Among the Thugs

Excellent take from an outsider (a yank at that) on football hooligan culture. More of a sociology book, but has some very good stories.
Entertaining and a very easy read.
One of the essential reads if you want to know more about the mindset of the yobos.

I was disappointed with this book.

The topic was interesting and the author made a very hard attempt to get in with the sub cultural of football thugs, YOBS - do the things they did, go where they went, try to be accepted by the group without acting, being who he was - a writer.

The premise is very similar to Hunter S. Thompson's Hell's Angels - a great book.

The problem with Among the Thugs is that the author Bill Buford, try as he does, really doesn't like the English football thugs, not any of them - can't say anything redeeming about the whole culture - they are repulsive.

Even the attempts by the English Right Wing Nationalists - the National Front comes off that the leaders of the National Front can stand these repulsive Soccer thugs, can't really use them in anyway - no one can.

So the book comes off as the writer having to waste large parts of his life trying to get to know the secrets of the power of this sociological phenomenon and he learns all there is to know and, and

There really isn't that much to know - they're repulsive, losers, not even good at anything, good at crime etc.

A better writer could have made the subjects more interesting without taking their side. Good books about criminal networks make the criminals interesting, though bad.

This book is perfect for fans of Hunter Thompson's Hell's Angels. It's like a gonzo journalist was sucked into A Clockwork Orange and told to "start writing." Whether or not it's 100% accurate is beside the point. It's not a news article -- it's a book. It takes romantic liberties to better symbolize the truth.

Also, for those who have a sense of humor that's hard-edged and drenched in booze, this book is hilarious.

As documentary history, there are times when it's nearly impossible to put 'Among The Thugs' down. His ability to articulate his vantage while things go off is unmatched. However, as the book goes on (and it's short; some 315 pages) it's too easy to tire of him. His theory become pedantic, and he's so intent on it he's willing to risk the final chapters, which sink under their sociology lesson and hammed-up moral controversies. At times, it's easy to wonder whether an editor read the last two chapters at all. That said, Buford reveals much that British accounts of their hooligan shame either downplay or exaggerate . . . even if he works in the shadow of Heysel and Hillsborough. In fact, his lack of contact with Liverpool supporters nearly negates his whole work. But that's another story -- since the Reds haven't been honest with their roles in those events, either.

An exciting yet shockingly detailed blow by blow account of a writer who found himself "among the thugs" of the lower class who follow English football/soccer. This book has been described as "A Clockwork Orange" in print, and I wholeheartedly agree with that characterization. Absolutely shocking ending to this great book.

Author Buford describes how the thugs operate, but disappointedly does not spend much time analyzing how and why this awful stuff occurs. First of all, no tickets should be sold to English soccer games without having a proper seat assigned. The lower priced tickets are sold to lower class patrons, and then the cattle are simply jammed into "pens" like cows led to slaughter. Of course deaths occur! The same thing would happen here in the States had we pens at American football games! And the lack of empathy that the English ruling class has for the lower class patrons of that favored sport is astonishing. Class warfare is alive and well for our allies across the sea.

England, if it truly wants to stop these atrocities, needs to stop putting patrons in pens, arrest and JAIL those responsible instead of letting them loose to create mayhem, and needs to address the class distinctions that cause so many of these atrocities to be swept under the rug. The most civilized country in Europe should do better and can do better if they simply make the effort.