hate them more than anyone, so...
0:45:31 > 0:45:33it's one of them I'd love to be out for it,
0:45:33 > 0:45:35but I've done prison for it,
0:45:35 > 0:45:38I've done 18 months for it, for that fixture, so it's red-hot.
0:45:38 > 0:45:41CHANTING
0:45:41 > 0:45:44All the energy, all the built-up energy that I might have had
0:45:44 > 0:45:46if I didn't come, it'd want to be released,
0:45:46 > 0:45:49maybe in a negative way, it's released in here.
0:45:49 > 0:45:51- This might be some Chelsea- BLEEP!
0:45:51 > 0:45:53- HE ROARS - You Chelsea- BLEEP!
0:45:53 > 0:45:55HE LAUGHS
0:45:56 > 0:45:58For the first time in his life,
0:45:58 > 0:46:02Dante is facing a future without football.
0:46:08 > 0:46:14I mean, three prison sentences later, the buzz ain't there no more.
0:46:16 > 0:46:22It's not there, so it's sort of the buzz wants to be there...
0:46:23 > 0:46:27..but then sort of start remembering about being behind the door,
0:46:27 > 0:46:31cos... I mean, I can do the prison sentences,
0:46:31 > 0:46:33but it's my family that can't.
0:46:33 > 0:46:35So it's selfish of me to want to go and have a five minute row...
0:46:37 > 0:46:41..for the sake of my five minute buzz.
0:46:41 > 0:46:43CHANTING
0:46:49 > 0:46:53In Manchester, West Ham have made the 150-mile trip up from London
0:46:53 > 0:46:55and so has their firm.
0:46:58 > 0:47:00You all right, mate?
0:47:00 > 0:47:02Yeah, you all right? Whereabouts are you now?
0:47:02 > 0:47:05When you know where you're going and that, just give us a text
0:47:05 > 0:47:07and I'll sort it out.
0:47:08 > 0:47:10West Ham's firm, the ICF,
0:47:10 > 0:47:15have a notorious reputation from the 1980s,
0:47:15 > 0:47:18which their young casuals are keeping alive.
0:47:19 > 0:47:23Carl is arranging to meet them far away from the ground.
0:47:23 > 0:47:24Who's coming, Carl?
0:47:24 > 0:47:27There's about 50 of them coming, all local lads as well.
0:47:27 > 0:47:29Fucking loads of them.
0:47:29 > 0:47:31Yeah, but that was what the Zulus were supposed to do.
0:47:32 > 0:47:34Best football day I've ever had,
0:47:34 > 0:47:36it was one of the best days I've ever had.
0:47:36 > 0:47:37There's a good chance of us
0:47:37 > 0:47:39losing the fight today on pure fact of numbers.
0:47:40 > 0:47:42There's a lot of new kids coming today
0:47:42 > 0:47:44and that's what we've put out, I have to say.
0:47:48 > 0:47:50CHANTING
0:47:50 > 0:47:55Although outnumbered, Carl has never turned down a fight before
0:47:55 > 0:47:57and he isn't going to start now.
0:48:30 > 0:48:31With numbers dwindling,
0:48:31 > 0:48:36the fight is still going ahead with just four on each side...
0:48:37 > 0:48:39..but arranging a meeting place
0:48:39 > 0:48:41away from the police is proving difficult.
0:48:42 > 0:48:44I'm here in Stockport now, mate.
0:48:44 > 0:48:46Give us a text when you can. See you in a bit.
0:48:50 > 0:48:52CHEERING
0:48:54 > 0:48:58Man City have beaten West Ham in the match
0:48:58 > 0:49:00but, miles away from the ground,
0:49:00 > 0:49:02Carl's attempt to set up a meet has failed.
0:49:10 > 0:49:11We've a hit a bad thing,
0:49:11 > 0:49:13cos we don't really like know what's gone on,
0:49:13 > 0:49:16like. His phone's off, whether he's just turned it off
0:49:16 > 0:49:19cos he knows he don't want it, or whether his battery just died
0:49:19 > 0:49:21or the police have got him, or whatever, I don't know.
0:49:21 > 0:49:23But it's the fact we don't know why it's not on,
0:49:23 > 0:49:25we don't know why we can't get hold of him,
0:49:25 > 0:49:27that's the annoying thing, do you know what I mean?
0:49:27 > 0:49:30We live to fight another day, don't we? Fuck it, we'll be all right.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33You can go and have your bacon butty and feed your dog.
0:49:33 > 0:49:35- Yeah. - THEY LAUGH
0:49:35 > 0:49:37- See yous laters.- See you laters.
0:49:38 > 0:49:40See you in a bit.
0:49:40 > 0:49:41CAR HORN BEEPS
0:49:50 > 0:49:52You all right, mate?
0:49:52 > 0:49:55Oh, I'm buzzing, that was top, that one.
0:49:55 > 0:49:57Yeah, you can do, mate, yeah, see you in a sec.
0:49:57 > 0:50:01Days afterwards, the missed opportunity to fight West Ham
0:50:01 > 0:50:03is playing on Carl's mind.
0:50:04 > 0:50:07It's a lot of fucking about and it's hard work, it is, of course.
0:50:07 > 0:50:11And like 70%, 80% of the time it's shit.
0:50:11 > 0:50:13Nothing happens, the police get in the way. You can't organise
0:50:13 > 0:50:16yourselves, they can't organise themselves. It's crap.
0:50:16 > 0:50:18I come home and say, "Why are we fucking doing this?
0:50:18 > 0:50:20"What's the fucking point, it's shit?"
0:50:20 > 0:50:23But for them few times, like the Zulu thing the other day,
0:50:23 > 0:50:26them few times it goes perfect, everything goes to plan,
0:50:26 > 0:50:28and you think, "Ah, this is fucking worth it."
0:50:28 > 0:50:29I see us as...
0:50:29 > 0:50:31Here you go, they're coming to get me.
0:50:31 > 0:50:33Look, here they are, they're coming for me.
0:50:33 > 0:50:36The police are outside. I hope I've not breached my ban again.
0:50:36 > 0:50:38CARL LAUGHS
0:50:38 > 0:50:39Fuck that. Come away from the window.
0:50:39 > 0:50:41I'm not answering the door to them.
0:50:41 > 0:50:43I told you they always come round for me.
0:50:43 > 0:50:46No! Thank fuck for that. It's gone.
0:50:48 > 0:50:51DOGS BARK
0:50:55 > 0:50:57Do you think you could run the firm one day?
0:50:57 > 0:51:02Yeah, I'm smart enough and game enough but, to be honest,
0:51:02 > 0:51:05I wouldn't really want to. It's too much hassle, you've got to arrange
0:51:05 > 0:51:08everything, you've got to make sure everyone's doing everything.
0:51:08 > 0:51:09I get pissed off too easy,
0:51:09 > 0:51:12cos it's not easy work when you've got a big group of lads
0:51:12 > 0:51:15and they're all chanting and getting pissed and making noise.
0:51:15 > 0:51:17CHANTING
0:51:21 > 0:51:23It's the end of the season.
0:51:23 > 0:51:27Aaron and Bury's Interchange Riot Squad are in York
0:51:27 > 0:51:29for one last big awayday.
0:51:34 > 0:51:38But one member of the firm, Paul, is nowhere to be seen.
0:51:41 > 0:51:44He's decided to take a break from the firm...
0:51:45 > 0:51:47..despite the temptation to go.
0:51:48 > 0:51:52Me main thing at the minute is like really missing football.
0:51:52 > 0:51:55Like, when you wake up, you look on Facebook and you see
0:51:55 > 0:51:59everyone fucking putting statuses that they're going to the match
0:51:59 > 0:52:03and that, and you're there, like, "Oh, why the fuck haven't I gone?"
0:52:04 > 0:52:08# While there's still a fighting chance
0:52:08 > 0:52:11# Why can't we just get up and go? #
0:52:11 > 0:52:14And after a bit, you just don't want to fucking hear it, you're like,
0:52:14 > 0:52:18"Don't talk to me about it," cos it pisses me off that, you know,
0:52:18 > 0:52:21they went to match and I didn't, but, I don't know.
0:52:23 > 0:52:24This is still good.
0:52:27 > 0:52:32# My love just crumbles in my hands. #
0:52:32 > 0:52:33Thank you.
0:52:33 > 0:52:34APPLAUSE
0:52:44 > 0:52:45You're in the country now, boy.
0:52:48 > 0:52:50With Man City's season drawing to a close
0:52:50 > 0:52:53Carl's gone to see his friend, Dante.
0:52:54 > 0:52:57Dante has successfully stayed away from the football now
0:52:57 > 0:52:59for over two months.
0:53:00 > 0:53:02What's he doing with that plank of wood?
0:53:02 > 0:53:03The red over there?
0:53:03 > 0:53:06- Look, see he just chucked it! - Here he goes now, look.
0:53:09 > 0:53:12Voice sounds familiar. He was shouting then.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16And then they just... They've run off completely now.
0:53:16 > 0:53:19Don't get me wrong, every week I want to go out and be at it,
0:53:19 > 0:53:23but it's to that point now where I've been locked up so many times.
0:53:23 > 0:53:26With me it's, like, with my daughter, if she's not with me,
0:53:26 > 0:53:28as sad as it is, as bad as it sounds, football's more important.
0:53:28 > 0:53:31I want to go fight with the lads, I want to fucking...
0:53:31 > 0:53:33Forget about it. All it takes is for you to have one row
0:53:33 > 0:53:36and get caught on the camera and that, and then you're gone.
0:53:36 > 0:53:38The worst I've been is remanded for that,
0:53:38 > 0:53:40I've never been in prison, just remanded for a couple of days,
0:53:40 > 0:53:42but that's more through luck than anything, though.
0:53:42 > 0:53:44It is luck, though, innit? You know what I mean?
0:53:44 > 0:53:47And people half-forget you when you get weighed off,
0:53:47 > 0:53:49and it makes you put your priorities into perspective,
0:53:49 > 0:53:54like, whether, what's...who's more important, your family or the firm?
0:53:54 > 0:53:56Before I might have said the firm, like the mob,
0:53:56 > 0:53:58but then now, you see, because when I got weighed off,
0:53:58 > 0:54:01the only people that were there for me were my family.
0:54:01 > 0:54:02You know what I mean?
0:54:02 > 0:54:05- It's like a fucking castle, this bit! - Yeah.
0:54:05 > 0:54:07Nice.
0:54:07 > 0:54:09Before leaving, Dante decides to take Carl
0:54:09 > 0:54:11to show him his dad's grave.
0:54:12 > 0:54:14I think he died when I was about 15, 16.
0:54:14 > 0:54:16I can't remember the exact age what I was.
0:54:16 > 0:54:20After that happened, like, I turned a bit fucking nutty, like.
0:54:20 > 0:54:22I think someone's come to give it a visit.
0:54:23 > 0:54:25- "Nick Hawkins, guitarist."- Yeah.
0:54:27 > 0:54:31What would your dad make of what you get up to now?
0:54:31 > 0:54:34He wouldn't be happy about it, he didn't like the football,
0:54:34 > 0:54:35he was more into his music.
0:54:35 > 0:54:39But obviously his brother was into it. But, yeah, no,
0:54:39 > 0:54:40he wouldn't like it at all.
0:54:40 > 0:54:43I'd be getting in trouble. I probably wouldn't be doing it,
0:54:43 > 0:54:45he'd probably be ringing me giving me ache.
0:54:46 > 0:54:49My dad's not so much into football, do you know what I mean?
0:54:49 > 0:54:53I think he's of the opinion where if you do summat, you know, for money,
0:54:53 > 0:54:55and you get caught, well, fair enough sort of thing, you're a dick
0:54:55 > 0:54:58for being caught, but I'd understand if you was doing it for money.
0:54:58 > 0:55:01Whereas, like what Dante said, we do what we do, we don't
0:55:01 > 0:55:03get money, it's like, you're a dick, you've not even got money
0:55:03 > 0:55:06and you're getting in trouble - he doesn't get it.
0:55:06 > 0:55:09Do you know what I mean? He doesn't understand what it's all about.
0:55:09 > 0:55:11I fully understand why people say that about it not being for money,
0:55:11 > 0:55:14cos it is fucking stupid when you get banged up
0:55:14 > 0:55:16and it ain't for dough, but it's got its pros and cons.
0:55:16 > 0:55:19It's like... I couldn't, like Dante said, you obviously understand
0:55:19 > 0:55:22looking, but why are you fucking doing that, what's the point?
0:55:22 > 0:55:24But at the end of the day, I can honestly say,
0:55:24 > 0:55:28in the eight years I've been doing it now, eight and a bit years,
0:55:28 > 0:55:29I've had the best time of my life.
0:55:29 > 0:55:32And if someone said, "Carl, scrap the last eight years you did
0:55:32 > 0:55:35"and we'll give you fucking a million quid," I'd say, "Fuck off."
0:55:35 > 0:55:38No amount of dough can make me change the times I've had with my mates,
0:55:38 > 0:55:41the bond we've got, the buzz we've had together, the memories
0:55:41 > 0:55:44I've got, everything all up here, no-one can take that away from me.
0:55:45 > 0:55:47I've got that for ever.
0:55:48 > 0:55:52MUSIC: "Fools Gold" by The Stone Roses
0:55:58 > 0:56:02# The pack on my back is aching
0:56:02 > 0:56:03# The straps
0:56:03 > 0:56:05# Seem to cut me like a knife... #