Walk on, 15 Jul 2008
If you enjoy reading about Liverpool then this will occupy a few hours and stimulate your memory of those glory nights at Anfield and the beer fuelled European trips that followed them. I`m a season ticket holder, love to watch Liverpool and love to read about them too. If you like thriller stories then try Soft Target by Conrad Jones, football and terrorism set in Liverpool, its shocking. Back to this one though,Seven European Cup finals. Seven fans. Seven amazing adventures following the team they love. This book celebrates the achievements of Liverpool FC in Europe, and in particular a love affair with Old Big Ears - the European Cup. It's an ongoing affair that began with the legendary and, in those days, unprecedented exodus of 30,000 Liverpool fans to Rome in 1977, has taken in the glories of Paris and Istanbul, endured the horror of Brussels, and still burns as brightly today with Athens 2007, just the latest staging post of Liverpool's trans-European express. Above all, Here We Go Gathering Cups In May tells of the bond between a club and its fans: the lengths those fans will go to in order to be there at the final to cheer on their team, vivid accounts of what happened along the way, their escapades in some of Europe's iconic capitals, and their recollections of those historic nights - nights of glory and, sometimes, nights of tragedy.



good as it gets, 03 Feb 2008
This is about as good as a footy book gets - players, managers and directors come and go, but the fanatical supporters live lives through their alliegance to one football team.

In these pages the message reads loud and clear: I love football, I love Liverpool and I love having a laugh

Brilliant

Brings back the memories, 29 Sep 2007
Well what stories and what memories. I was there at all seven and hope to live long enough to see seven more. The book covers all aspects of being a true Red. A little crazy, a little ingenious and a whole lot of passion.

A must for all Liverpool fans, 06 Sep 2007
This is a fantastic book. It's been overdue, a brilliant account by 7 genuine fans who make you feel as if you were there with the boys in red at some of the greatest moments in Liverpool's history.

Fever Pitch is both an autobiography and a footballing bible rolled into one. Nick Hornby pinpoints 1968 as his formative year--the year he turned 11, the year his parents separated, and the year his father first took him to watch Arsenal play. The author quickly moved "way beyond fandom" into an extreme obsession that has dominated his life, loves, and relationships. His father had initially hoped that Saturday afternoon matches would draw the two closer together, but instead Hornby became completely besotted with the game at the expense of any conversation: "Football may have provided us with a new medium through which we could communicate, but that was not to say that we used it, or what we chose to say was necessarily positive." Girlfriends also played second fiddle to one ball and 11 men. He fantasises that even if a girlfriend "went into labour at an impossible moment" he would not be able to help out until after the final whistle. Fever Pitch is not a typical memoir--there are no chapters, just a series of match reports falling into three time frames (childhood, young adulthood, manhood). While watching the May 2, 1972, Reading v Arsenal match, it became embarrassingly obvious to the then 15-year-old that his white, suburban, middle-class roots made him a wimp with no sense of identity: "Yorkshire men, Lancastrians, Scots, the Irish, blacks, the rich, the poor, even Americans and Australians have something they can sit in pubs and bars and weep about." But a boy from Maidenhead could only dream of coming from a place with "its own tube station and West Indian community and terrible, insoluble social problems." Fever Pitch reveals the very special intricacies of British football, which readers new to the game will find astonishing, and which Hornby presents with remarkable humour and honesty--the "unique" chants sung at matches, the cold rain- soaked terraces, giant cans of warm beer, the trains known as football specials carrying fans to and from matches in prison-like conditions, bottles smashing on the tracks, thousands of police officers waiting in anticipation for the cargo of hooligans. The sport and one team in particular have crept into every aspect of Hornby's life--making him see the world through Arsenal-tinted spectacles. --Naomi GesingerFever Pitch is both an autobiography and a footballing bible rolled into one. Nick Hornby pinpoints 1968 as his formative year--the year he turned 11, the year his parents separated, and the year his father first took him to watch Arsenal play. The author quickly moved "way beyond fandom" into an extreme obsession that has dominated his life, loves, and relationships. His father had initially hoped that Saturday afternoon matches would draw the two closer together, but instead Hornby became completely besotted with the game at the expense of any conversation: "Football may have provided us with a new medium through which we could communicate, but that was not to say that we used it, or what we chose to say was necessarily positive." Girlfriends also played second fiddle to one ball and 11 men. He fantasises that even if a girlfriend "went into labour at an impossible moment" he would not be able to help out until after the final whistle. Fever Pitch is not a typical memoir--there are no chapters, just a series of match reports falling into three time frames (childhood, young adulthood, manhood). While watching the May 2, 1972, Reading v Arsenal match, it became embarrassingly obvious to the then 15-year-old that his white, suburban, middle-class roots made him a wimp with no sense of identity: "Yorkshire men, Lancastrians, Scots, the Irish, blacks, the rich, the poor, even Americans and Australians have something they can sit in pubs and bars and weep about." But a boy from Maidenhead could only dream of coming from a place with "its own tube station and West Indian community and terrible, insoluble social problems." Fever Pitch reveals the very special intricacies of British football, which readers new to the game will find astonishing, and which Hornby presents with remarkable humour and honesty--the "unique" chants sung at matches, the cold rain- soaked terraces, giant cans of warm beer, the trains known as football specials carrying fans to and from matches in prison-like conditions, bottles smashing on the tracks, thousands of police officers waiting in anticipation for the cargo of hooligans. The sport and one team in particular have crept into every aspect of Hornby's life--making him see the world through Arsenal-tinted spectacles. --Naomi Gesinger

Walk on, 15 Jul 2008
If you enjoy reading about Liverpool then this will occupy a few hours and stimulate your memory of those glory nights at Anfield and the beer fuelled European trips that followed them. I`m a season ticket holder, love to watch Liverpool and love to read about them too. If you like thriller stories then try Soft Target by Conrad Jones, football and terrorism set in Liverpool, its shocking. Back to this one though,Seven European Cup finals. Seven fans. Seven amazing adventures following the team they love. This book celebrates the achievements of Liverpool FC in Europe, and in particular a love affair with Old Big Ears - the European Cup. It's an ongoing affair that began with the legendary and, in those days, unprecedented exodus of 30,000 Liverpool fans to Rome in 1977, has taken in the glories of Paris and Istanbul, endured the horror of Brussels, and still burns as brightly today with Athens 2007, just the latest staging post of Liverpool's trans-European express. Above all, Here We Go Gathering Cups In May tells of the bond between a club and its fans: the lengths those fans will go to in order to be there at the final to cheer on their team, vivid accounts of what happened along the way, their escapades in some of Europe's iconic capitals, and their recollections of those historic nights - nights of glory and, sometimes, nights of tragedy.



good as it gets, 03 Feb 2008
This is about as good as a footy book gets - players, managers and directors come and go, but the fanatical supporters live lives through their alliegance to one football team.

In these pages the message reads loud and clear: I love football, I love Liverpool and I love having a laugh

Brilliant

Brings back the memories, 29 Sep 2007
Well what stories and what memories. I was there at all seven and hope to live long enough to see seven more. The book covers all aspects of being a true Red. A little crazy, a little ingenious and a whole lot of passion.

A must for all Liverpool fans, 06 Sep 2007
This is a fantastic book. It's been overdue, a brilliant account by 7 genuine fans who make you feel as if you were there with the boys in red at some of the greatest moments in Liverpool's history.



Might be the best book ever dealing with football, 23 Jul 2008
Nick Hornby's warm autobiographical book deals with his life as a football fan from 1968 (when he was a teenager) until 1992, especifically as he supported his beloved Arsenal during that time. There's some good insights about football culture (for a true football fan, football is not really an entertainment, a concept that is probably hard to understand in the US, where sports are just a part of the entertainment business) as well as football tactics (there are few good passers in the sports, he says, as hard as this might be to believe to outsiders; Liam Brady, one of his favorite players, was that rare player, a great passer). Each of the chapters (so to call them) deals with a particular football match that he remembers during that period. And along football, he also makes comments on his relationships, be it with his family or with girlfriends. What Hornby tells is the story of English football in his last throes, a time when hooliganism ruled, but when it also was a genuine, integral pastime of the English people. When the Premiere League was established (in 1992, the year this book ends), and the megamoney and the huge tv contracts came along, and some clubs (like, say, Arsenal) did not put in the field a single English player, it became more of a commercial business and less of a cultural phenomenon. And while I like football, it's hard not to come out from reading this book with the impression that being a football fan at the level Hornby was is not a colossal waste of time.

Unique and interesting., 02 Jan 2008
'Fever Pitch' is an interesting and captivating book, I recently read it and would read it again. I am not a football fan but came closer to understand what it feels like to be one, which was very insightful - you needn't be into football to enjoy this book because football is only the backdrop to discussing relationships and issues in life.

The Pandora's box was open...., 12 Sep 2007
This was it, the book that opened up the floodgates for "footie" to become the supposed obsession of the chattering classes. All over Hampstead, Notting Hill and Camden middle-class, Grammar-school educated chaps like Nick Hornby were suddenly given wings, free to fly everywhere expressing the love for "the beautiful game" that previously had dare not speak its name for fear of inspiring dinner-party sneers. The media was thus annoyingly overrun by David Baddiel types who previously had not given a damn about football. What had previously been a sport for the genuine working class, lower middle class office workers and a few crazed public school eccentric maths masters was depressingly hijacked by Jeremys, Edmunds, Rachels and Sophies everywhere. This was all down to Nick Hornby and his accursed book.

Not that it is bad first offering from a writer who has now become the virtual personification of the North London "metrosexual" new man, dressed in his shoe-style Doc Martens and skinny black jeans, his prematurely balding hair close shaven to avoid a "comb-over" and just as happy to change nappies as he is to sink a pint of best. It is just so indulgent, so self-obsessed, so (at times) smug. It is as if Hornby is constantly telling his audience "look at me, I'm educated, middle-class, articulate, literate, yet my passion is football - how cool is THAT ?".

Many of Hornby's reminiscences are bona fide and certainly strike a chord with someone such as myself who is of exactly the same generation and background. However, it is extremely irritating to read of Hornby's self-glorified schoolboy/student encounters with a seeming string of fragrant home counties university girls. Again, it is a ham-fisted way of Hornby saying that not only was he the salt of the earth but he couldn't half pull posh totty as well. Yes, Nick, we know you've had a few girlfriends, most of us have, but really, we're not actually interested in "Carol Blackburn" or whether or not she let you under her cream cashmere sweater.

By all means read this book, as it is socially, culturally and chronologically very important, but, please, do not bestow it with a classic status it simply does not deserve.

Disappointing, 22 Aug 2006
I finally got found to reading this book recently and I wasn't that impressed. Although Hornby sums up a lot of the experiences of being a football fan well, something doesn't work; he never really gets to the bottom of the pain of defeat (and particularly relegation). OK so he's an Arsenal fan and so he's not experienced this, but this is still a book written resolutely from a successful, big club perspective. This, for me, is the main drawback with the impact of this book; it is only really 'true' to the experiences of a very few fans - those of the elite 6 or 7 perenially successful English football teams. But because its influence was so broad it has been adopted as the standard 'excuse book' for newcomer, fairweather fans.

Fickle football fan, 24 Mar 2006
To be honest, the first few pages had me hooked. When Hornby talks about his childhood support of The Arsenal he described exactly my feelings when I first supported my local club.
From then on I was looking forward to the definitive account of what it really means to be a devoted football fan. From then on I was most awfully disappointed.
The turning point comes quite early on, when he moves from London to Cambridge to take his degree. Having established that he is (in his own eyes)Arsenal's most devoted fan, I'm sure every real fan will be as disgusted as me when he then "Became a Cambridge United fan for three years". I'm afraid, for me at least, all credibility was lost at that point and although I finished the whole book, my feeling was "how can this fickle so-and-so tell ME what I should do to be a true football fan.
Sorry Nick, your book is Unibond League division two.

Walk on, 15 Jul 2008
If you enjoy reading about Liverpool then this will occupy a few hours and stimulate your memory of those glory nights at Anfield and the beer fuelled European trips that followed them. I`m a season ticket holder, love to watch Liverpool and love to read about them too. If you like thriller stories then try Soft Target by Conrad Jones, football and terrorism set in Liverpool, its shocking. Back to this one though,Seven European Cup finals. Seven fans. Seven amazing adventures following the team they love. This book celebrates the achievements of Liverpool FC in Europe, and in particular a love affair with Old Big Ears - the European Cup. It's an ongoing affair that began with the legendary and, in those days, unprecedented exodus of 30,000 Liverpool fans to Rome in 1977, has taken in the glories of Paris and Istanbul, endured the horror of Brussels, and still burns as brightly today with Athens 2007, just the latest staging post of Liverpool's trans-European express. Above all, Here We Go Gathering Cups In May tells of the bond between a club and its fans: the lengths those fans will go to in order to be there at the final to cheer on their team, vivid accounts of what happened along the way, their escapades in some of Europe's iconic capitals, and their recollections of those historic nights - nights of glory and, sometimes, nights of tragedy.



good as it gets, 03 Feb 2008
This is about as good as a footy book gets - players, managers and directors come and go, but the fanatical supporters live lives through their alliegance to one football team.

In these pages the message reads loud and clear: I love football, I love Liverpool and I love having a laugh

Brilliant

Brings back the memories, 29 Sep 2007
Well what stories and what memories. I was there at all seven and hope to live long enough to see seven more. The book covers all aspects of being a true Red. A little crazy, a little ingenious and a whole lot of passion.

A must for all Liverpool fans, 06 Sep 2007
This is a fantastic book. It's been overdue, a brilliant account by 7 genuine fans who make you feel as if you were there with the boys in red at some of the greatest moments in Liverpool's history.



Might be the best book ever dealing with football, 23 Jul 2008
Nick Hornby's warm autobiographical book deals with his life as a football fan from 1968 (when he was a teenager) until 1992, especifically as he supported his beloved Arsenal during that time. There's some good insights about football culture (for a true football fan, football is not really an entertainment, a concept that is probably hard to understand in the US, where sports are just a part of the entertainment business) as well as football tactics (there are few good passers in the sports, he says, as hard as this might be to believe to outsiders; Liam Brady, one of his favorite players, was that rare player, a great passer). Each of the chapters (so to call them) deals with a particular football match that he remembers during that period. And along football, he also makes comments on his relationships, be it with his family or with girlfriends. What Hornby tells is the story of English football in his last throes, a time when hooliganism ruled, but when it also was a genuine, integral pastime of the English people. When the Premiere League was established (in 1992, the year this book ends), and the megamoney and the huge tv contracts came along, and some clubs (like, say, Arsenal) did not put in the field a single English player, it became more of a commercial business and less of a cultural phenomenon. And while I like football, it's hard not to come out from reading this book with the impression that being a football fan at the level Hornby was is not a colossal waste of time.

Unique and interesting., 02 Jan 2008
'Fever Pitch' is an interesting and captivating book, I recently read it and would read it again. I am not a football fan but came closer to understand what it feels like to be one, which was very insightful - you needn't be into football to enjoy this book because football is only the backdrop to discussing relationships and issues in life.

The Pandora's box was open...., 12 Sep 2007
This was it, the book that opened up the floodgates for "footie" to become the supposed obsession of the chattering classes. All over Hampstead, Notting Hill and Camden middle-class, Grammar-school educated chaps like Nick Hornby were suddenly given wings, free to fly everywhere expressing the love for "the beautiful game" that previously had dare not speak its name for fear of inspiring dinner-party sneers. The media was thus annoyingly overrun by David Baddiel types who previously had not given a damn about football. What had previously been a sport for the genuine working class, lower middle class office workers and a few crazed public school eccentric maths masters was depressingly hijacked by Jeremys, Edmunds, Rachels and Sophies everywhere. This was all down to Nick Hornby and his accursed book.

Not that it is bad first offering from a writer who has now become the virtual personification of the North London "metrosexual" new man, dressed in his shoe-style Doc Martens and skinny black jeans, his prematurely balding hair close shaven to avoid a "comb-over" and just as happy to change nappies as he is to sink a pint of best. It is just so indulgent, so self-obsessed, so (at times) smug. It is as if Hornby is constantly telling his audience "look at me, I'm educated, middle-class, articulate, literate, yet my passion is football - how cool is THAT ?".

Many of Hornby's reminiscences are bona fide and certainly strike a chord with someone such as myself who is of exactly the same generation and background. However, it is extremely irritating to read of Hornby's self-glorified schoolboy/student encounters with a seeming string of fragrant home counties university girls. Again, it is a ham-fisted way of Hornby saying that not only was he the salt of the earth but he couldn't half pull posh totty as well. Yes, Nick, we know you've had a few girlfriends, most of us have, but really, we're not actually interested in "Carol Blackburn" or whether or not she let you under her cream cashmere sweater.

By all means read this book, as it is socially, culturally and chronologically very important, but, please, do not bestow it with a classic status it simply does not deserve.

Disappointing, 22 Aug 2006
I finally got found to reading this book recently and I wasn't that impressed. Although Hornby sums up a lot of the experiences of being a football fan well, something doesn't work; he never really gets to the bottom of the pain of defeat (and particularly relegation). OK so he's an Arsenal fan and so he's not experienced this, but this is still a book written resolutely from a successful, big club perspective. This, for me, is the main drawback with the impact of this book; it is only really 'true' to the experiences of a very few fans - those of the elite 6 or 7 perenially successful English football teams. But because its influence was so broad it has been adopted as the standard 'excuse book' for newcomer, fairweather fans.

Fickle football fan, 24 Mar 2006
To be honest, the first few pages had me hooked. When Hornby talks about his childhood support of The Arsenal he described exactly my feelings when I first supported my local club.
From then on I was looking forward to the definitive account of what it really means to be a devoted football fan. From then on I was most awfully disappointed.
The turning point comes quite early on, when he moves from London to Cambridge to take his degree. Having established that he is (in his own eyes)Arsenal's most devoted fan, I'm sure every real fan will be as disgusted as me when he then "Became a Cambridge United fan for three years". I'm afraid, for me at least, all credibility was lost at that point and although I finished the whole book, my feeling was "how can this fickle so-and-so tell ME what I should do to be a true football fan.
Sorry Nick, your book is Unibond League division two.

Great book,, 03 Aug 2008
As a previous reviewer pointed out; this is not a typical hooligan book its a biography of Cass one of the main members of the IFC one of the most famous hooligan gangs of the 70s and 80s.

The book covers his childhood, being a black child adopted by a white couple and raised in an all white area, the racism he encountered as a kid and how his foster parents taught him pride in who he was and to stand up to anyone. The book then goes into how he got hooked up with the IFC and hooked on the violence that went with it.

The many trials he went through, how he went into bouncing post jail time, how he met his future wife and finaly got his life together meeting up with his natural parents back in Jamacia.

Realy interesting read especially his connections with Frank Bruno and Lenny Henry.

Honest book, highly recomended.

an interesting story, 03 Aug 2008
cass pennant has an interesting life story and this book is a good read for that reason alone. unfortunately as with many autobiographies from the criminal world, the author can't resist the temptation to paint himself as the misunderstood good guy, which is quite a difficult task for somebody who openly admits to knives and axes being his weapons of choice. enjoy the story but remember who's writing it.

No hype..., 17 Jan 2008
Forget the rose-tinted reverse view of the numerous football "offs" where a tiny group of invincible ICF members saw off thousands of opposition lads, and the selective memory of the farcical "You have just met the ICF" football-factory fiction - being present at several of the incidents described in that book I can only say that my recollection differs to such a degree that maybe I came up against a different WHU firm with the same name?

What sets this title apart from the usual ICF dross is that it actually gives an insight into the man rather than the self-publicising industry that Cass Pennant has become.

This is a well written and well edited biography of Cass the person presented without comment, blame, sensationalism, rancour, or bitterness.
- in particular the account of the Sheffield stabbing, his subsequent inprisonment and eventual release, with the devastating psychological effect on Cass is superbly insightful, sympathetically written, and factually presented.

There is also an excellent profile of the times and culture of the Club Scene in London, with many glimpses of the dark side of Door Management, plus a honest look at the drug and alcohol induced excesses perpetrated by both customers and security staff at many venues.

The final chapter appears to be both an ending and a beginning for Cass Pennant, and the whole book is uncomfortable yet fascinating reading, mainly due the factual presentation and lack of sensationalism.

If you are going to buy or read just one book on Cass Pennant then this should be it - highly recommended.

Don't bother with disclaimers, 05 Sep 2006
Why bother with the disclaimer that books like this are not meant to glamourise football violence? You know it's a pretense. What this book serves up, like the others, are exciting stories of rucks and rows which serve as testosterone cocktails for emasculated office boys grown up in an era of political correctness and close-circuit TVs. Football hooligans caused misery and fear - that's the truth. And then when they "turn their life around" they want credit. Well, listen my friends - here's some news - you're not meant to go on the rampage and terrify innocent folk, you're not meant to get banged up, you're not meant to incite violence. So don't try to earn credit when you start living a normal life. This recent fascination with hard men is sad. There's a lot of insecure men out there if this stuff sells so well.

Cass is a true great, 05 Jan 2006
I brought this book whilst waiting at the airport and i can safely say it is one of the best books i have ever brought. I think that Cass is slightly different to all the other hooligan books as it contains personal stuff about his life and i have a great repect for that. also the way he helped frank bruno is something else. i would say that this book is for anyone who is a fan of football. all i can say is that the book is gripping and you really understand this guys life

Walk on, 15 Jul 2008
If you enjoy reading about Liverpool then this will occupy a few hours and stimulate your memory of those glory nights at Anfield and the beer fuelled European trips that followed them. I`m a season ticket holder, love to watch Liverpool and love to read about them too. If you like thriller stories then try Soft Target by Conrad Jones, football and terrorism set in Liverpool, its shocking. Back to this one though,Seven European Cup finals. Seven fans. Seven amazing adventures following the team they love. This book celebrates the achievements of Liverpool FC in Europe, and in particular a love affair with Old Big Ears - the European Cup. It's an ongoing affair that began with the legendary and, in those days, unprecedented exodus of 30,000 Liverpool fans to Rome in 1977, has taken in the glories of Paris and Istanbul, endured the horror of Brussels, and still burns as brightly today with Athens 2007, just the latest staging post of Liverpool's trans-European express. Above all, Here We Go Gathering Cups In May tells of the bond between a club and its fans: the lengths those fans will go to in order to be there at the final to cheer on their team, vivid accounts of what happened along the way, their escapades in some of Europe's iconic capitals, and their recollections of those historic nights - nights of glory and, sometimes, nights of tragedy.



good as it gets, 03 Feb 2008
This is about as good as a footy book gets - players, managers and directors come and go, but the fanatical supporters live lives through their alliegance to one football team.

In these pages the message reads loud and clear: I love football, I love Liverpool and I love having a laugh

Brilliant

Brings back the memories, 29 Sep 2007
Well what stories and what memories. I was there at all seven and hope to live long enough to see seven more. The book covers all aspects of being a true Red. A little crazy, a little ingenious and a whole lot of passion.

A must for all Liverpool fans, 06 Sep 2007
This is a fantastic book. It's been overdue, a brilliant account by 7 genuine fans who make you feel as if you were there with the boys in red at some of the greatest moments in Liverpool's history.



Might be the best book ever dealing with football, 23 Jul 2008
Nick Hornby's warm autobiographical book deals with his life as a football fan from 1968 (when he was a teenager) until 1992, especifically as he supported his beloved Arsenal during that time. There's some good insights about football culture (for a true football fan, football is not really an entertainment, a concept that is probably hard to understand in the US, where sports are just a part of the entertainment business) as well as football tactics (there are few good passers in the sports, he says, as hard as this might be to believe to outsiders; Liam Brady, one of his favorite players, was that rare player, a great passer). Each of the chapters (so to call them) deals with a particular football match that he remembers during that period. And along football, he also makes comments on his relationships, be it with his family or with girlfriends. What Hornby tells is the story of English football in his last throes, a time when hooliganism ruled, but when it also was a genuine, integral pastime of the English people. When the Premiere League was established (in 1992, the year this book ends), and the megamoney and the huge tv contracts came along, and some clubs (like, say, Arsenal) did not put in the field a single English player, it became more of a commercial business and less of a cultural phenomenon. And while I like football, it's hard not to come out from reading this book with the impression that being a football fan at the level Hornby was is not a colossal waste of time.

Unique and interesting., 02 Jan 2008
'Fever Pitch' is an interesting and captivating book, I recently read it and would read it again. I am not a football fan but came closer to understand what it feels like to be one, which was very insightful - you needn't be into football to enjoy this book because football is only the backdrop to discussing relationships and issues in life.

The Pandora's box was open...., 12 Sep 2007
This was it, the book that opened up the floodgates for "footie" to become the supposed obsession of the chattering classes. All over Hampstead, Notting Hill and Camden middle-class, Grammar-school educated chaps like Nick Hornby were suddenly given wings, free to fly everywhere expressing the love for "the beautiful game" that previously had dare not speak its name for fear of inspiring dinner-party sneers. The media was thus annoyingly overrun by David Baddiel types who previously had not given a damn about football. What had previously been a sport for the genuine working class, lower middle class office workers and a few crazed public school eccentric maths masters was depressingly hijacked by Jeremys, Edmunds, Rachels and Sophies everywhere. This was all down to Nick Hornby and his accursed book.

Not that it is bad first offering from a writer who has now become the virtual personification of the North London "metrosexual" new man, dressed in his shoe-style Doc Martens and skinny black jeans, his prematurely balding hair close shaven to avoid a "comb-over" and just as happy to change nappies as he is to sink a pint of best. It is just so indulgent, so self-obsessed, so (at times) smug. It is as if Hornby is constantly telling his audience "look at me, I'm educated, middle-class, articulate, literate, yet my passion is football - how cool is THAT ?".

Many of Hornby's reminiscences are bona fide and certainly strike a chord with someone such as myself who is of exactly the same generation and background. However, it is extremely irritating to read of Hornby's self-glorified schoolboy/student encounters with a seeming string of fragrant home counties university girls. Again, it is a ham-fisted way of Hornby saying that not only was he the salt of the earth but he couldn't half pull posh totty as well. Yes, Nick, we know you've had a few girlfriends, most of us have, but really, we're not actually interested in "Carol Blackburn" or whether or not she let you under her cream cashmere sweater.

By all means read this book, as it is socially, culturally and chronologically very important, but, please, do not bestow it with a classic status it simply does not deserve.

Disappointing, 22 Aug 2006
I finally got found to reading this book recently and I wasn't that impressed. Although Hornby sums up a lot of the experiences of being a football fan well, something doesn't work; he never really gets to the bottom of the pain of defeat (and particularly relegation). OK so he's an Arsenal fan and so he's not experienced this, but this is still a book written resolutely from a successful, big club perspective. This, for me, is the main drawback with the impact of this book; it is only really 'true' to the experiences of a very few fans - those of the elite 6 or 7 perenially successful English football teams. But because its influence was so broad it has been adopted as the standard 'excuse book' for newcomer, fairweather fans.

Fickle football fan, 24 Mar 2006
To be honest, the first few pages had me hooked. When Hornby talks about his childhood support of The Arsenal he described exactly my feelings when I first supported my local club.
From then on I was looking forward to the definitive account of what it really means to be a devoted football fan. From then on I was most awfully disappointed.
The turning point comes quite early on, when he moves from London to Cambridge to take his degree. Having established that he is (in his own eyes)Arsenal's most devoted fan, I'm sure every real fan will be as disgusted as me when he then "Became a Cambridge United fan for three years". I'm afraid, for me at least, all credibility was lost at that point and although I finished the whole book, my feeling was "how can this fickle so-and-so tell ME what I should do to be a true football fan.
Sorry Nick, your book is Unibond League division two.

Great book,, 03 Aug 2008
As a previous reviewer pointed out; this is not a typical hooligan book its a biography of Cass one of the main members of the IFC one of the most famous hooligan gangs of the 70s and 80s.

The book covers his childhood, being a black child adopted by a white couple and raised in an all white area, the racism he encountered as a kid and how his foster parents taught him pride in who he was and to stand up to anyone. The book then goes into how he got hooked up with the IFC and hooked on the violence that went with it.

The many trials he went through, how he went into bouncing post jail time, how he met his future wife and finaly got his life together meeting up with his natural parents back in Jamacia.

Realy interesting read especially his connections with Frank Bruno and Lenny Henry.

Honest book, highly recomended.

an interesting story, 03 Aug 2008
cass pennant has an interesting life story and this book is a good read for that reason alone. unfortunately as with many autobiographies from the criminal world, the author can't resist the temptation to paint himself as the misunderstood good guy, which is quite a difficult task for somebody who openly admits to knives and axes being his weapons of choice. enjoy the story but remember who's writing it.

No hype..., 17 Jan 2008
Forget the rose-tinted reverse view of the numerous football "offs" where a tiny group of invincible ICF members saw off thousands of opposition lads, and the selective memory of the farcical "You have just met the ICF" football-factory fiction - being present at several of the incidents described in that book I can only say that my recollection differs to such a degree that maybe I came up against a different WHU firm with the same name?

What sets this title apart from the usual ICF dross is that it actually gives an insight into the man rather than the self-publicising industry that Cass Pennant has become.

This is a well written and well edited biography of Cass the person presented without comment, blame, sensationalism, rancour, or bitterness.
- in particular the account of the Sheffield stabbing, his subsequent inprisonment and eventual release, with the devastating psychological effect on Cass is superbly insightful, sympathetically written, and factually presented.

There is also an excellent profile of the times and culture of the Club Scene in London, with many glimpses of the dark side of Door Management, plus a honest look at the drug and alcohol induced excesses perpetrated by both customers and security staff at many venues.

The final chapter appears to be both an ending and a beginning for Cass Pennant, and the whole book is uncomfortable yet fascinating reading, mainly due the factual presentation and lack of sensationalism.

If you are going to buy or read just one book on Cass Pennant then this should be it - highly recommended.

Don't bother with disclaimers, 05 Sep 2006
Why bother with the disclaimer that books like this are not meant to glamourise football violence? You know it's a pretense. What this book serves up, like the others, are exciting stories of rucks and rows which serve as testosterone cocktails for emasculated office boys grown up in an era of political correctness and close-circuit TVs. Football hooligans caused misery and fear - that's the truth. And then when they "turn their life around" they want credit. Well, listen my friends - here's some news - you're not meant to go on the rampage and terrify innocent folk, you're not meant to get banged up, you're not meant to incite violence. So don't try to earn credit when you start living a normal life. This recent fascination with hard men is sad. There's a lot of insecure men out there if this stuff sells so well.

Cass is a true great, 05 Jan 2006
I brought this book whilst waiting at the airport and i can safely say it is one of the best books i have ever brought. I think that Cass is slightly different to all the other hooligan books as it contains personal stuff about his life and i have a great repect for that. also the way he helped frank bruno is something else. i would say that this book is for anyone who is a fan of football. all i can say is that the book is gripping and you really understand this guys life

Boring Boring Boring...., 30 Sep 2008
I brought this book based on the reviews on this site. I have to admit its dreadful! It's incredibly patronising. The author treats the reader like they are unaware of certain events of the past 20 years (1990 World Cup being one prime example) skims over certain events and tells stories about moments in his life that are so dull (such as drinking cider prior to games, getting lifts from his Dad on the North Circular).

The match reports too are very boring - where is the wit and the charm?

There is no real development throughout - each chapter is like the last. I'm half-way through and cannot be bothered to complete.

I can't understand why people have given this 5 stars - maybe they are pals of Oliver!

Highly recommended, 05 Mar 2008
This is a really honest account of being a Spurs supporter during a time when I started going to games myself. It contains good descriptions of some of the key games for the club since the late 80s but also games important to the author for his own personal reasons. As a match-goer myself over this period, I felt I could really relate to the book and it was good to relive some of my own memories along the way. Would recommend. James



Great footie read, 03 Dec 2007
A thoroughly enjoyable read. Would strongly recommend to all football fans, not just of Tottenham. I'm sure they will be able to relate to the highs and lows that following your team entails...these moments are really well described by Oliver Wright in this book.
Also think it would make a great read for those that have never been to an English football game, as Oliver paints a great picture of the sights and sounds of a typical matchday.

Buy this book, 27 Nov 2007
Having been quite sceptical at the idea of this book I am pleasantly surprised. Even though I'm not a football fan I found this a very enjoyable read and would thoroughly recommend it to anyone. It's not just about football but relates to the highs and lows of life as well. I look forward to reading more from this aspriing author

Glory Glory Tottenham Hotspur!, 26 Nov 2007
"From the Lane" is a well-written and warming account of the frustrations of supporting Tottenham Hotspur over the past two decades. Its from the perspective of loyal fan who stayed true to his club through thick and thin. Rather than attemping to cover a unique aspect of football this book is a real story of life at the lane with all its highs and lows! I recommend this book to anyone who grew up in the 80s and 90s with a genuine love the beautiful game.

Walk on, 15 Jul 2008
If you enjoy reading about Liverpool then this will occupy a few hours and stimulate your memory of those glory nights at Anfield and the beer fuelled European trips that followed them. I`m a season ticket holder, love to watch Liverpool and love to read about them too. If you like thriller stories then try Soft Target by Conrad Jones, football and terrorism set in Liverpool, its shocking. Back to this one though,Seven European Cup finals. Seven fans. Seven amazing adventures following the team they love. This book celebrates the achievements of Liverpool FC in Europe, and in particular a love affair with Old Big Ears - the European Cup. It's an ongoing affair that began with the legendary and, in those days, unprecedented exodus of 30,000 Liverpool fans to Rome in 1977, has taken in the glories of Paris and Istanbul, endured the horror of Brussels, and still burns as brightly today with Athens 2007, just the latest staging post of Liverpool's trans-European express. Above all, Here We Go Gathering Cups In May tells of the bond between a club and its fans: the lengths those fans will go to in order to be there at the final to cheer on their team, vivid accounts of what happened along the way, their escapades in some of Europe's iconic capitals, and their recollections of those historic nights - nights of glory and, sometimes, nights of tragedy.



good as it gets, 03 Feb 2008
This is about as good as a footy book gets - players, managers and directors come and go, but the fanatical supporters live lives through their alliegance to one football team.

In these pages the message reads loud and clear: I love football, I love Liverpool and I love having a laugh

Brilliant

Brings back the memories, 29 Sep 2007
Well what stories and what memories. I was there at all seven and hope to live long enough to see seven more. The book covers all aspects of being a true Red. A little crazy, a little ingenious and a whole lot of passion.

A must for all Liverpool fans, 06 Sep 2007
This is a fantastic book. It's been overdue, a brilliant account by 7 genuine fans who make you feel as if you were there with the boys in red at some of the greatest moments in Liverpool's history.



Might be the best book ever dealing with football, 23 Jul 2008
Nick Hornby's warm autobiographical book deals with his life as a football fan from 1968 (when he was a teenager) until 1992, especifically as he supported his beloved Arsenal during that time. There's some good insights about football culture (for a true football fan, football is not really an entertainment, a concept that is probably hard to understand in the US, where sports are just a part of the entertainment business) as well as football tactics (there are few good passers in the sports, he says, as hard as this might be to believe to outsiders; Liam Brady, one of his favorite players, was that rare player, a great passer). Each of the chapters (so to call them) deals with a particular football match that he remembers during that period. And along football, he also makes comments on his relationships, be it with his family or with girlfriends. What Hornby tells is the story of English football in his last throes, a time when hooliganism ruled, but when it also was a genuine, integral pastime of the English people. When the Premiere League was established (in 1992, the year this book ends), and the megamoney and the huge tv contracts came along, and some clubs (like, say, Arsenal) did not put in the field a single English player, it became more of a commercial business and less of a cultural phenomenon. And while I like football, it's hard not to come out from reading this book with the impression that being a football fan at the level Hornby was is not a colossal waste of time.

Unique and interesting., 02 Jan 2008
'Fever Pitch' is an interesting and captivating book, I recently read it and would read it again. I am not a football fan but came closer to understand what it feels like to be one, which was very insightful - you needn't be into football to enjoy this book because football is only the backdrop to discussing relationships and issues in life.

The Pandora's box was open...., 12 Sep 2007
This was it, the book that opened up the floodgates for "footie" to become the supposed obsession of the chattering classes. All over Hampstead, Notting Hill and Camden middle-class, Grammar-school educated chaps like Nick Hornby were suddenly given wings, free to fly everywhere expressing the love for "the beautiful game" that previously had dare not speak its name for fear of inspiring dinner-party sneers. The media was thus annoyingly overrun by David Baddiel types who previously had not given a damn about football. What had previously been a sport for the genuine working class, lower middle class office workers and a few crazed public school eccentric maths masters was depressingly hijacked by Jeremys, Edmunds, Rachels and Sophies everywhere. This was all down to Nick Hornby and his accursed book.

Not that it is bad first offering from a writer who has now become the virtual personification of the North London "metrosexual" new man, dressed in his shoe-style Doc Martens and skinny black jeans, his prematurely balding hair close shaven to avoid a "comb-over" and just as happy to change nappies as he is to sink a pint of best. It is just so indulgent, so self-obsessed, so (at times) smug. It is as if Hornby is constantly telling his audience "look at me, I'm educated, middle-class, articulate, literate, yet my passion is football - how cool is THAT ?".

Many of Hornby's reminiscences are bona fide and certainly strike a chord with someone such as myself who is of exactly the same generation and background. However, it is extremely irritating to read of Hornby's self-glorified schoolboy/student encounters with a seeming string of fragrant home counties university girls. Again, it is a ham-fisted way of Hornby saying that not only was he the salt of the earth but he couldn't half pull posh totty as well. Yes, Nick, we know you've had a few girlfriends, most of us have, but really, we're not actually interested in "Carol Blackburn" or whether or not she let you under her cream cashmere sweater.

By all means read this book, as it is socially, culturally and chronologically very important, but, please, do not bestow it with a classic status it simply does not deserve.

Disappointing, 22 Aug 2006
I finally got found to reading this book recently and I wasn't that impressed. Although Hornby sums up a lot of the experiences of being a football fan well, something doesn't work; he never really gets to the bottom of the pain of defeat (and particularly relegation). OK so he's an Arsenal fan and so he's not experienced this, but this is still a book written resolutely from a successful, big club perspective. This, for me, is the main drawback with the impact of this book; it is only really 'true' to the experiences of a very few fans - those of the elite 6 or 7 perenially successful English football teams. But because its influence was so broad it has been adopted as the standard 'excuse book' for newcomer, fairweather fans.

Fickle football fan, 24 Mar 2006
To be honest, the first few pages had me hooked. When Hornby talks about his childhood support of The Arsenal he described exactly my feelings when I first supported my local club.
From then on I was looking forward to the definitive account of what it really means to be a devoted football fan. From then on I was most awfully disappointed.
The turning point comes quite early on, when he moves from London to Cambridge to take his degree. Having established that he is (in his own eyes)Arsenal's most devoted fan, I'm sure every real fan will be as disgusted as me when he then "Became a Cambridge United fan for three years". I'm afraid, for me at least, all credibility was lost at that point and although I finished the whole book, my feeling was "how can this fickle so-and-so tell ME what I should do to be a true football fan.
Sorry Nick, your book is Unibond League division two.

Great book,, 03 Aug 2008
As a previous reviewer pointed out; this is not a typical hooligan book its a biography of Cass one of the main members of the IFC one of the most famous hooligan gangs of the 70s and 80s.

The book covers his childhood, being a black child adopted by a white couple and raised in an all white area, the racism he encountered as a kid and how his foster parents taught him pride in who he was and to stand up to anyone. The book then goes into how he got hooked up with the IFC and hooked on the violence that went with it.

The many trials he went through, how he went into bouncing post jail time, how he met his future wife and finaly got his life together meeting up with his natural parents back in Jamacia.

Realy interesting read especially his connections with Frank Bruno and Lenny Henry.

Honest book, highly recomended.

an interesting story, 03 Aug 2008
cass pennant has an interesting life story and this book is a good read for that reason alone. unfortunately as with many autobiographies from the criminal world, the author can't resist the temptation to paint himself as the misunderstood good guy, which is quite a difficult task for somebody who openly admits to knives and axes being his weapons of choice. enjoy the story but remember who's writing it.

No hype..., 17 Jan 2008
Forget the rose-tinted reverse view of the numerous football "offs" where a tiny group of invincible ICF members saw off thousands of opposition lads, and the selective memory of the farcical "You have just met the ICF" football-factory fiction - being present at several of the incidents described in that book I can only say that my recollection differs to such a degree that maybe I came up against a different WHU firm with the same name?

What sets this title apart from the usual ICF dross is that it actually gives an insight into the man rather than the self-publicising industry that Cass Pennant has become.

This is a well written and well edited biography of Cass the person presented without comment, blame, sensationalism, rancour, or bitterness.
- in particular the account of the Sheffield stabbing, his subsequent inprisonment and eventual release, with the devastating psychological effect on Cass is superbly insightful, sympathetically written, and factually presented.

There is also an excellent profile of the times and culture of the Club Scene in London, with many glimpses of the dark side of Door Management, plus a honest look at the drug and alcohol induced excesses perpetrated by both customers and security staff at many venues.

The final chapter appears to be both an ending and a beginning for Cass Pennant, and the whole book is uncomfortable yet fascinating reading, mainly due the factual presentation and lack of sensationalism.

If you are going to buy or read just one book on Cass Pennant then this should be it - highly recommended.

Don't bother with disclaimers, 05 Sep 2006
Why bother with the disclaimer that books like this are not meant to glamourise football violence? You know it's a pretense. What this book serves up, like the others, are exciting stories of rucks and rows which serve as testosterone cocktails for emasculated office boys grown up in an era of political correctness and close-circuit TVs. Football hooligans caused misery and fear - that's the truth. And then when they "turn their life around" they want credit. Well, listen my friends - here's some news - you're not meant to go on the rampage and terrify innocent folk, you're not meant to get banged up, you're not meant to incite violence. So don't try to earn credit when you start living a normal life. This recent fascination with hard men is sad. There's a lot of insecure men out there if this stuff sells so well.

Cass is a true great, 05 Jan 2006
I brought this book whilst waiting at the airport and i can safely say it is one of the best books i have ever brought. I think that Cass is slightly different to all the other hooligan books as it contains personal stuff about his life and i have a great repect for that. also the way he helped frank bruno is something else. i would say that this book is for anyone who is a fan of football. all i can say is that the book is gripping and you really understand this guys life

Boring Boring Boring...., 30 Sep 2008
I brought this book based on the reviews on this site. I have to admit its dreadful! It's incredibly patronising. The author treats the reader like they are unaware of certain events of the past 20 years (1990 World Cup being one prime example) skims over certain events and tells stories about moments in his life that are so dull (such as drinking cider prior to games, getting lifts from his Dad on the North Circular).

The match reports too are very boring - where is the wit and the charm?

There is no real development throughout - each chapter is like the last. I'm half-way through and cannot be bothered to complete.

I can't understand why people have given this 5 stars - maybe they are pals of Oliver!

Highly recommended, 05 Mar 2008
This is a really honest account of being a Spurs supporter during a time when I started going to games myself. It contains good descriptions of some of the key games for the club since the late 80s but also games important to the author for his own personal reasons. As a match-goer myself over this period, I felt I could really relate to the book and it was good to relive some of my own memories along the way. Would recommend. James



Great footie read, 03 Dec 2007
A thoroughly enjoyable read. Would strongly recommend to all football fans, not just of Tottenham. I'm sure they will be able to relate to the highs and lows that following your team entails...these moments are really well described by Oliver Wright in this book.
Also think it would make a great read for those that have never been to an English football game, as Oliver paints a great picture of the sights and sounds of a typical matchday.

Buy this book, 27 Nov 2007
Having been quite sceptical at the idea of this book I am pleasantly surprised. Even though I'm not a football fan I found this a very enjoyable read and would thoroughly recommend it to anyone. It's not just about football but relates to the highs and lows of life as well. I look forward to reading more from this aspriing author

Glory Glory Tottenham Hotspur!, 26 Nov 2007
"From the Lane" is a well-written and warming account of the frustrations of supporting Tottenham Hotspur over the past two decades. Its from the perspective of loyal fan who stayed true to his club through thick and thin. Rather than attemping to cover a unique aspect of football this book is a real story of life at the lane with all its highs and lows! I recommend this book to anyone who grew up in the 80s and 90s with a genuine love the beautiful game.

For When "Casual" Meant Oneupmanship., 05 Oct 2008
If you were a Casual back in the day then you will read this with a wry smile combined with the occasional "did we really wear that?"

If you are a young Casual now this should be read as to understand the roots of the movement. You never know, you might actually discover that wearing a Clone Island jumper doesn't make you a Casual.

I actually think Thornton has got it pretty much spot on.

This book is the business, 22 Feb 2008
This book is brilliant ,if you were there in the 80's you will love this.
Not usual rubbish really interesting well presented and well written.
Goes on about the fashion , the football violence and the music.
You could really relate to the author and the people written about in this book.

Nice Memories of Clothing and 80s Music - Little else..., 08 Jul 2006
If you want to hear about rucks - don't bother. The book is more about clothes/labels and 80s music rather than the infamous clashes. Still is kinda interesting though.

Plenty of quotes from ex-casuals. Not sure how accurate they are -
The ones from Scotland - in particular by hibs appear innacurate.

However does bring back some memories of your old wardrobe- Lacoste T shirt and Pringle Jumper etc with up to date modern day stuff also discussed - Stone Island, One True Saxon etc

Talks about regional variances in clothing also.

Still remember going out in Edinburgh with Arman Basi top on. Happy days indeed.

And then came the casuals..., 20 May 2005
Skinheads, punks, mods, rudies, soulboys, psychobillies - things were complicated for a while back there in the late seventies as Britain's subcultural underground fractured into a myriad of often mutually antagonistic youth cults, each defined by what they wore, what they danced to, where they went.

And then came the casuals, and nothing was quite the same again as the soulboy look combined with European sportswear and the exploding football hooli scene to create a subcult that was to dominate working class, British male culture from the early 80's to the current day. Phil Thornton's book traces Casual Culture from Victorian times onwards, and does so with the insight of someone who was there and the pace of someone not up for getting too bogged down in quasi-sociological wiffle. A good read.

Long forgotton gems, 25 Nov 2004
I Bought this book to show somebody the coat I once owned (front cover)A journey through fashion like we'd never seen before. Top Top Top read If you were there, wore it and are still wearing it then this book is for you. If you were never there but are a clone islander then buy it to see where you look came from.

Walk on, 15 Jul 2008
If you enjoy reading about Liverpool then this will occupy a few hours and stimulate your memory of those glory nights at Anfield and the beer fuelled European trips that followed them. I`m a season ticket holder, love to watch Liverpool and love to read about them too. If you like thriller stories then try Soft Target by Conrad Jones, football and terrorism set in Liverpool, its shocking. Back to this one though,Seven European Cup finals. Seven fans. Seven amazing adventures following the team they love. This book celebrates the achievements of Liverpool FC in Europe, and in particular a love affair with Old Big Ears - the European Cup. It's an ongoing affair that began with the legendary and, in those days, unprecedented exodus of 30,000 Liverpool fans to Rome in 1977, has taken in the glories of Paris and Istanbul, endured the horror of Brussels, and still burns as brightly today with Athens 2007, just the latest staging post of Liverpool's trans-European express. Above all, Here We Go Gathering Cups In May tells of the bond between a club and its fans: the lengths those fans will go to in order to be there at the final to cheer on their team, vivid accounts of what happened along the way, their escapades in some of Europe's iconic capitals, and their recollections of those historic nights - nights of glory and, sometimes, nights of tragedy.



good as it gets, 03 Feb 2008
This is about as good as a footy book gets - players, managers and directors come and go, but the fanatical supporters live lives through their alliegance to one football team.

In these pages the message reads loud and clear: I love football, I love Liverpool and I love having a laugh

Brilliant

Brings back the memories, 29 Sep 2007
Well what stories and what memories. I was there at all seven and hope to live long enough to see seven more. The book covers all aspects of being a true Red. A little crazy, a little ingenious and a whole lot of passion.

A must for all Liverpool fans, 06 Sep 2007
This is a fantastic book. It's been overdue, a brilliant account by 7 genuine fans who make you feel as if you were there with the boys in red at some of the greatest moments in Liverpool's history.



Might be the best book ever dealing with football, 23 Jul 2008
Nick Hornby's warm autobiographical book deals with his life as a football fan from 1968 (when he was a teenager) until 1992, especifically as he supported his beloved Arsenal during that time. There's some good insights about football culture (for a true football fan, football is not really an entertainment, a concept that is probably hard to understand in the US, where sports are just a part of the entertainment business) as well as football tactics (there are few good passers in the sports, he says, as hard as this might be to believe to outsiders; Liam Brady, one of his favorite players, was that rare player, a great passer). Each of the chapters (so to call them) deals with a particular football match that he remembers during that period. And along football, he also makes comments on his relationships, be it with his family or with girlfriends. What Hornby tells is the story of English football in his last throes, a time when hooliganism ruled, but when it also was a genuine, integral pastime of the English people. When the Premiere League was established (in 1992, the year this book ends), and the megamoney and the huge tv contracts came along, and some clubs (like, say, Arsenal) did not put in the field a single English player, it became more of a commercial business and less of a cultural phenomenon. And while I like football, it's hard not to come out from reading this book with the impression that being a football fan at the level Hornby was is not a colossal waste of time.

Unique and interesting., 02 Jan 2008
'Fever Pitch' is an interesting and captivating book, I recently read it and would read it again. I am not a football fan but came closer to understand what it feels like to be one, which was very insightful - you needn't be into football to enjoy this book because football is only the backdrop to discussing relationships and issues in life.

The Pandora's box was open...., 12 Sep 2007
This was it, the book that opened up the floodgates for "footie" to become the supposed obsession of the chattering classes. All over Hampstead, Notting Hill and Camden middle-class, Grammar-school educated chaps like Nick Hornby were suddenly given wings, free to fly everywhere expressing the love for "the beautiful game" that previously had dare not speak its name for fear of inspiring dinner-party sneers. The media was thus annoyingly overrun by David Baddiel types who previously had not given a damn about football. What had previously been a sport for the genuine working class, lower middle class office workers and a few crazed public school eccentric maths masters was depressingly hijacked by Jeremys, Edmunds, Rachels and Sophies everywhere. This was all down to Nick Hornby and his accursed book.

Not that it is bad first offering from a writer who has now become the virtual personification of the North London "metrosexual" new man, dressed in his shoe-style Doc Martens and skinny black jeans, his prematurely balding hair close shaven to avoid a "comb-over" and just as happy to change nappies as he is to sink a pint of best. It is just so indulgent, so self-obsessed, so (at times) smug. It is as if Hornby is constantly telling his audience "look at me, I'm educated, middle-class, articulate, literate, yet my passion is football - how cool is THAT ?".

Many of Hornby's reminiscences are bona fide and certainly strike a chord with someone such as myself who is of exactly the same generation and background. However, it is extremely irritating to read of Hornby's self-glorified schoolboy/student encounters with a seeming string of fragrant home counties university girls. Again, it is a ham-fisted way of Hornby saying that not only was he the salt of the earth but he couldn't half pull posh totty as well. Yes, Nick, we know you've had a few girlfriends, most of us have, but really, we're not actually interested in "Carol Blackburn" or whether or not she let you under her cream cashmere sweater.

By all means read this book, as it is socially, culturally and chronologically very important, but, please, do not bestow it with a classic status it simply does not deserve.

Disappointing, 22 Aug 2006
I finally got found to reading this book recently and I wasn't that impressed. Although Hornby sums up a lot of the experiences of being a football fan well, something doesn't work; he never really gets to the bottom of the pain of defeat (and particularly relegation). OK so he's an Arsenal fan and so he's not experienced this, but this is still a book written resolutely from a successful, big club perspective. This, for me, is the main drawback with the impact of this book; it is only really 'true' to the experiences of a very few fans - those of the elite 6 or 7 perenially successful English football teams. But because its influence was so broad it has been adopted as the standard 'excuse book' for newcomer, fairweather fans.

Fickle football fan, 24 Mar 2006
To be honest, the first few pages had me hooked. When Hornby talks about his childhood support of The Arsenal he described exactly my feelings when I first supported my local club.
From then on I was looking forward to the definitive account of what it really means to be a devoted football fan. From then on I was most awfully disappointed.
The turning point comes quite early on, when he moves from London to Cambridge to take his degree. Having established that he is (in his own eyes)Arsenal's most devoted fan, I'm sure every real fan will be as disgusted as me when he then "Became a Cambridge United fan for three years". I'm afraid, for me at least, all credibility was lost at that point and although I finished the whole book, my feeling was "how can this fickle so-and-so tell ME what I should do to be a true football fan.
Sorry Nick, your book is Unibond League division two.

Great book,, 03 Aug 2008
As a previous reviewer pointed out; this is not a typical hooligan book its a biography of Cass one of the main members of the IFC one of the most famous hooligan gangs of the 70s and 80s.

The book covers his childhood, being a black child adopted by a white couple and raised in an all white area, the racism he encountered as a kid and how his foster parents taught him pride in who he was and to stand up to anyone. The book then goes into how he got hooked up with the IFC and hooked on the violence that went with it.

The many trials he went through, how he went into bouncing post jail time, how he met his future wife and finaly got his life together meeting up with his natural parents back in Jamacia.

Realy interesting read especially his connections with Frank Bruno and Lenny Henry.

Honest book, highly recomended.

an interesting story, 03 Aug 2008
cass pennant has an interesting life story and this book is a good read for that reason alone. unfortunately as with many autobiographies from the criminal world, the author can't resist the temptation to paint himself as the misunderstood good guy, which is quite a difficult task for somebody who openly admits to knives and axes being his weapons of choice. enjoy the story but remember who's writing it.

No hype..., 17 Jan 2008
Forget the rose-tinted reverse view of the numerous football "offs" where a tiny group of invincible ICF members saw off thousands of opposition lads, and the selective memory of the farcical "You have just met the ICF" football-factory fiction - being present at several of the incidents described in that book I can only say that my recollection differs to such a degree that maybe I came up against a different WHU firm with the same name?

What sets this title apart from the usual ICF dross is that it actually gives an insight into the man rather than the self-publicising industry that Cass Pennant has become.

This is a well written and well edited biography of Cass the person presented without comment, blame, sensationalism, rancour, or bitterness.
- in particular the account of the Sheffield stabbing, his subsequent inprisonment and eventual release, with the devastating psychological effect on Cass is superbly insightful, sympathetically written, and factually presented.

There is also an excellent profile of the times and culture of the Club Scene in London, with many glimpses of the dark side of Door Management, plus a honest look at the drug and alcohol induced excesses perpetrated by both customers and security staff at many venues.

The final chapter appears to be both an ending and a beginning for Cass Pennant, and the whole book is uncomfortable yet fascinating reading, mainly due the factual presentation and lack of sensationalism.

If you are going to buy or read just one book on Cass Pennant then this should be it - highly recommended.

Don't bother with disclaimers, 05 Sep 2006
Why bother with the disclaimer that books like this are not meant to glamourise football violence? You know it's a pretense. What this book serves up, like the others, are exciting stories of rucks and rows which serve as testosterone cocktails for emasculated office boys grown up in an era of political correctness and close-circuit TVs. Football hooligans caused misery and fear - that's the truth. And then when they "turn their life around" they want credit. Well, listen my friends - here's some news - you're not meant to go on the rampage and terrify innocent folk, you're not meant to get banged up, you're not meant to incite violence. So don't try to earn credit when you start living a normal life. This recent fascination with hard men is sad. There's a lot of insecure men out there if this stuff sells so well.

Cass is a true great, 05 Jan 2006
I brought this book whilst waiting at the airport and i can safely say it is one of the best books i have ever brought. I think that Cass is slightly different to all the other hooligan books as it contains personal stuff about his life and i have a great repect for that. also the way he helped frank bruno is something else. i would say that this book is for anyone who is a fan of football. all i can say is that the book is gripping and you really understand this guys life

Boring Boring Boring...., 30 Sep 2008
I brought this book based on the reviews on this site. I have to admit its dreadful! It's incredibly patronising. The author treats the reader like they are unaware of certain events of the past 20 years (1990 World Cup being one prime example) skims over certain events and tells stories about moments in his life that are so dull (such as drinking cider prior to games, getting lifts from his Dad on the North Circular).

The match reports too are very boring - where is the wit and the charm?

There is no real development throughout - each chapter is like the last. I'm half-way through and cannot be bothered to complete.

I can't understand why people have given this 5 stars - maybe they are pals of Oliver!

Highly recommended, 05 Mar 2008
This is a really honest account of being a Spurs supporter during a time when I started going to games myself. It contains good descriptions of some of the key games for the club since the late 80s but also games important to the author for his own personal reasons. As a match-goer myself over this period, I felt I could really relate to the book and it was good to relive some of my own memories along the way. Would recommend. James



Great footie read, 03 Dec 2007
A thoroughly enjoyable read. Would strongly recommend to all football fans, not just of Tottenham. I'm sure they will be able to relate to the highs and lows that following your team entails...these moments are really well described by Oliver Wright in this book.
Also think it would make a great read for those that have never been to an English football game, as Oliver paints a great picture of the sights and sounds of a typical matchday.

Buy this book, 27 Nov 2007
Having been quite sceptical at the idea of this book I am pleasantly surprised. Even though I'm not a football fan I found this a very enjoyable read and would thoroughly recommend it to anyone. It's not just about football but relates to the highs and lows of life as well. I look forward to reading more from this aspriing author

Glory Glory Tottenham Hotspur!, 26 Nov 2007
"From the Lane" is a well-written and warming account of the frustrations of supporting Tottenham Hotspur over the past two decades. Its from the perspective of loyal fan who stayed true to his club through thick and thin. Rather than attemping to cover a unique aspect of football this book is a real story of life at the lane with all its highs and lows! I recommend this book to anyone who grew up in the 80s and 90s with a genuine love the beautiful game.

For When "Casual" Meant Oneupmanship., 05 Oct 2008
If you were a Casual back in the day then you will read this with a wry smile combined with the occasional "did we really wear that?"

If you are a young Casual now this should be read as to understand the roots of the movement. You never know, you might actually discover that wearing a Clone Island jumper doesn't make you a Casual.

I actually think Thornton has got it pretty much spot on.

This book is the business, 22 Feb 2008
This book is brilliant ,if you were there in the 80's you will love this.
Not usual rubbish really interesting well presented and well written.
Goes on about the fashion , the football violence and the music.
You could really relate to the author and the people written about in this book.

Nice Memories of Clothing and 80s Music - Little else..., 08 Jul 2006
If you want to hear about rucks - don't bother. The book is more about clothes/labels and 80s music rather than the infamous clashes. Still is kinda interesting though.

Plenty of quotes from ex-casuals. Not sure how accurate they are -
The ones from Scotland - in particular by hibs appear innacurate.

However does bring back some memories of your old wardrobe- Lacoste T shirt and Pringle Jumper etc with up to date modern day stuff also discussed - Stone Island, One True Saxon etc

Talks about regional variances in clothing also.

Still remember going out in Edinburgh with Arman Basi top on. Happy days indeed.

And then came the casuals..., 20 May 2005
Skinheads, punks, mods, rudies, soulboys, psychobillies - things were complicated for a while back there in the late seventies as Britain's subcultural underground fractured into a myriad of often mutually antagonistic youth cults, each defined by what they wore, what they danced to, where they went.

And then came the casuals, and nothing was quite the same again as the soulboy look combined with European sportswear and the exploding football hooli scene to create a subcult that was to dominate working class, British male culture from the early 80's to the current day. Phil Thornton's book traces Casual Culture from Victorian times onwards, and does so with the insight of someone who was there and the pace of someone not up for getting too bogged down in quasi-sociological wiffle. A good read.

Long forgotton gems, 25 Nov 2004
I Bought this book to show somebody the coat I once owned (front cover)A journey through fashion like we'd never seen before. Top Top Top read If you were there, wore it and are still wearing it then this book is for you. If you were never there but are a clone islander then buy it to see where you look came from.

Steady read , 15 Apr 2008
Not the best hooligan book did not grip me , his first book Red Army General is good, better than Men in Black.

what a load of rubbish, 15 Jan 2008
This was by far the worst book i have read on this subject. Tony O'neil must be the hardest man in the world .What a load of rubbish dont buy this book boring rubbish.

All hype no backbone, 15 Mar 2006
This book is a massive dissapiontment. Badly written and many truths and facts ignored it simply does not do justice to either Tony or his ghost writer. There are far more honest and better written books out there if this dark side of the football game intrests you.
As for this book however I suggest you save your money and support the team in a more benificial capacity.
Very poor.

2 Books both read in a day!!!, 04 Jan 2006
A TOP YARN. Both books superb! This man is legend at united.

Stick to euro travel, 03 Jan 2006
Hugely dissapointing and does The Men in Black no justice.
O'Neil is a game bloke yes we all know that, what we also know is that he has not put this together as well as it should be. Very little mention of the true leader of the MIB's means that those In The Know will have the autor, or Tony's ghost writer down as stuck up there own behind.This should have been the book to put the record straight, it just gives the Mickey's and London firms the right to laugh at the Super Firm image O'Neil likes us to believe he was part of.
He was not the person keeping it together as he was banged up!

Walk on, 15 Jul 2008
If you enjoy reading about Liverpool then this will occupy a few hours and stimulate your memory of those glory nights at Anfield and the beer fuelled European trips that followed them. I`m a season ticket holder, love to watch Liverpool and love to read about them too. If you like thriller stories then try Soft Target by Conrad Jones, football and terrorism set in Liverpool, its shocking. Back to this one though,Seven European Cup finals. Seven fans. Seven amazing adventures following the team they love. This book celebrates the achievements of Liverpool FC in Europe, and in particular a love affair with Old Big Ears - the European Cup. It's an ongoing affair that began with the legendary and, in those days, unprecedented exodus of 30,000 Liverpool fans to Rome in 1977, has taken in the glories of Paris and Istanbul, endured the horror of Brussels, and still burns as brightly today with Athens 2007, just the latest staging post of Liverpool's trans-European express. Above all, Here We Go Gathering Cups In May tells of the bond between a club and its fans: the lengths those fans will go to in order to be there at the final to cheer on their team, vivid accounts of what happened along the way, their escapades in some of Europe's iconic capitals, and their recollections of those historic nights - nights of glory and, sometimes, nights of tragedy.



good as it gets, 03 Feb 2008
This is about as good as a footy book gets - players, managers and directors come and go, but the fanatical supporters live lives through their alliegance to one football team.

In these pages the message reads loud and clear: I love football, I love Liverpool and I love having a laugh

Brilliant

Brings back the memories, 29 Sep 2007
Well what stories and what memories. I was there at all seven and hope to live long enough to see seven more. The book covers all aspects of being a true Red. A little crazy, a little ingenious and a whole lot of passion.

A must for all Liverpool fans, 06 Sep 2007
This is a fantastic book. It's been overdue, a brilliant account by 7 genuine fans who make you feel as if you were there with the boys in red at some of the greatest moments in Liverpool's history.



Might be the best book ever dealing with football, 23 Jul 2008
Nick Hornby's warm autobiographical book deals with his life as a football fan from 1968 (when he was a teenager) until 1992, especifically as he supported his beloved Arsenal during that time. There's some good insights about football culture (for a true football fan, football is not really an entertainment, a concept that is probably hard to understand in the US, where sports are just a part of the entertainment business) as well as football tactics (there are few good passers in the sports, he says, as hard as this might be to believe to outsiders; Liam Brady, one of his favorite players, was that rare player, a great passer). Each of the chapters (so to call them) deals with a particular football match that he remembers during that period. And along football, he also makes comments on his relationships, be it with his family or with girlfriends. What Hornby tells is the story of English football in his last throes, a time when hooliganism ruled, but when it also was a genuine, integral pastime of the English people. When the Premiere League was established (in 1992, the year this book ends), and the megamoney and the huge tv contracts came along, and some clubs (like, say, Arsenal) did not put in the field a single English player, it became more of a commercial business and less of a cultural phenomenon. And while I like football, it's hard not to come out from reading this book with the impression that being a football fan at the level Hornby was is not a colossal waste of time.

Unique and interesting., 02 Jan 2008
'Fever Pitch' is an interesting and captivating book, I recently read it and would read it again. I am not a football fan but came closer to understand what it feels like to be one, which was very insightful - you needn't be into football to enjoy this book because football is only the backdrop to discussing relationships and issues in life.

The Pandora's box was open...., 12 Sep 2007
This was it, the book that opened up the floodgates for "footie" to become the supposed obsession of the chattering classes. All over Hampstead, Notting Hill and Camden middle-class, Grammar-school educated chaps like Nick Hornby were suddenly given wings, free to fly everywhere expressing the love for "the beautiful game" that previously had dare not speak its name for fear of inspiring dinner-party sneers. The media was thus annoyingly overrun by David Baddiel types who previously had not given a damn about football. What had previously been a sport for the genuine working class, lower middle class office workers and a few crazed public school eccentric maths masters was depressingly hijacked by Jeremys, Edmunds, Rachels and Sophies everywhere. This was all down to Nick Hornby and his accursed book.

Not that it is bad first offering from a writer who has now become the virtual personification of the North London "metrosexual" new man, dressed in his shoe-style Doc Martens and skinny black jeans, his prematurely balding hair close shaven to avoid a "comb-over" and just as happy to change nappies as he is to sink a pint of best. It is just so indulgent, so self-obsessed, so (at times) smug. It is as if Hornby is constantly telling his audience "look at me, I'm educated, middle-class, articulate, literate, yet my passion is football - how cool is THAT ?".

Many of Hornby's reminiscences are bona fide and certainly strike a chord with someone such as myself who is of exactly the same generation and background. However, it is extremely irritating to read of Hornby's self-glorified schoolboy/student encounters with a seeming string of fragrant home counties university girls. Again, it is a ham-fisted way of Hornby saying that not only was he the salt of the earth but he couldn't half pull posh totty as well. Yes, Nick, we know you've had a few girlfriends, most of us have, but really, we're not actually interested in "Carol Blackburn" or whether or not she let you under her cream cashmere sweater.

By all means read this book, as it is socially, culturally and chronologically very important, but, please, do not bestow it with a classic status it simply does not deserve.

Disappointing, 22 Aug 2006
I finally got found to reading this book recently and I wasn't that impressed. Although Hornby sums up a lot of the experiences of being a football fan well, something doesn't work; he never really gets to the bottom of the pain of defeat (and particularly relegation). OK so he's an Arsenal fan and so he's not experienced this, but this is still a book written resolutely from a successful, big club perspective. This, for me, is the main drawback with the impact of this book; it is only really 'true' to the experiences of a very few fans - those of the elite 6 or 7 perenially successful English football teams. But because its influence was so broad it has been adopted as the standard 'excuse book' for newcomer, fairweather fans.

Fickle football fan, 24 Mar 2006
To be honest, the first few pages had me hooked. When Hornby talks about his childhood support of The Arsenal he described exactly my feelings when I first supported my local club.
From then on I was looking forward to the definitive account of what it really means to be a devoted football fan. From then on I was most awfully disappointed.
The turning point comes quite early on, when he moves from London to Cambridge to take his degree. Having established that he is (in his own eyes)Arsenal's most devoted fan, I'm sure every real fan will be as disgusted as me when he then "Became a Cambridge United fan for three years". I'm afraid, for me at least, all credibility was lost at that point and although I finished the whole book, my feeling was "how can this fickle so-and-so tell ME what I should do to be a true football fan.
Sorry Nick, your book is Unibond League division two.

Great book,, 03 Aug 2008
As a previous reviewer pointed out; this is not a typical hooligan book its a biography of Cass one of the main members of the IFC one of the most famous hooligan gangs of the 70s and 80s.

The book covers his childhood, being a black child adopted by a white couple and raised in an all white area, the racism he encountered as a kid and how his foster parents taught him pride in who he was and to stand up to anyone. The book then goes into how he got hooked up with the IFC and hooked on the violence that went with it.

The many trials he went through, how he went into bouncing post jail time, how he met his future wife and finaly got his life together meeting up with his natural parents back in Jamacia.

Realy interesting read especially his connections with Frank Bruno and Lenny Henry.

Honest book, highly recomended.

an interesting story, 03 Aug 2008
cass pennant has an interesting life story and this book is a good read for that reason alone. unfortunately as with many autobiographies from the criminal world, the author can't resist the temptation to paint himself as the misunderstood good guy, which is quite a difficult task for somebody who openly admits to knives and axes being his weapons of choice. enjoy the story but remember who's writing it.

No hype..., 17 Jan 2008
Forget the rose-tinted reverse view of the numerous football "offs" where a tiny group of invincible ICF members saw off thousands of opposition lads, and the selective memory of the farcical "You have just met the ICF" football-factory fiction - being present at several of the incidents described in that book I can only say that my recollection differs to such a degree that maybe I came up against a different WHU firm with the same name?

What sets this title apart from the usual ICF dross is that it actually gives an insight into the man rather than the self-publicising industry that Cass Pennant has become.

This is a well written and well edited biography of Cass the person presented without comment, blame, sensationalism, rancour, or bitterness.
- in particular the account of the Sheffield stabbing, his subsequent inprisonment and eventual release, with the devastating psychological effect on Cass is superbly insightful, sympathetically written, and factually presented.

There is also an excellent profile of the times and culture of the Club Scene in London, with many glimpses of the dark side of Door Management, plus a honest look at the drug and alcohol induced excesses perpetrated by both customers and security staff at many venues.

The final chapter appears to be both an ending and a beginning for Cass Pennant, and the whole book is uncomfortable yet fascinating reading, mainly due the factual presentation and lack of sensationalism.

If you are going to buy or read just one book on Cass Pennant then this should be it - highly recommended.

Don't bother with disclaimers, 05 Sep 2006
Why bother with the disclaimer that books like this are not meant to glamourise football violence? You know it's a pretense. What this book serves up, like the others, are exciting stories of rucks and rows which serve as testosterone cocktails for emasculated office boys grown up in an era of political correctness and close-circuit TVs. Football hooligans caused misery and fear - that's the truth. And then when they "turn their life around" they want credit. Well, listen my friends - here's some news - you're not meant to go on the rampage and terrify innocent folk, you're not meant to get banged up, you're not meant to incite violence. So don't try to earn credit when you start living a normal life. This recent fascination with hard men is sad. There's a lot of insecure men out there if this stuff sells so well.

Cass is a true great, 05 Jan 2006
I brought this book whilst waiting at the airport and i can safely say it is one of the best books i have ever brought. I think that Cass is slightly different to all the other hooligan books as it contains personal stuff about his life and i have a great repect for that. also the way he helped frank bruno is something else. i would say that this book is for anyone who is a fan of football. all i can say is that the book is gripping and you really understand this guys life

Boring Boring Boring...., 30 Sep 2008
I brought this book based on the reviews on this site. I have to admit its dreadful! It's incredibly patronising. The author treats the reader like they are unaware of certain events of the past 20 years (1990 World Cup being one prime example) skims over certain events and tells stories about moments in his life that are so dull (such as drinking cider prior to games, getting lifts from his Dad on the North Circular).

The match reports too are very boring - where is the wit and the charm?

There is no real development throughout - each chapter is like the last. I'm half-way through and cannot be bothered to complete.

I can't understand why people have given this 5 stars - maybe they are pals of Oliver!

Highly recommended, 05 Mar 2008
This is a really honest account of being a Spurs supporter during a time when I started going to games myself. It contains good descriptions of some of the key games for the club since the late 80s but also games important to the author for his own personal reasons. As a match-goer myself over this period, I felt I could really relate to the book and it was good to relive some of my own memories along the way. Would recommend. James



Great footie read, 03 Dec 2007
A thoroughly enjoyable read. Would strongly recommend to all football fans, not just of Tottenham. I'm sure they will be able to relate to the highs and lows that following your team entails...these moments are really well described by Oliver Wright in this book.
Also think it would make a great read for those that have never been to an English football game, as Oliver paints a great picture of the sights and sounds of a typical matchday.

Buy this book, 27 Nov 2007
Having been quite sceptical at the idea of this book I am pleasantly surprised. Even though I'm not a football fan I found this a very enjoyable read and would thoroughly recommend it to anyone. It's not just about football but relates to the highs and lows of life as well. I look forward to reading more from this aspriing author

Glory Glory Tottenham Hotspur!, 26 Nov 2007
"From the Lane" is a well-written and warming account of the frustrations of supporting Tottenham Hotspur over the past two decades. Its from the perspective of loyal fan who stayed true to his club through thick and thin. Rather than attemping to cover a unique aspect of football this book is a real story of life at the lane with all its highs and lows! I recommend this book to anyone who grew up in the 80s and 90s with a genuine love the beautiful game.

For When "Casual" Meant Oneupmanship., 05 Oct 2008
If you were a Casual back in the day then you will read this with a wry smile combined with the occasional "did we really wear that?"

If you are a young Casual now this sho