Soul Crew

Two men closely involved with the gang tell its history from its origins through to the present day: their leaders, their fashions, how they organise and who they fight. Soul Crew relates how an infamous clash with Manchester United's Red Army in the mid-Seventies was the impetus for the formation of the mob. A core group of hardcases from the tough Docks area of Cardiff was joined by alienated, unemployed youths from the valleys and former pit villages of South Wales. They took their name from their love of soul music and adopted the casual fashion of designer-label clothes. In time they would fight fierce battles with rivals like the Frontline Crew, the Bushwhackers, the Gooners and the Central Element.

Soul Crew also reveals for the first time the network of alliances and communications between the leading hooligans around the country: the so-called "Category C" thugs who organise much of the violence. And it tells of their cat-and-mouse relationship with the police spotters who now follow them everywhere Soul Crew is the best evocation yet of life running with a soccer mob.