nick lowles

For forty years, the scourge of hooliganism has blighted Britain's national game. Organised gangs from almost every town and city in the nation have used football as the arena for violent clashes in an unofficial contest for supremacy. They have rioted, wrecked, maimed and even killed. Yet they have remained largely anonymous, a reviled yet intriguing sub-sect of society.

• Who are the hooligan gangs of Great Britain?
• Where do they come from and how do they organise?
• Who are the principal players - past and present?

These questions and many more are answered in Hooligans, the first volume of a unique and comprehensive two-part reference guide to the most ingrained and active soccer yob network in the world. Packed with photos and informative profiles of the gangs both large and small, Hooligans also documents the myths, the nicknames, the victims, the localities, the battles and the police operations.

Combining hard fact with occasional touches of black humour, and intense research with first-person recollections, Hooligans covers the whole spectrum of the gangs from Aberdeen to Luton ... the Barnsley Five-O and their vicious slashing at the hands of Middlesbrough ... Paul Dodd, England's self-styled "Number One" hooligan ... the combined force of the Dundee Utility ... the riots of the Leeds Service Crew ... Benny's Mob, the Main Firm, the Lunatic Fringe, the Bastard Squad - they're all here, together with numerous photos of mobs, fights and riots.

"Packed to the brim with scrupulous research, hard-hitting interviews and black humour, this is the final word on terrace yobbery." FRONT

"The real history of soccer violence." LOADED

"A comprehensive look at some of Britain's most notorious hooligan factions." LADS MAG