I recently saw the 'Essex gangster' film 'Rise of the Footsoldier' and although I had seen it before, was quite shocked by the brutally realistic fight scenes between rival football hooligans shown in the first 15 minutes of the film. I decided to have a look at how the football hooligan plague of the 1980s has been depicted in film. I have watched (in release date order) 'The Firm' (1988), 'I.D.' (1995), 'The Football Factory' (2004), 'Green Street' (2005), 'Cass' (2008), 'Awaydays' (2009), 'The Firm' (2009 remake) - and this film, 'Casuals: The Story of the Legendary Terrace Fashion' (2011).
It's a documentary and covers the style of dress adopted by young football fans of the day, partly as a kind of tribal uniform, partly to differentiate themselves from an older generation of fans, partly as a kind of youth subculture, partly to differentiate themselves from fans of rival teams. The irony of course is that as the fashions spread, fans of rival teams became almost indistinguishable...
Based on high priced designer sports clothing brands (Adidas, Fila, Tacchini, Diadora, Fred Perry, Stone Island, Lacoste, Ellesse, Pringle etc) fans would spend a small fortune to get 'the look' - and if they were involved in crowd violence, were more concerned about damage to their expensive clothing than to themselves.
This move to 'casual' clothing also helped to make the hooligans less visible to the police - until of course, the police got wise, so in part leading to the demise of the style.
As a documentary it isn't at all bad, and anyone interested in 80's fashion could learn a lot from the history of how the style evolved from earlier 'mod' fashion and came to be adopted by football fans. The film was part written, part produced by Cass Pennant, once a member of West Ham's notorious InterCity Firm, so with his input it ought to have that accuracy that is often missing from film dramas about the era.
Interesting and well worth a watch. 4/5 stars.